1. Why This Playbook Matters Now

The franchise industry is entering one of its most competitive periods in recent history. With over 851,000 franchise establishments projected for 2025 and an estimated $936.4 billion in total output, the market has never been more crowded—or more opportunity-rich.

But here's the paradox: while franchising is growing at 2.4% (outpacing the broader U.S. economy), 60% of new franchises still fail within their first three years—primarily due to inadequate market research and poor competitive positioning.

The brands that are winning aren't just opening more locations. They're obsessively studying what their competitors are doing, then doing it better. According to recent franchise industry research, success in 2025 hinges on "operational excellence, strong unit-level economics, and data-driven decision-making." Yet most franchisors struggle with one critical component: systematic competitive intelligence.

Enter Dustin Miller, founder of Swing Bays, an indoor golf franchise that's achieved something remarkable: only 19 members lost out of 160 in nearly four years of operation. Most of those were relocations, not dissatisfaction.

His secret? A simple but powerful competitive intelligence system that most franchise brands are too proud—or too comfortable—to implement.

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2. Breaking Down the Core Concept: The "Dustin Method"

Dustin Miller doesn't hide from his competition. He studies them religiously.

Every 2-3 weeks, Dustin sends his staff to competitor locations. Not to copy. Not to criticize. But to feel what they'd never do—and identify what they should.

As Dustin explains in his recent podcast appearance:

"I want my staff every 2-3 weeks going to a competitor's location and hanging out there for an hour, going there and feeling, 'Hey, these guys are doing something amazing, but this is something that we'd never do.' And we talk about that a lot. We have open communication to where again, how can we always create better service than what we're creating now?"

This isn't espionage. It's experiential learning. His team sits in competitor facilities, observes staff interactions, notices what works and what falls flat, then brings those insights back for honest team discussions.

Dustin calls it "breathing your own fumes" when you only stay inside your own four walls. The antidote? Regular competitive exposure that keeps your team sharp, humble, and constantly improving.

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The Traditional vs. Miller Method

Traditional ApproachThe Dustin Miller MethodAnnual competitive analysisBi-weekly competitive visitsMarketing team onlyEntire staff participatesFocus on copying winnersFocus on learning what NOT to doOne-way observationTeam discussion and applicationDefensive posture toward competition"I welcome that with confidence"Siloed insightsOpen communication culture

The genius of this approach is that it creates a learning organization rather than a defensive one. Dustin welcomes competition because it forces his team to continuously raise their standards.

But there's a problem: This system was designed for brick-and-mortar visits. What about the digital battlefield where most franchise competition actually happens today?

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3. What This Means for Franchisors

The franchise landscape has fundamentally changed. Your competitors aren't just down the street anymore—they're in your prospects' Facebook feeds, Instagram stories, TikTok For You pages, and Google search results.

Research shows that over 50% of consumers are now drawn to franchises based on convenience, speed, and the digital experience. Meanwhile, franchise brands are investing heavily in technology, with AI and automation becoming critical differentiators.

Here's what this means for your franchise system:

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Your Competition Is Winning (or Losing) Online First

Before a prospect walks into your location, they've already:

• Seen competitor ads on social media (possibly dozens of them)
• Compared your digital presence to theirs
• Read reviews, watched videos, and formed opinions
• Made 80% of their decision about whether to engage

If you're not systematically monitoring competitor digital activity, you're flying blind in the channel that matters most.

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Your Franchisees Need Competitive Intelligence Too

Local franchisees face unique competitive threats in their markets. A corporate-level competitive analysis from six months ago doesn't help them understand:

• What ads their local competitors are running right now
• Which promotions are driving traffic this month
• What messaging is resonating in their specific market
• How competitor pricing and offers have evolved

According to franchise development experts, "Strong competitive intelligence improves every aspect of franchise development. Territory planning becomes more accurate when you understand competitor locations and market saturation levels."

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The Risk of Inaction

Without systematic digital competitive intelligence, your franchise system faces:

• Messaging that misses the mark: You're crafting campaigns based on assumptions rather than what's actually working in your category
• Wasted ad spend: You're testing concepts your competitors already proved don't work
• Franchisee frustration: Local operators feel unsupported when they're losing business to competitors with better marketing
• Slower innovation cycles: You're always reactive, never proactive
• Declining market share: Competitors who DO monitor your moves can counter-position faster

As one franchise consultant notes: "A taxi company that only watched other taxi companies missed Uber and Lyft completely. Don't ignore indirect competitors. They often become your biggest threats."

The franchise brands that will dominate 2025 and beyond aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets. They're the ones with the best intelligence systems.

