Ad agency review time is always an adventure and a great deal of fun. It happens at most companies at 18 month intervals and sometimes the incumbent agency retains the account and sometimes not.

The decision to change ad agencies has less to do with agency competency and more to do with investor sentiment, franchisee rancor and leadership personalities. You gotta blame somebody for marketing and operational failures and why not the ad agency?

The big win is...get a new agency.

Ad Agency review is an invigorating diversion for the executive leadership team not to mention all the beneficial and reckless wining and dining. And I'm talking the best Cabernets and Kobe or Wagu Beef you'd could never afford.  (How does that Ad Agency afford it?)

What you hear at pitch time is very predictable in terms of creative, media buying, local store marketing - LSM and the ever popular Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, G+, and all sorts of other exciting ideas!

Ok, you really want to know how will the ad agency make franchise sales happen instantly. Short answer- that they won't.

Sure there will be a change.  But, any change will result in what is known as the Hawthorne effect - a change with only short term value.

At agency pitch time you'll hear the CEO, CMO or CDO ask how can you help us with new franchise recruitment?

You will get this answer. "We can do that in spades with all our resources in copywriting, competitive intelligence, targeting and breakthrough marketing it's just not a problem."

Well it is a problem.

After the ad agency agreement is executed and they start by changing your logo, re-describe your brand, redo your menus, make new product recommendations, put together a Facebook contest, get you a gazillion Twitter followers and re-write your consumer facing marketing scripts they will after about 3 months get on with new franchisee lead generation.

New franchisee recruitment recommendations by the ad agency will range from a complete overhaul of your website, new brochures and collateral material, trade show trinkets, increase your web portal spend, work on your SEO and add call this 800 number or visit this website to buy a franchise to your napkins, bags & table toppers.

You will waste the next 18 months buying the ad agency franchisee recruitment malarkey. But you shouldn't since they will bedazzle you with what they are doing for the brand and beg you to wait for the stuff they've done to gain traction.

The next 18 months will expire and it will be time for c-level leadership to decide who'll pitch next, and which agencies will wine and dine the best.

And for those charged with recruiting new franchisees they will be left holding the bag and try to keep their job since as fate would have it they are on an 18 month timeframe career path as well.

Franchise sales problems are solved by better sales processes and specialized marketing that ad agencies are typically ill-equipped to provide.

When you need your franchise sales process to just work better, connect with me on LinkedIn and let's talk franchise sales.