In today’s franchise landscape, brand trust is won—or lost—at the local level. Reviews, community engagement, and online reputation shape customer decisions long before they ever walk through the door, and franchisors are under increasing pressure to manage it all while empowering franchisees to participate authentically. 

This session brings together marketing experts, franchisors of different sizes, and reputation management specialists to explore a full-spectrum approach to building and protecting brand trust. Through practical insights, case studies, and live discussion, speakers will cover how to unify review strategy across the system, support franchisees in generating and responding to feedback, use reviews as marketing content, balance national and local messaging, and manage issues before they become crises. Attendees will leave with a toolkit of strategies to strengthen local visibility, maintain system-wide consistency, and confidently protect their brand’s online reputation. 

Learning Objectives: 

1. Build a unified, system-wide reputation strategy across reviews, community engagement, and local marketing. 

2. Equip franchisees with practical tools to generate reviews, respond effectively, and strengthen local trust. 

3. Turn reviews and community feedback into high-performing marketing content for both local and national use. 

4. Manage reputation risks and crises with clear communication frameworks and escalation processes. 

5. Balance consistency and autonomy by defining what lives at the national level vs. what lives locally.