INTRO

As a 1970s-founded legacy brand, The Melting Pot has grown to be synonymous with experiential fondue dining. Through partnerships with passionate franchisees, the brand has grown to nearly 100 units across the nation, supporting owners with thorough initial training and robust ongoing support. With a variety of menu items including cheese and chocolate fondue, salads, fine wine, spirits and more, The Melting Pot is the go-to place for those looking to connect, celebrate and gather.

PROBLEM

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, mandatory shutdowns created incredible uncertainty for restaurant owners as they considered how they would keep the business running and continue to pay bills despite a steep reduction in revenue. The Melting Pot shifted attention away from franchise expansion, dedicating the vast majority of its time and effort to supporting existing owners in surviving the pandemic.

SOLUTION

To reinvigorate The Melting Pot’s franchise development, the franchisor engaged Mainland for full-circle content marketing, digital ads and public relations efforts focused intently on franchise development growth.

RESULT

With the help of press exposure in key markets and ongoing marketing efforts, The Melting Pot has seen strong surges in franchisee interest and is re-establishing a healthy pipeline for future development.

HOW MAINLAND WON

By rolling out a strategic development market focus, Mainland leveraged 1851 Franchise content, business journal placements through media pitching and digital advertising efforts to raise awareness among prospective new owners.

“Content, PR and digital ads are three crucial pillars in winning exposure for our clients,” said Mainland Vice President Julie Maw. “In order to revitalize The Melting Pot’s growth efforts, we built a strategy that highlights the franchise model’s strengths and worked to get this information in front of the right people.”

Another major focus of the refreshed strategy has been an emphasis on The Melting Pot’s recent push to remodel its restaurants. As a legacy brand, many locations are decades old and only experienced minor updates and renovations over the years. In 2022, the franchisor launched an initiative it coined Melting Pot Evolution to remodel every restaurant in the system, demonstrating its flexibility and modernity while bringing all restaurants to a consistent visual standard. Mainland made sure to publicize the aggressive remodel plan alongside other important factors like revenue potential, franchisee support and real estate flexibility across all platforms to provide the most complete illustration of the brand and opportunity as it gained traction in key development markets.

With over 300,000 unique monthly readers of 1851 Franchise, 30 media placements in the first three quarters (nearly quadruple the count secured in 2022) and nearly 10 million impressions on digital ads in the span of about six months, Mainland has vastly increased visibility for The Melting Pot, driving impressions and franchise development inquiries as the franchisor reignites growth.