Style and Substance: Entertainment Franchises

Rob Lancit

Date

Nov 25, 2019

A lot of marketing is trying to make boring items or services seem more exciting than they are. Take tires, for example. Tires are important. You need tires to drive your car. Having good tires can actually save your life. Tires are really important. But tires are also boring. Automotive businesses hire marketers and craft advertising campaigns that bend over backwards to try to get people interested in tires. But they’re still just tires. Given this, wouldn’t it be great if what your business sold was already inherently interesting? I mean, that’s half the battle right there, right? Well, with an entertainment franchise, that’s exactly the case.

Entertainment Franchises

Entertainment franchises don’t have to try to jazz up their products or services. What an entertainment franchise sells is already inherently is already interesting to people. At least it should be. If you come across an entertainment franchise for sale that’s trying to sell boring goods or services, don't buy it. That is definitely not one of the best entertainment franchises around. People want to be entertained, so it should be an easy sale. The only obstacle is the other competition in the marketplace. There are a lot of entertainment franchises competing with each other for people’s discretionary income. But, at least it’s a big marketplace.

Recession Weakness?

The biggest argument against entertainment franchises is that they are very susceptible to recessions. In times of economic austerity, the argument goes, people will not spend their reduced income or wealth money on matters as frivolous as entertainment. But this argument doesn’t hold much water. First, with our economic system being what it is, there will always be some people with a lot of money willing to splash cash on anything that strikes their fancy. But entertainment franchises need not focus on the ultra-wealthy to remain recession resistant. In fact, the opposite might be true.

To illustrate this principle, let us go back in time. It’s the 1930s. After a decade of economic expansion, newfound freedoms, and, ironically, a prohibition-driven age of partying and drinking, Americans are now faced with a stark new reality. The economy has collapsed, unemployment is soaring, and belts all over the nation have to be tightened. As you can imagine, this hurt the entertainment industry really hard. Except . . . it didn’t. Arguably the biggest form of entertainment at the time was the cinema. Movie theatre attendances actually increased during the Great Depression. People were desperate for some kind of escape and they actually enjoyed watching movies about rich and glamorous people as it allowed them to live vicariously through the stars on the screen. This goes to show that entertainment is not a luxury; it’s actually something we all need to get through our lives.

Best Entertainment Franchises

Movies still do big business today, but the best entertainment franchises generally focus on entertaining people in their own homes. Sales of mobile devices and gadgets are at all-time highs and show no signs of abating. The best entertainment franchises have seen this trend and taken advantage. But the opposite can also be true. People are also seeing the value in activities and experiences. Fun games and challenge events are also the trade of some of the best entertainment franchises.