The new site features an improved design and added navigation features to allow customers to quickly and easily find their way to different pages within the site. Featured on every page is the Oxi Fresh locator, which allows users to enter their zip code and instantly find the nearest Oxi Fresh carpet cleaning franchise, along with current local specials and contact information.

“A lot of time and research went into our site redesign in order to provide the best possible user experience for our customers,” said Jonathan Barnett MBA, President of Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning ®. “Not only is finding local Oxi Fresh carpet cleaning services now faster and easier than ever before, but we think our customers will really love the new wow factor of our site.”

Improved navigation on the site includes new drop down menus to allow visitors to find any page in any category easier. In addition, an added navigation box on the left side of every page lets the user know where they are on the site at all times so users can quickly jump from page to page.

In the future, the Oxi Fresh website will offer online scheduling so customers can make carpet cleaning appointments online without ever using the phone. Currently visitors to the site can find the phone number for the nearest Oxi Fresh carpet cleaning franchise online or call 877-OXIFRESH to be connected to an Oxi Fresh in their area.

The new Oxi Fresh site not only helps customers, but helps Oxi Fresh franchisees as well with the power of online marketing. With a low cost of ownership, easy operation and low overhead, and tested and proven marketing programs, Oxi Fresh franchisees can experience outstanding growth very quickly.

Oxi Fresh currently has over 180 locations in the U.S. and offers protected territories of up to 110,000 households. For additional information or to view the new website, visit www.OxiFresh.com.

About Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning®

Oxi Fresh was established in 2006 and currently has over 100 units in the United States. Using innovative products and technology, Oxi Fresh franchisees are able to offer oxygen powered cleaning which cleans all the way down to the bottom of the carpet pile, transforming the carpet right before a customer’s eyes. Oxi Fresh is committed to being an environmentally friendly business by using efficient and low energy solutions. The non-toxic carpet cleaning agents are applied with a low moisture process and are safe for children and pets.

Product discounting is one of the most contentious topics in franchising.  Here’s why:  Franchisors make money off the gross sales of their franchisees, regardless of franchisee profitability. 

Some franchisors make additional money marking up ingredients and food products to their franchisees. 

Public franchisors benefit from higher sales – and stock prices – that are not tied to franchisee profitability.

SmartMoney.com surveyed franchisees from different franchise chains regarding the cost to them of some current and recent promotions. The franchisee profitability posts on UnhappyFranchisee.com point out that franchisees generally bear the brunt of a promotions’s cost, including the food, labor, rent and utilities, among other things.

Here’re are links to the data on six recent franchise marketing promotions, posted on UnhappyFranchisee.com: 

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BASKIN ROBBINS: Franchisees Lose $1.45 per Scoop on Promo

QUIZNOS: Franchisees Lost $2.25 per Sub on Giveaway

BURGER KING Franchisees Sue Over $1 Cheeseburgers

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF DISCOUNT PROMOTIONS?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

What they didn’t mention was that Burger King franchise owners had twice voted against the promotion, but BK corporate decided to run it anyway.

Now the franchisees are suing.  Read about the franchise lawsuit at Unhappy Franchisee:

BURGER KING Franchisees Sue Over $1 Cheeseburgers

BURGER KING Franchisees Sue Over Forced Discounting

What’s the franchisee’s beef with the promo?  They claim (among other things) that it costs $1.10 to make and sell the product they’re being forced to price at $1.00.

It’s Finally Here! $1 ¼ Pound Double Cheeseburger Hits The Menu In Participating Burger King®restaurants Nationwide

October 19, 2009

MIAMI – Oct. 19, 2009 – Burger King Corp. (NYSE:BKC) today announced that consumers craving the flame-fresh taste of a quality hamburger can head to their nearest BURGER KING®restaurant for an unbeatable deal – the ¼ pound Double Cheeseburger for only $1. Tested and adopted in multiple markets in the U.S. for the past 18 months, this much anticipated and worthy addition to the BK®Value Menu is now available in participating BURGER KING®restaurants nationwide, providing guests a superior sandwich at a great value.

"During a time when value is a priority for everyone, we’re offering a top-quality product that not only boasts an affordable price point but also tastes great," said John Schaufelberger, senior vice president, global product marketing and innovation, Burger King Corp.

The $1 ¼ pound Double Cheeseburger features two flame-broiled hamburger patties, crunchy pickles, ketchup, mustard and two slices of American cheese on a sesame seed bun. With more beef and cheese, the $1 ¼ pound Double Cheeseburger beats competitors’ sandwiches, such as McDonald’s®Double Cheeseburger and Wendy’s®Double Stack.

