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What’s in a trademark? Everything. The trademark,
especially for franchisees, is the cornerstone of franchising.
For us at Lots’A Pizza the
trademark represents the long hours we spent developing the Lots’
A Pizza brand, its reputation and its relationships with
stakeholders. My husband Eduardo and I realize that it is the name
of Lots’A Pizza that brings customers to the store, and that it is
one of our most important assets.
The Lots’A Pizza brand mirrors
everything that we have been through. The brand reflects our efforts
to find the perfect concept that Filipinos would appreciate. It
mirrors our learning adventures as well—the seminars and food
expos we have attended, the pizza technology course that we had to
go through, as well as our unrelenting efforts to come up with the
taste that our customers would love. Today, the Lots’A Pizza
crust, sauce and toppings are still the most favored in the market.
This is why we are very
particular in nurturing the Lots’A Pizza brand. We know that just
as a name can be built, so it can easily be lost just as fast. It
can be gone in a snap once the public becomes aware that it no
longer represents what it used to stand for.
We are very careful in choosing
our franchisees. While the opportunities to expand rapidly through
franchising are limitless, we have taken a disciplined and
calculated approach, careful to expand only as fast as the
company’s systems can allow it. In fact, I was initially hesitant
to franchise the brand because I did not want to entrust the brand
that we built from scratch to investors who might not care about it.
Eduardo had to convince me that franchising actually works, and that
if we move carefully, we can actually help out many other
entrepreneurs. However, it was not until the year 2000, after
several years in the business, that I felt that Lots’A Pizza’s
systems were all ready for franchising.
For me, this step meant many
things. It meant making sure that Lots’A Pizza did not grow too
big to lose its personal touch. This meant evaluating franchisee’s
applications versus their plans for expansion in a certain area and
their capacity to deliver the products and franchisee support. While
the number of franchise applicants grows, we are more focused on
fortifying our systems to make sure they can accommodate the growth
that is coming. We are also building our own commissary and
providing our personnel with adequate training on everything from
food safety to guest relations.
Of course, I have also ensured
that the Lots’A Pizza trademark has been duly registered with the
Intellectual Property Office (IPO). Though this was a time-consuming
process, the IPO is the internationally accepted and recognized
authority over ownerships of trademarks, brand names and other
intellectual properties. I have to safeguard what my husband and I
took years to develop.
Hand in hand with this, I
recognize that our brand is represented by our people—our brand
ambassadors. This is why we really give emphasis on training people.
On a regular basis, the service crew goes to the head office for
either new or refresher courses. They are taught how to deal with
customers, how to dress up, how to maintain good relations with
customers and with each other. On top of this, our training modules
have all been accredited by Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (Tesda).
Furthermore, Lots’A Pizza puts
emphasis on its manufacturing processes and standards. Our standards
are based on US standards. We have adapted the Good Manufacturing
Practices (GMP) course given by the Philippine Trade Training
Center. We are also very strict about it. This is our way of
ensuring that our brand is always protected, and that our
franchisees will be protected as well.
As Lots’A Pizza gains national
popularity, we are now working on strengthening its brand for
top-of-mind recall. Our ultimate goal is when people get into a
Lots’A Pizza store, they experience a different feeling. Our dream
is to be the best local pizza chain in the market.
I am confident that Lots’A
Pizza franchisees will all live up to our brand promise. In my
meetings with them, I always remind them that it is their
responsibility to preserve and strengthen our brand. As partners, it
is our responsibility to look after one another. As I always tell my
franchisees, “if you are building a brand, you have to take care
of it. If you are buying into a brand, you have to make sure it
stands for what you think it represents. Otherwise, everything will
be a waste.”
Tess Ngan Tian is the vice
president of Lots’A Pizza. Lots’A Pizza is a member of
Association of Filipino Franchise (AFFI).
opinion@manilatimes.net
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