Ziebart Marketing Leader Larisa Walega on Franchise Growth, Storytelling and Loyalty

At Ziebart, franchise marketing is driven by a clear focus on accountability, creativity and collaboration. Chief Growth Officer Larissa Walega describes her favorite part of the job as navigating the intersection of brand-building and local impact — crafting strategies that scale while still moving the needle at the unit level. She emphasizes the importance of ensuring every marketing initiative is measurable and directly tied to ROI.

That means working closely across departments like sales, operations, technology, customer experience and finance, alongside franchisees themselves. As an employee-owned company, Ziebart treats franchisee marketing dollars with a sense of shared responsibility, making sure every dollar spent works as hard as the owners do.

Walega sees storytelling as one of the biggest untapped opportunities in franchise marketing. With a built-in network of passionate local owners, franchise brands like Ziebart are uniquely positioned to build trust by helping those owners share their stories consistently and authentically. Looking ahead, she predicts continued momentum around AI-driven customer journeys, raw short-form social content and deeper community engagement, especially within niche spaces like automotive culture or veteran services.

Most notably, Walega believes the definition of customer loyalty is shifting — less about points programs and more about values alignment. Brands that show up consistently and live their purpose, especially at the local level, will be the ones that stand out.

Larisa Walega: What I love most is the balance of creativity and data. You’re constantly navigating between growing brand equity while scaling that same marketing to drive real local impact for franchisees. It’s about connecting the strategy into campaigns that move the needle at the unit level — and that challenge is what’s very exciting!

1851: What do you see as the single most important thing franchise marketing pros can do to impact franchisees’ unit-level economics?

Walega: Make sure everything you do is measurable and positively impacts ROI. For Ziebart, that means consistent collaboration across sales, operations, product support, technology, customer experience and finance — in addition to our franchise owners. Being a proud ESOP company and managing our franchise owners’ brand marketing dollars, we take that collaboration and ownership very seriously. Every dollar spent should be working just as hard as our franchisees do. When your actions are accountable and actionable, everyone wins.

Walega: Storytelling that is scalable on a global-to-local level. We all crave connection and trust. Franchise brands have this built-in community of passionate local owners. When we give them the tools and voice to tell their stories consistently, that’s where real brand equity and magic are built — and where policy is created that supports the growth of franchise brands and owners.

Walega: AI will keep evolving, especially in the digital-to-physical customer journey that Ziebart drivers live in. Social media will continue to push the boundaries with short-form, unpolished video. And I think we’ll see a continued shift toward community building — franchise brands creating real value in niche spaces beyond just pushing product (think automotive enthusiasts, veteran services, etc.).

Walega: I think we’re heading toward a major redefinition of loyalty. Gone are the days when points programs dominate your decision-making in choosing a brand. Values alignment and connection are winning over consumers. They choose brands that reflect their beliefs and treat them like partners, not just buyers. Franchise brands that can live their values visibly and consistently — especially at the local level — will win.