Kidville

The ABCs of franchise expansion

Kidville, one of the most successful franchises in the United States, attracts thousands of moms and tots to its state-of-the-art facilities every day for innovative programming. (Among them are such celebs as Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner and Reese Witherspoon.) But despite that brand power, expanding to Canada wasn’t as easy as 1-2-3—our research showed that while moms north of the border liked the idea of a Kidville coming to their home turf, loyalty had to be earned through local connections. Our strategy, then, was to design a set of franchise marketing tools that carried the excitement of the global brand but reflected a sense of community within each location.

The design rollout of this approach has spanned neighbourhood-specific window displays, wayfinding systems, program guides with localized content, and community-building events with nearby businesses and schools. To ensure franchise owners and staff are all on board with the strategy, we’ve created training guides and manuals that encourage the team to always “think like a local mom.”