KidStrong Marketing Playbook: Powering Franchise Success from Presale to Grand Opening

When a new KidStrong center prepares to open, the marketing machine doesn’t wait for the doors to unlock. It starts months before the first class ever runs. For Courtney Moscovic, Vice President of Marketing at KidStrong, that intentionality is everything. With more than a decade at Yum! Brands, supporting powerhouse concepts like Pizza Hut, agency experience and seven years as a KidStrong mom herself, Moscovic brings both franchise rigor and personal passion to the brand’s growth strategy.

1851 spoke with Moscovic to learn how that blend of enterprise-level strategy and mission-driven belief shows up in every phase of KidStrong’s marketing playbook.

Presale marketing

KidStrong’s presale window typically begins 10 to 14 weeks before opening, the moment a center is officially able to sell memberships. But the groundwork starts even earlier.

“We start digital marketing - aggressive paid digital marketing - to generate leads to get the presale members,” Moscovic said. “We do that intentionally to set centers up for success early in their KidStrong journey. We want them to be profitable as soon as possible and the more members they open with, the more momentum they’ll have.”

Before paid ads turn on, however, the team focuses on priming the market. “Prior to that, we have a team that leads you through brand awareness initiatives in the market, which includes a VIP list of early leads so that you have a strong starting point in your sales funnel,” she said. “And then we turn up the dial on paid advertising.”

Digital is the primary engine, with social media, particularly Instagram, driving a significant portion of early leads. But KidStrong doesn’t rely on a single channel.

“All throughout presale, we do digital marketing as well as on-the-ground events,” Moscovic said. “Digital will drive the majority of your lead volume, especially through social media, like Instagram. That’s where we see a majority of millennial moms spending their time, so we want to meet them where they’re at and that requires investment. The philosophy is simple: invest early, win early.”

“We also do a series of events and in-market activities throughout presale,” she said. “Some cities have never heard of KidStrong so inviting them into our centers can make a huge difference. When you can see and feel the KidStrong difference, even before classes start, it can really ramp sales.” That layered approach - awareness, VIP list, paid acquisition and in-person events - is designed to help centers open with meaningful membership volume from day one.

Opening week strategy

Opening week at KidStrong is a multi-phase experience. After launch, Moscovic’s team encourages new centers to activate their space immediately.

“After opening, we want you to run a few open houses, which have 15-minute mini classes,” she said. “You get all of those people who didn’t sign up during the presale phase out onto the floor to experience what KidStrong is.”

Thirty days later, it’s time to celebrate bigger. “After about a month, we want you to have a big grand opening - have the mayor come, cut a ribbon, food trucks, all of the fun stuff you expect at a grand opening,” Moscovic said. “Take a deep breath and celebrate the opening and your new community.”

While KidStrong provides structure and proven tactics, it also leaves room for local creativity. “We have a playbook for what we know works,” she said. “But with grassroots marketing, we let the local franchise owners choose their own adventure with how big they want to go.”

Ongoing marketing support

For Moscovic, marketing isn’t just a launch-phase activity. It’s a permanent operating function.

“Marketing does not have to be your first stop every day, but it should at least be your second,” she said. “The KidStrong marketing never turns off. You will always be losing members, which means you will always need new members, which means more leads, which means you need marketing. Love it or hate it, our marketing team will be by your side for the entirety of your KidStrong journey.”

That ongoing engine includes always-on paid digital campaigns, camp and party promotions, triggered email and SMS automations, and structured organic content support. Centers are encouraged to amplify that messaging locally.

“Franchise owners also have their own socials and we encourage them to post about their local centers,” she said. “We also provide a national marketing calendar that comes out quarterly so they can plan ahead.”

While the systems are centralized, innovation doesn’t flow in just one direction. “The biggest thing that leads to success in franchise marketing is collaboration,” Moscovic said. “A good idea can come from anywhere. We have a lot of smart franchise owners in our system and they often come to us with ideas.”

Rather than shutting down new concepts, her team leans into experimentation. “We don’t want to say no,” she said. “How can we treat this as a test and replicate it elsewhere? I always want franchise owners to bring ideas to us.”

Overall, Moscovic is clear that marketing at KidStrong is not passive support. “We are extra supportive and responsive with the franchise owners,” she said. “We are hands-on with every single center, all the time.”

From presale launch plans to quarterly calendars to day-to-day campaign optimization, the marketing team acts as an extension of each franchise owner’s business. That hands-on structure, combined with aggressive early investment and always-on digital execution, is designed to create momentum that compounds over time.

For franchise owners, that means they’re not starting from scratch in a new market. They’re stepping into a tested system with national expertise, local flexibility and a team that treats marketing as a growth lever.