The Company

The Barker Lounge is a pet services company offering daycare, boarding, grooming, and training services for your canine companion. As a franchise business, The Barker Lounge has locations across the eastern United States that are owned and operated by various pet loving individuals.

The Challenge

When growing a franchise business, one of the hardest things to control is the look and feel of the corporate brand while offering the opportunity for regional franchises to order as a single entity. The Barker Lounge needed a way to let the individual franchises order printed collateral that met the marketing department’s style guide for both the look and quality of printing expected. Beyond the styling there is also a need to keep the costs in line by offering individuals the ability to acquire printed materials as a purchasing group.

The Solution

Drew & Rogers took the complete set of printed collateral, including business cards, postcards, pet care brochures, and service menus, and created an online ordering system. This not only allowed a Barker Lounge franchise to order its print collateral online, but also afforded it the opportunity to customize various information to its specific location. Checkout from the virtual online store is handled using credit card payments. Print orders were then produced and shipped to the franchise within one week with the tracking number emailed to the requestor.
The online ordering system also allows for reporting for marketing to see what items are popular with the franchises and which items might need to be reworked. By giving the franchise a template to work in, the corporate brand is protected and a singular look is presented to the public for better brand awareness. The marketing department also has the ability to update materials as needed in a centrally controlled environment; for example, if a layout needs adjusting, a single change is made to the master template and all future orders will follow the new layout or design.

The Result

Franchisees are able to order and pay for their print collateral online while receiving the competitive pricing a larger corporation enjoys. The marketing department is able to control the look and feel of the company brand and make changes as needed in a singularly controlled environment. When new franchisees sign up there is an immediate feeling of being involved in a larger business.

The Future

We are looking to help The Barker Lounge to expand its print collateral with additional branded items including promotional products and shop apparel as the business grows.