Scaling Brand Awareness Through a Co-Op Powered Media Strategy

Building Brand Scale Without Breaking the Franchise Model

For years, FCI was described as “the best-kept secret in flooring.” Local expertise and strong customer loyalty fueled performance, but brand awareness lagged behind.

Corporate leadership recognized that FCI didn't need any more short-term promotions; it needed a sustained brand investment. The ambition was clear: shift perception from “best-kept-secret” to the most recognized flooring brand in every market FCI serves, without disrupting the franchise model or defaulting to inefficient national spend.

Goals & Objectives

• ›Increase brand awareness in active and growth markets
• ›Build efficient reach without untargeted national spend
• ›Establish a repeatable, scalable co-op brand model
• ›Identify homeowners most likely to engage in the future
• ›Scale investment without sacrificing accountability

Campaign Plan

We launched a corporate-led, co-op-powered Brand Plan designed to concentrate media investment at the market level, where awareness translates into action.

Market-Focused Media Strategy

• ›Activated brand media only in markets FCI actively serves
• ›Aligned spend to co-op geographies to eliminate wasted national reach
• ›Delivered market-level reporting that ensured accountability and relevance

Data-Led Targeting & Optimization

• ›Leveraged first-party customer data to build high-quality lookalike audiences
• ›Prioritized homeowners most likely to need flooring services
• ›Balanced scale and precision to support long-term demand creation
• ›Introduced new channels through controlled pilots and creative testing
• ›Expanded measurement beyond impressions to include branded search lift, attention-based engagement, and early efficiency indicators

Franchise & Co-Op Activation

While the brand campaign was a corporate initiative, it was not funded by corporate. Co-ops were asked to adopt the program and invest in it themselves. To make adoption simple and scalable, co-ops were provided clear expectations around cadence and investment, flexible participation tiers aligned to local budget levels, and transparent reporting tied directly to brand goals.

As confidence grew, participation followed. Co-ops increased budgets, expanded channels, and encouraged others to join, driving participation to 97.5% across the network.

Media Channels

Results

Year-over-year performance reflects the impact of sustained, market-level brand investment:

• ›Brand investment increased 89% YoY, signaling belief in the strategy
• ›Co-op participation climbed to 97.5%, nearly full-network adoption
• ›Branded search volume rose 73% in the 2 years since Brand Plan launch, validating awareness lift
• ›Seconds of human attention increased 112% YoY, driven by upper-funnel expansion
• ›Proposal ROAS from PPC branded search campaigns surged 282% YoY, outperforming non-branded efforts
• ›As brand awareness strengthened, performance efficiency improved, reinforcing that long-term brand investment supported short-term results