Burger lovers can expect to see a series of mouth-watering national TV ad spots and in-restaurant merchandising in support of the promotion. Via online banner ads, Web users will also have the opportunity to experience just how much a $1 bill can afford them from the BK®Value Menu using a simple Web cam and some novel "augmented reality" technology, which overlays the products from the menu onto the currency image.

The $1 ¼ pound Double Cheeseburger joins the national BK®Value Menu, which includes the WHOPPER JR.®sandwich and Spicy CHICK’N CRISP®sandwich as well as the Ham Omelet Sandwich and sausage biscuit on the BK®Breakfast Value Menu, all priced at just $1 each.

ABOUT BURGER KING CORPORATION

The BURGER KING®system operates more than 11,900 restaurants in all 50 states and in 73 countries and U.S. territories worldwide. Approximately 90 percent of BURGER KING®restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees, many of them family-owned operations that have been in business for decades. In 2008, Fortune magazine ranked Burger King Corp. among America’s 1,000 largest corporations and Ad Week named it one of the top three industry-changing advertisers within the last three decades. To learn more about Burger King Corp., please visit the company’s Web site at www.bk.com.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW

Second,  proceed with said promotion despite the formal objections of your franchisee association and the fact that your direct competitor tried – and abandoned – the same promotion last year.

According to a story on Unhappy Franchisee, that’s exactly what Burger King did with the $1 Double Cheeseburger promotion they forced their franchisees to implement beginning last month.  Unsurprisingly, Burger King’s National Franchisee Association filed a lawsuit this week against the franchisor.

*  *  *  *  *

Burger King Franchisees Want it Their Way… Profitable

Burger King’s National Franchisee Association represents more than 80 percent of U.S. Burger King franchisees.  They reportedly filed the lawsuit only after their attempts to negotiate with the franchisor were unsuccessful.

They are asking the court to acknowledge that the right to set prices rests with BK franchisees, not Burger King corporate.

Last summer, Burger King franchisees twice voted against the $1 double cheeseburger promotion.  Despite clear objections, Burger King forced all franchisees to sell its double cheeseburger for $1, starting in October.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Miami.  In it, the franchisees allege that the Burger King franchise agreement does not give BK the authority to “dictate maximum pricing.”

According to a story in the Miami Herald:

Franchisees argue that Burger King is using the promotion to boost sales to satisfy Wall Street investors at the expense of franchisees’ profits. The company’s most recent earnings report showed a 6 percent drop in profits, a 5 percent decline in revenue and a 4.6 percent fall in sales at stores open in North America more than a year.

Based on numbers Burger King provided to franchisees, the company projects that the double cheeseburger will lead to a 5 percent increase in restaurant sales. That will translate into an increased bottom line profit of $365 per restaurant based on $105,000 in sales, according to the analysis.

But financial models run by one Illinois franchisee… suggest that the bottom line impact for restaurants would be a loss of between $489 and $930 depending on the percentage of total sales generated by the value menu.

Are deep discounts like $1 Double Cheeseburgers are a necessary evil in the current economy?  Some would say yes.  However, McDonald’s stopped selling its double cheeseburger for $1 because of profit margin concerns at the end of last year.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Denny’s was once the chain restaurant king of breakfast, ’til McDonald’s came along and stole the crown.  Today, 1550 unit Denny’s  doesn’t even rank in the top 5 in the $83 billion breakfast market (McDonald’s, Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Burger King, and IHOP).

To make matters worse, franchise unit sales were down 7.2% last quarter – a time when its value positioning should be giving it a boost.

So Denny’s hatched a bold plan to get some attention. 

On Tuesday, February 3, they gave away a Grand Slam breakfast to anyone who showed up at all but two of its 1,550 restaurants nationwide. (The Grand Slam includes two eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausages and two pancakes and normally sells for $5.99.)

According to an article in USA Today, Denny’s invested about $5 million on the entire promotion, including food costs, labor costs and airing a :30 commercial on Sunday’s Super Bowl.

"We’re re-acquainting America with Denny’s," says CEO Nelson Marchioli. "We’ve never been thanked this much — and folks are saying they’ll come back."

The gambit earned Denny’s something that money alone can’t buy: positive public relations, and lots of it. By Denny’s estimates, it got $50 million in free news coverage, almost all of it positive. No injuries — or police issues — were reported at any locations, say Denny’s officials.

Marchioli implied that they made up quite a bit of their costs on high-margin beverages not included in the Grand Slam giveaway.  "…he concedes: If you factor in the profits from all of Tuesday’s drink orders — which are far more profitable than food orders — ‘we’ll do better than break even.’  And, yes, he just may do it again."