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Introduction
If you run marketing for a big national brand, you know the "Local Paradox."
To win customers, you need to act local. You need to sponsor the high school football team or put up signage for a town festival.
But you can't fly to every single town to design a flyer.
So, you have two bad choices: lock everything down (which local managers hate) or let them do whatever they want (which ruins your brand).
You need a middle ground. You need a local marketing platform.
IRIS Strategic Marketing Support (IRIS) built GearBox® by IRIS to solve this. It gives local teams the tools to be creative, but keeps them inside the safety rails you set.
Why "Corporate" Marketing Fails at the Local Level
When you try to run local marketing from a skyscraper in New York, you miss the mark.
1. One Size Does Not Fit All
A snowy winter promo for a store in Maine looks ridiculous in a store in Arizona. If your platform only allows for one national message, you lose relevance.
2. Speed to Market
If a local manager wants to run a "We Won the Championship!" special, they can't wait two weeks for corporate design to approve it. They need it today.
3. The "Rogue" Factor
If you don't give local teams a way to make approved materials, they will make their own unapproved ones using Clip Art and bad fonts.
4. Wasted Budget
Without a system, you have no idea if the local spend is actually driving sales or just being wasted on bad ideas.
How GearBox® Powers Local Execution
GearBox® by IRIS serves as the bridge between the CMO and the store manager. It turns your brand assets into a toolkit for the field.
- Smart Templates: A manager can log in, pick a template and change the text fields (like "Open late on Fridays") but they can't change the logo or the disclaimer.
- Local Routing: When they hit "print," the order goes to a pre-approved vendor near them, saving shipping costs.
- Budget Controls: You allocate $500 to their account. Once they spend it, the system stops them. No awkward conversations about overspending.
- Campaign Kits: Send out a "Summer Starter Kit" to every location automatically, so they are ready on day one.
Use Case: Applebee’s Wins the Neighborhood
Applebee’s isn't just a restaurant chain; it's a "Neighborhood Grill & Bar." That means local connection is their whole strategy.
But managing customized signage for thousands of locations is tough.
They utilized GearBox® by IRIS as their local marketing platform.
With the platform, they:
- Empowered local teams to order market-specific signage
- Maintained strict brand consistency across the country
- Streamlined the process for Limited Time Offers (LTOs)
- Tracked adoption to see which markets were launching campaigns on time
Read the Applebee’s Case Study
Conclusion
You don't have to choose between control and flexibility. You can have both.
A good local marketing platform empowers your field teams to sell more while letting you sleep at night knowing the brand is safe. GearBox® by IRIS makes it possible.
Talk to IRIS to fix your local marketing strategy.
