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March 26, 2025 33 mins

In this episode, Kathryn talks with Mary Ann Donaghy, Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer of ZIPS Cleaners, discussing marketing in a franchise business and understanding the mindset of your customer. Mary Ann shares how they have leveraged a consumer research project to better understand customer demographics and behavior, highlighting the significance of consumer insights. She also covers strategies for opening new franchise locations and their efforts to reach a younger consumer. 

Guest Quote:

  • "We saw that our customers bring in a broader range of items than other customers.  You know, so their whole mindset is very different. They didn't care as much about bells and whistles, you know, they didn't care about having a free bottle of water or coffee or, you know, wooden hangers or things that a higher end dry cleaner might provide. They want a good solid cleaning, they want it fast, and they want it cheap because they're bringing in, you know, a lot of items every week. So, super interesting and it also then gave us a baseline for what we would do moving forward from a messaging, and targeting standpoint."

Episode Breakdown: 

[01:58] Alchemy Unveiled: Understand the customer mindset 

Unique and specific aspects of your customer mindset influence their buying behavior. Mary Ann discusses leveraging a consumer research project to guide marketing decisions. 

[18:27] From Nuggets to Campaign Gold: Tapping into underlying emotion 

Researching and tapping into emotional drivers is key to a successful campaign. Mary and her team made sure to tap into the emotional side of decisions in their UMC campaign. 

[30:22] Gold Rush: Data reveals opportunities 

You can’t understand the opportunities in front of you without data. It is essential to understand the direction you want to pursue. 

 

Links & Resources:

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Connect with Mary Ann

Learn more about Deluxe

Learn more about ZIPS Cleaners

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