Fitting Branch Locations, Performance Standards, and Marketing Strategies to Local Conditions

THERE are many situations in which headquarters management desires to make proper allowance for local conditions in selecting new locations, evaluating current performance, and providing marketing support to several geographically separate units. Such units may include, for example, different sales territories, retail stores, banking facilities, and service stations. They could belong to such categories as branch, voluntary chain, or franchise operations. This article describes how chain marketing managers can more effectively screen new branch locations, set realistic performance standards for different communities, and pinpoint remedial actions through regression models. Examples are given from the savings field.