Franchise Companies are growing quickly these days and much of this growth is seen internationally.  Now with growth comes growing pains which we all know is a normal part of business.   Don’t jump to any blind conclusions…when it comes to marketing, site selection and territory mapping, knowing what applications to use and how can be quite  a daunting task.

With different countries comes different geographies and different data.  Take for example the widely known United States five digit ZIP code.  Everybody can identify with their home ZIP.  On a side note, the ZIP code was introduced in 1963 and ZIP stands for Zone Improvement Plan.  The ZIP code is a common geography for Franchisors to define their territories in the States.  They are easy to use with demographic data or with your own company data.  But when crossing the border north into Canada you will need to find another option.    A similar geography in Canada is the Postal Code, a 6-digit code made up of letters and numbers, but they are MUCH smaller.  Boundaries for the first three characters of the Canadian Postal Code (known as the FSA or Forward Sortation Area) are most similar in size to US 5-digit ZIP codes.  Every country has their own unique geographies…what also compounds the challenge of marketing, site selection and territory mapping is the data.

Data is a key component to any marketing and mapping efforts.  What are your data sources? Are they reputable? How often are they updated? What is the source?  In the US, the dicennial Census takes place every ten years.  Currently in process the 2010 Census Data will not be widely available until early 2012 at best.  Data providers are still using the 2000 Census and its updates to create current and more “marketing friendly” estimates and projections.  Most companies release annual updates and one, our partner PopStats, releases quarterly updates.  The Canadian Census is performed every 5 years, with the most recent being 2006.

Now, throw in Europe, Asia, Latin America and other regions around the world in and it can get pretty confusing.  GeoMetrx has access to most of the more industrialized countries and datasets and they are all capable of accurate site analysis, territory mapping and alignment and other marketing capabilities for the internationally expanding franchise.

Stay Grounded,

Rich

If you are interested in our service, or just want to ask me a few questions regarding international data sources please feel free to call or email.  My contact info is below.

Rich Mithoff  |  Geographic Enterprises  |  888.848.4436 x4  |  rich@geo-e.com