Creative freedom of franchisee partners: Lessons from F45's Deepavali post

A franchise outlet of fitness company F45 made headlines last week for a “racially insensitive” Deepavali video posted on its Instagram account. The now-deleted Instagram story by F45’s Serangoon Garden South branch showed two Chinese members bobbling their heads and saying Happy Deepavali to the camera. Displeased by the post, netizens have posted their comments, with one user calling the story, "tasteless". The fitness outlet has since acknowledged the feedback from users and apologised in an Instagram post.

"We are sorry for the mistakes and hope to seek your forgiveness," said the Instagram story. F45 also added that it was never their intention to make fun or hurt anyone's feelings. With race-related conversations heating up, undoubtedly, more brands are now careful on the content they are sharing. However, mishaps do occur. In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Ian Cheow, CEO and co-founder of OOm, said such incidents are avoidable should a brand have a clear set of internal guideline in place on the dos and don’ts when posting on social media.

Control in a franchisee situation

In the case of F45, while the brand was roped into the conversation, the act of posting was decided by one single franchise outlet, quite possibly without the consent of the brand head quarters. Commenting on the control a brand has over a franchisee partner, Chow said, training needs to be implemented by the main brand team and further distilled into the franchise partners and employees, to keep the brand name intact.

These guidelines should include best practices to create content, ideal frequency of content as well as formats for various communication and business objectives, and even community management guidelines, added on Kenny Yap, MD of Socialyse and Red Havas. Even in a franchise situation, he explained, "Ultimately, brand reputation is at stake and all stakeholders have to be aligned on the communication approach to reduce any risk of brand reputation damaging activities.

However, Freda Kwok, head, strategy and social at Germs Digital, said that realistically, in instances of franchisee partnerships, it is tough for brands to 100% control what is being published, especially by their partners. Unless all posts go through a clearance process, which in itself can hamper creativity and stifle effectiveness since the ability to jump on trends in real time is limited, brands need to put in place comprehensive training procedures, accompanied by clear and strict protocols on accountability," she added. The only way to counter this would be by having well documented policies and trainings is hygiene in place, to serve as the foundation for safeguards and also act as fallbacks should slip ups happen.

Deciding on the right conversations to embark on

Lee Kai Xin, client services director at Wild said a simple rule of thumb for brands owners to realise is that someone’s culture “should be not exploited for the purpose of promoting a brand”. However this sometimes depends on one’s judgement on what is considered good humour and what is insensitive, she explained. Moreover, brands need to realize that all employees, and not just those handling social media, can trigger #cancelledculture – and this includes how to react when they do cause a blunder. Most importantly, brands should make sure that they never make the same mistake again. "While the internet mob can be forgiving, they never forget," Kai Xin said.

Chow seconded the sentiment adding that it is not necessary for brands to post about a topic just because it is trending; they should stay away from sensitive topics such as race, religions or politics, and avoid cracking jokes as it might not go well with readers. "If you find yourself asking whether a particular content post is appropriate, then the rule of thumb is to always stay away from it. If the posts are scheduled beforehand, brands can set up an internal editorial approval process to review the content again one day before it goes live," he explained. 

In combating a blunder, he added that brands must be willing to first take the fall and refrain from being defensive. Staying calm in drafting a reasonable response is key.

Just diversify

According to Socialyse’s Yap, one way such blunders can be avoided is by diversifying the workforce, as it would welcome different cultural appreciation, perspectives and prevents teams from being blindsided and insensitive. "Singapore and Malaysia are multi-cultural nations and our diversity is also one of our strengths. It is important for brands to embrace and respect this unique part of Singapore as we continue to cultivate a harmonious society," he said.

Kristian Olsen, MD at Type A added, "We can all sit here and say that brands running a franchise model should train all their franchisees on their branding guidelines, communication guidelines along with the corporate guidelines as well. Beyond that there are also ‘Life Guidelines’ people seem to forget such as having some tact".

Olsen added that employees also want to work for brands with goals and beliefs that they share as well. So brands need to cultivate and grow their culture both inside and outside the workplace. Your culture attracts like-minded people to want to be a part of your eco-system. You can’t safeguard yourself 100% but you can at least grow the common cause and belief within the brand and its ranks. And if you don’t have a personality or culture in your company, I’m sure HQ will be happy to send you some guidelines you can follow," he added. 

Meanwhile, just days after the incident surrounding F45’s Serangoon Garden South branch, Malaysia-based online fashion retailer Dear19.co and Wendy Tong, who was appointed to manage its social media, came under fire for their livestream content which coincided with Deepavali last Thursday. Unfortunately, the “celebratory” livestream showed three Chinese individuals bobbing their heads and dancing to a Hindu prayer song. While many netizens were unaware of the livestream, a post by Tong using the snippet to educate people on “standing out from the crowd” saw outrage by netizens with some calling the online retailer “ignorant” and “disrespectful”.

A quick check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE showed that Dear19.co had privatised its Instagram account and taken down the livestream from its Facebook page. The social media manager has since apologised saying that the post wasn’t with the intention to mock or insult but rather what caught her eye. She also thanked the public for pointing out the insensitivity of the situation. 

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Photo courtesy: F45

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