Starting a franchise network in Belgium: organise joint marketing

In your existing business, you probably make your own decisions about advertising, promotions and launch events. Once franchisees join your network, every joint campaign also affects other business owners’ budgets and day-to-day operations. A strong franchise network therefore needs clear marketing agreements. This guide helps you establish who makes decisions, who handles delivery and how you account for spending before launching your first joint campaign.

1. Divide central and local marketing responsibilities

Start by allocating responsibilities, rather than drawing up a campaign calendar. Which marketing activities will you organise as the franchisor for the whole network? Which will franchisees handle locally? And which require consultation?

Create an overview with three categories:

• Central: for example, the brand website, shared visual assets and campaigns that raise awareness of the franchise brand as a whole.
• Local: for example, relationships with community groups, local events and distribution of approved promotional materials.
• Joint: for example, an opening campaign where you supply the materials and the franchisee organises local delivery.

For each activity, record who takes the lead, who approves it, who pays and who handles customer enquiries. This avoids both parties doing the same job — or each waiting for the other to act.

Also distinguish between firm commitments and support that may be available. “Support with local visibility” is vague. “A customisable campaign pack with visual assets and an implementation checklist” sets clearer expectations. Do not promise a steady stream of customers: marketing efforts are not the same as guaranteed results.

2. Make the marketing budget transparent and auditable

If franchisees contribute to joint marketing, they need to understand how that money is used. These arrangements go beyond setting a contribution: they cover management, spending and accountability.

Specify which expenses the joint budget covers. These might include advertising space, photography, design work or external campaign management. Also state whether internal staff costs will be charged to the budget and how they will be calculated. Clearly distinguish advertising to recruit new franchisees from advertising intended to attract customers to existing outlets.

Next, decide how you will report on spending. A useful overview shows the available budget, expenditure by category, outstanding commitments and the remaining balance. Agree in advance what happens to unspent funds and how any overspending will be handled. Keeping separate accounting records helps with this; present it as a management choice, not a general legal requirement.

Equal contributions do not automatically produce equal local benefits. A nationwide campaign may benefit an established outlet differently from a new one. Discuss how you will allocate funds and what scope there is to meet local needs. Transparency prevents a discussion about results from turning into distrust over the budget.

3. Put the agreements in the right legal documents

Belgium has specific pre-contractual rules for commercial cooperation agreements, including franchise agreements. These are set out in Book X, Title 2, Articles X.26 to X.33 of the Belgian Code of Economic Law. General contract law and the applicable advertising and competition rules also remain relevant.

Prospective franchisees must receive the draft agreement and the pre-contractual information document, known by its Dutch abbreviation PID, at least one month before entering into the agreement. The PID contains important contractual provisions and socio-economic information. Marketing obligations and any contributions must be set out accurately and clearly in the contractual documentation and, where required, in the PID.

Use the franchise agreement to establish the binding principles: mandatory participation, financial obligations, decision-making authority and reporting. Use the operations manual for practical matters such as file formats, request procedures and submission deadlines. Do not hide a new payment obligation in a campaign guide.

Have promotional arrangements legally reviewed too. Joint advertising does not, in itself, make mandatory minimum or fixed resale prices permissible. Be cautious about campaigns that prescribe a selling price. Also ensure that advertising claims and promotional terms are accurate, and that it is clear which outlets are participating.

4. Test one campaign before scaling up systematically

Use your existing business to trial the campaign process. Test not only whether the advert attracts attention, but also whether another business owner can understand how to deliver the campaign without a verbal explanation from you.

Prepare a short campaign brief covering the objective, target audience, participating locations, materials, timetable, allocation of costs and evaluation method. Check that the advertised products or services are available, and establish who can adjust the campaign if delivery runs into difficulties.

Afterwards, assess both the commercial indicators and the practical workload. How much preparation was needed? Did customer enquiries reach the right people? Were materials available on time? Distinguish between reach, enquiries and actual sales; not every sale can reliably be attributed to a single campaign.

Then involve franchisees through a clearly defined consultation meeting. Their local experience is valuable, but specify whether the meeting is advisory or has decision-making authority. This allows franchisees to have a say while keeping planning manageable.

The practical takeaway: before your first joint campaign, prepare three documents: an allocation of responsibilities, a transparent spending overview and an actionable campaign brief. Ensure they align with your franchise agreement and pre-contractual information.