The first meetings of Franchising Brasil Think Tank began in August 24. The initiative, which intends to promote online meetings for the exchange of experiences, establishment of relationships and development of solutions for the post-pandemic scenario, is organized by Franchising Brasil — a sector project for the internationalization of Brazilian franchise brands carried out by means of a partnership between the Brazilian Association of Franchising (ABF) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).

During the last week of August, seven virtual meetings took place involving Brazilian brands such as Rei do Mate, Bibi, Grupo Sobrancelhas Design, CleanNew, Trilha do Açaí and School of Rock, among others. The first part of the event also received international partners to promote a discussion about the scenario resulting from the COVID-19 crisis in Latin America and Portugal. Companies like South Food, Kumon, Brittany Group and Depilart were among the participants. Besides the participation of brands and groups, the meetings also had Cristina Matos, executive director of the Portuguese Association of Franchising (APF), and Gabriel Grasiuso, general secretary of the Ibero-American Federation of Franchises (FIAF), as mediators.

One of the main topics addressed by the entrepreneurs was the closing of physical stores, as well as the solutions to minimize the impact of it on the franchisees in such countries. Gabriel analyzed the moment: “At first, everybody was very afraid, especially the young franchises, which hadn’t faced any crisis yet”, he says. And he adds: “Now we know that all pandemics have a big initial impact, so the fear was the main point to be addressed [by associations]. Many companies focused on working on that to find solutions to keep their businesses going on”, says the entrepreneur.

Adriana Lima, representative of Rei do Mate, emphasized the importance of gaining customer loyalty during such moment and how technology may help in such process: “We have loyal customers, so that was our focus. We have been very active on social media, even on LinkedIn, to keep constant communication with our customers and franchisees, especially those interested in working with us in the future”, says Adriana, pointing out that digital communications should be trustworthy.

Changes are forever

Companies like Trilha do Açaí and School of Rock implemented processes they intend to keep even after the end of the pandemic, like combos of products and the use of technology to provide services to customers. The music school, for example, established an exclusive partnership with Zoom to ensure a high-quality sound during its online classes, something that the brand is planning to continue offering as part of its post-pandemic activities.

In one of the roundtables, Rafael Cafolla, from Blue Sol, emphasized the relevance of digital: “The virtual world made us reflect on some points, especially regarding the high cost of keeping a physical store. How will we do it after the pandemic? Will it have a payback in the new normality?”

The participants agreed that the digital evolution during the present time is going to improve even more the face-to-face experience after the end of the pandemic, something that shouldn’t be completely left aside. The collective sense among the brands is a strong point that led to positive results during such period.

The second round of Think Tank discussions will take place from August 31 to September 4. Soon we will bring more information about the main topics discussed during such week.

About Franchising Brasil

Franchising Brasil is a sector project carried out by means of a partnership between the Brazilian Association of Franchising (ABF) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) for the internationalization of Brazilian franchise brands and promotion of their businesses abroad. The initiative was developed to promote this business model that is well recognized in the main international markets.

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