Rita’s Italian Ice Success Story

National Franchise Development Coverage

The Challenge

Rita’s Italian Ice is a well-known Italian ice and frozen custard brand with 650 stores worldwide. The company’s primary goal when they came to us was franchise development – Rita’s executive board wanted to see 1,300 total franchise locations by 2017.

Rita’s had garnered excellent coverage in small, local outlets, but had secured few national hits.

Their media outreach was very bare-bones, and their releases were rarely newsworthy. This was preventing them from getting their voice out there, resulting in a large number of negative stories with no news coverage from the company’s perspective.

How We Helped

Our strategy for moving franchise prospects from initial interest to closing was two-pronged:

  1. Increase earned media to amplify the company’s voice and showcase the excellent franchisees and opportunities within their system.
  2. Build out owned, franchise-development content to give franchisees a look at the people behind the brand and to inform their franchise search with real, internal perspectives.

How We Made The Numbers Work

919 Marketing earned Rita’s coverage on a nationally syndicated television program, FOX & Friends, which provided third-party endorsement of the brand. This win resulted in more than 54 million impressions alone.

We also began earning coverage for individual franchisees and area developers with exciting stories. These people acted as representatives of a strong and growing brand and the pieces have been featured in outlets with high numbers of franchising prospects in their audiences.

Our campaign for their celebration of National Frozen Custard Day earned a major hit in Franchising USA. The coverage we’ve earned for them in the first nine months of 2016 totaled more than $8.4 million in media value.

Choose Your Next Step

call-icon-trns
Book A Meeting With 919

Our team is ready to get you moving towards your franchise goals.

Schedule Now

franchise-icon-trans
Read Case Studies

See how we helped our clients gain ground.

Read Now

play-icon-trans
Watch A 2-Minute Testimonial

See what our clients to say about working with 919.

Watch Now

user-icon-trans
Get to Know the Faces of 919

We’re not just a brand; we’re a team. See who you’ll be working with.

Meet the Team

testimonial-icon-trans
Read Client Testimonials

Check out the feedback we received from clients regarding our strategic marketing planning capabilities.

Read Now

checklist-icon-trans
Access A Free Agency Checklist

Evaluate your current franchise marketing partner with our free checklist.

Download Now

We tell your brand stories to the world.

Fill out the form below and a member of our team will be in touch to get started. We look forward to working with you.