1. 816.581.8234 | getlocalwave.com
HOW FRANCHISEES
ARE WINNING IN
BRAND LOCALIZATION
“Half the marketing battle for our centers is figuring
out what to do and where to go to do local
marketing,” says Francesca Muhlbaier, Director of
Marketing at Sylvan. “With LocalWave, it’s all in
one place; hyper-local data, campaigns, tips and
scripts are easy for our local centers to find and
use right away.”
Muhlbaier and her team also have access
to Sandbox’s team of retail marketing
experts. The Sandbox team has a 20-year history
of helping multi-score national brands engage
and activate consumers on a local level. While
other Sandbox clients like H&R Block and Sprint
may be in different categories, the local marketing
experience and findings have value for any retail
vertical.
Przywara says LocalWave is doing what the name
implies: It’s pointing centers in the right direction so
they spend their time wisely, in places where busy
parents are likely to be.
With over 650 centers nationwide, Sylvan Learning is one of the best-known brands in the educational
services business. Its national marketing campaigns have made it a household name, but consistent local
marketing is what makes good brands great. The LocalWave platform from Sandbox is helping Sylvan
generate local marketing interactions — and sales.
Sylvan center owners are franchisees. Many have
backgrounds in education, training and business
operations, but few have professional backgrounds
in sales and marketing. “Marketing to moms
has changed over the last 10 years,” says Amy
Przywara. “Moms want help and expertise, and
they want it to come to them, in their schools and
neighborhoods. The best brands make moms’ lives
easier.” She should know. Not only is she a mom to
a 7-year-old and 5-year-old twins, but she’s also
the Chief Marketing Officer of Sylvan Learning.
From their Baltimore headquarters, Przywara and
her team create all marketing campaigns; however,
rolling them out to the 650+ Sylvan locations can
be difficult. “The first step in local marketing is
to help our center owners create a marketing
plan,” says Przywara. “And the plan should be
tailored to their community. We can provide the
ideas and tools, but the centers need to really
understand and own their plan for the best results.”
“Our center owners need and want our help on
the sales and marketing side. The question has
always been what’s the best and easiest way to
provide it,” says Przywara. “That’s why we choose
the LocalWave platform. Easy access to guided
plans and campaigns makes local marketing
success more attainable for our centers.”
BRAND LOCALIZATION SIMPLIFIEDSYLVAN’S LOCAL CHALLENGE
“LocalWave is generating a lot
of activity among center owners.
It allows them to see the whole
picture, share ideas, and gives
them confidence to try new
things including local outreach
to schools, businesses, influencers
and referral sources.”
Amy Przywara
Chief Marketing Officer | Sylvan
in brief
THE BIG IDEA
“Sandbox has been working on
local store marketing campaigns
and solutions for a long time,
so they know the dynamics of
marketing a national brand on a
local level. With LocalWave, they
bring a unique blend of strategy,
messaging and enablement to the
table that is hard to find.”
Francesca Muhlbaier
Director of Marketing | Sylvan
Motivation: There is a strong correlation
between an individual Sylvan center’s
performance and its local marketing
budget and activities.
Action: The best teaching and learning
systems are supported by organized lesson
plans and clear instructions. The same
principles can be applied to brand
localization. The LocalWave platform
serves as the communications hub and
central repository for hyper-local data,
plans and campaigns.
Outcomes:Sylvanexecutiveslikethe energy
and confidence that LocalWave inspires
among center owners, which leads directly
to new student enrollments. “LocalWave
gives them the playbook they need to go
out and build their businesses. The centers
like it, we like it, and adding just a few
new students each month, across all our
centers, provides a healthy return on our
investment,” says Muhlbaier.
Sessions are up 36% YoY since the launch of version 2 of the Sylvan
LocalWave Platform.
Average time per sessions are up 218% YoY since the launch of version
2 of the Sylvan LocalWave platform.
RESULTS