Battle Between the Franchise

It is inevitable that global companies face some sort of crisis once in a while, but many are well prepared with large teams of communication specialists. Brinker International manages over 1,500 restaurants worldwide and yet their crisis communication team consists of only 4 people, making it difficult to tackle some heavy crisis issue if one were to develop.

Chili's and Maggiano's: The Two Brinker Brands

As part of that small group, Maureen Locus, the head of communications for Brinker International, discussed the difficulties of managing crisis communications in company owned restaurants as well as franchises.

While franchises, which are privately owned by individuals, are under certain contractual agreements with Brinker, they do not always abide by the same rules when it comes to communications and crises. For example, all franchises are given guide books with information about mission statements and other cultural aspects of the company to ensure consistency. They are even given numbers to call the specific help department when dealing with a major issue, but franchises do not always take advantage of Brinker's Restaurant Support Center.

Locus cannot control how or when information about a crisis is received from a franchise, so it becomes even more difficult to handle brand management when dealing with franchises over company owned restaurants. Despite this obstacle, Locus and her team do the best they can in dealing with crisis situations as they develop. The best way to handle any situation is to first make sure team members are briefed on some talking points and then to keep consistent messaging with the media.

Throughout it all though, whether it is a franchise or company-owned restaurant, Brinker makes sure the culture is extended to every team member in the company. At the end of the day, the most important thing is the Chili's or Maggiano's experience as it pertains to the guests as well as the team members. As Brinker states in its motto, Life is short; Work happy. Even if crises cannot be as controlled with franchises, Brinker's communication team strives to protect the brand as best as it can and ensure the longevity of its culture.