For years we all sold at the brand level – you wanted a program done – the money was in the brands. Then there was a seismic shift – procurement came into play (actually, that worked pretty well for us) and programs were done on a franchise or corporate level (ok, that worked out for us also).

Truthfully, the money was always in the brands – we just had to deal with a lot of other players and it took a LOT longer to get things done, especially with 10 brands being coordinated. But now all I hear is “it gets done at the brand level – we have to sell to the brands”.  I’m good with that – hopefully having less people involved in the decision will get innovative things launched before hell freezes over.

Works for us.