Men In Kilts got rid of its signature “No peeking!” tagline in 2022 as part of its rebranding.
Men In Kilts had a few reasons to move away from its “No peeking!” tagline in 2022.
“I kept hearing from the franchisees that customers don’t know what we do. Our name doesn’t say what we do, our tagline doesn’t say what we do,” President Rachel Southard said of the window and exterior house cleaning franchise. “In fact, it almost insinuates something a little more risqué than exterior cleaning. Franchisees were getting called to do bachelorette parties.”
To reinvigorate sales or more accurately reflect a brand’s mission, franchises may undergo rebrands, which can involve new logos, names or taglines and are often based on feedback from customers and franchisees.
Men In Kilts, which has its employees wear kilts when on the job, wants to use the Scottish garments to emphasize the brand’s commitment to loyalty and professionalism. “A big piece of it was our messaging was a little misleading,” Southard said. Its website now has more straightforward messaging in line with the services provided, such as “Your tough-to-tackle cleaning team,” and “It’s not a uniform. It’s a badge of pride.”
Rachel Southard
Nothing was off the table in regards to rebranding except for the kilt itself. Southard wanted to leverage the brand’s reputation among clients to do work at a quality level competitors cannot match, while still embracing its unique nature.
“When we show up and the van pulls up, and all these men in kilts get out, it’s like an immediate show. It’s entertainment,” Southard said.
Men In Kilts, which has about 50 units in the U.S. and Canada, provided training to franchisees to support the rebrand effort. “We did a lot of education on who our target audience is and … how we message to them differently in different channels,” Southard said.
At a meeting when it debuted the new messaging to franchisees, Men In Kilts gave each owner a $1,000 gift card to spend on marketing materials. The company emphasizes the importance of diversifying marketing efforts, both online and, especially, offline. Southard said it’s important for owners to be out in their respective communities while wearing their kilt or carrying branded items. “That’s what really drives results,” she said.
Men In Kilts is owned by parent company Threshold Brands, which also owns Patio Patrol, MaidPro and Pestmaster. In 2022, the company acquired Granite Garage Floors, Heating + Air Paramedics and Plumbing Paramedics.
Patio Patrol switched its name entirely under Threshold. The pest control franchise, previously known as FlyFoe, changed to Patio Patrol in part because the company didn’t actually offer fly control services, said Kieran Scott, brand president of Patio Patrol and Pestmaster Services, which also recently rebranded.
The misnomer wasn’t resonating with FlyFoe’s customers, and the brand colors weren’t working for franchisee candidates. It was time to shake things up with a new name, Scott said. “That’s one thing you don’t see a lot of in the pest control industry, is innovation or modernization,” Scott said.
When Patio Patrol entered the mosquito control sector in 2017, many franchises—think Mosquito Joe, Mosquito Authority and Mosquito Squad—were already well established, Scott said. During rebrand brainstorming stages, the Patio Patrol team determined it could differentiate itself from the crowd because one of its services is cleaning gutters, often a breeding ground for mosquitos.
Alongside gutter cleaning, Patio Patrol also offers nylon and mesh screen repair and general exterior pest service. “We can kind of continue to differentiate ourselves not only in the consumers’ eyes, but also in the eyes of the franchisees,” Scott said.
Jovie was originally called College Nannies and Sitters before switching names in 2022.
Babysitting and nannying franchise Jovie likewise changed its name to better reflect its services and mission. Previously known as College Nannies and Sitters, the company chose Jovie, which means joyful, because the brand hires caregivers of all ages and backgrounds—not just college students. The name came from a list of 1,100 possibilities after undertaking a study in 2021 to learn about brand perception, and company leaders spoke with hundreds of families and caregivers to make the decision.
“What we learned was the best possible thing, which was our brand, our services were really needed—but folks really didn’t understand what we did,” Jovie President Joe Loch said.
The brand, which has 221 territories in 37 states, hires caregivers that provide baby-sitting and nannying services to families. Unlike other caregiving services, Jovie’s employees are just that—employees, not contracted workers.
Jovie franchisee Brian Reich said the company provided branding and marketing materials for the launch of the new name.
“We were really excited about it, because it’s really kind of fresh and new,” Reich said.
At emerging donut brand Yonutz, the name stayed the same when founder and CEO Tony Bahu purchased the existing store in Sunrise, Florida, just outside Fort Lauderdale, in 2018. Pretty much everything else changed. “We literally gutted it from top to bottom,” Bahu said.
He partnered with former “Shark Tank” judge Kevin Harrington to expand via franchising, but before taking Yonutz nationwide, Bahu wanted to reinvigorate the brand. To him, the toughest part of growing the franchise would be figuring out how to convey its mission. When he mentioned the idea to Harrington and his team, the group laughed because, typically, the hardest sell to a client is rebranding—and now Bahu was pitching the idea to them.
“So, it’s all a matter of creating the right strategies, and always saying, ‘Hey, are we doing this properly? Is there something we could be doing better? Are we bringing the right team aboard?’” Bahu said.
Yonutz developed a new logo and brand manifesto to better align with Bahu’s vision. The biggest change is the overall look of the stores, which have been filled with bright colors to showcase Yonutz’ whimsical vibe. Five units are open, with agreements signed to open about 20 stores in several states.
“It’s fun, it’s kind of like you get to take a break from life for a few minutes and just be a kid again when you walk into these stores,” Bahu said. He thinks of Yonutz like a donut amusement park. “My goal is to really just have this be a part of what I hope is America’s everyday life in the future.”