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4. How Foreplay Operationalizes the Dustin Method—Digitally

Imagine if you could send your team to "visit" competitor locations digitally—watching what they're doing in real-time, building a library of their best (and worst) work, and discussing it in weekly team meetings.

That's exactly what Foreplay enables for franchise brands.

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The Digital Equivalent of Dustin's Bi-Weekly Visits

Foreplay transforms competitive intelligence from a sporadic, manual task into a systematic, ongoing workflow:

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1. Spyder: Your Automated Competitor Tracker

Foreplay's Spyder feature automatically scrapes all of your competitors' advertising daily across Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and TikTok. Unlike Facebook's Ad Library where ads disappear, Spyder stores everything permanently from the moment you start tracking.

For Franchisors:

• Track 5-10 top national competitors automatically
• Build a historical database of competitor creative
• Identify seasonal patterns and campaign cycles
• See exactly what's working (long-running ads = winners)

For Franchisees:

• Track local competitors in their specific territory
• Understand regional variations in competitor messaging
• React faster to local competitive threats

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2. Discovery: The World's Largest Ad Library

Foreplay's Discovery gives you access to over 500,000 curated ads from the franchise community and beyond—constantly updated in real-time.

Key Features:

• AI-powered search: Find ads by keyword, brand, or even visual content
• Sort by "longest running": Ads that run longer are performing well—study these
• Time travel: See what brands were running 6 months or 2 years ago
• Landing page captures: Every ad includes desktop and mobile screenshots of the destination page
• Filter by platform: Separate Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn strategies

Franchise Application:Search for your category (e.g., "fitness franchise," "quick service restaurant," "home services") and instantly see what messaging, offers, and creative formats are working across your industry.

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3. Swipe File: Your Organized Inspiration Hub

Just like Dustin brings his team back to discuss observations, Foreplay's Swipe File lets you organize and share competitive intelligence across your franchise system.

How Franchisors Use It:

• Create boards for different themes: "Competitor Messaging," "Seasonal Promotions," "Video Hooks That Work," "Offers to Avoid"
• Share boards with franchisee groups via public links (no account required)
• Tag ads with custom labels for easy retrieval
• Add team comments and observations directly on ads

Weekly Franchise Meeting Workflow:

1. Review competitor ads saved that week
2. Discuss: What's working? What would we never do?
3. Identify opportunities to differentiate
4. Update marketing playbooks based on insights

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4. AI Brief Builder: From Insight to Action

Foreplay's AI-powered brief builder transforms saved competitor ads into actionable creative briefs for your team.

Features:

• AI script writing based on winning patterns
• Scene-by-scene storyboard creation
• Dynamic deliverables management
• Modular brief building for franchise customization

Franchise Use Case:See a competitor running a successful lead generation campaign? Use Foreplay's AI to analyze the script, identify the hook, and create a brief for your creative team to develop your own version—better, more on-brand, and differentiated.

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Integration Into Your Franchise System

The key to success isn't just having the tool—it's embedding it into your operations:

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Corporate Level:

• Marketing Team: 30 minutes daily reviewing new competitive activity
• Weekly All-Hands: 15-minute competitive insights section
• Quarterly Planning: Historical analysis of competitor campaigns to inform strategy
• FDD Updates: Competitive landscape documentation for franchise sales

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Franchisee Support:

• Onboarding: Training module on using competitive intelligence
• Marketing Playbook: Section on monitoring local competitors
• Regional Calls: Share regional competitive trends
• Franchise Advisory Council: Review macro competitive shifts

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Training Integration:

• Add competitive analysis to franchisee training curriculum
• Create a "Competitive Intelligence Champion" role in each region
• Incentivize franchisees who contribute valuable competitive insights
• Build a feedback loop where corporate insights inform franchisee tactics (and vice versa)

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The Numbers That Matter

Foreplay's pricing makes this accessible for franchise systems of all sizes:

• Inspiration Plan: $49/month per user
  • Access to 500,000+ ads
  • Unlimited saves
  • Team collaboration features
• Workflow Plan: $99/month per user
  • Everything in Inspiration
  • AI brief generator
  • Advanced storyboarding tools

ROI Calculation:If implementing systematic competitive intelligence helps you:

• Avoid ONE failed campaign ($10,000-$50,000 saved)
• Improve ad performance by 10-15% (easily worth $100,000+ annually for a growing franchise)
• Increase franchisee satisfaction by reducing competitive blind spots

The tool pays for itself many times over—especially when you consider it's improving outcomes for salaried marketing staff who are already on payroll.

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5. Key Takeaway

Dustin Miller built a franchise brand with 88% retention by refusing to breathe his own fumes. He systematically exposes his team to competitor experiences, creates space for honest discussion, and uses those insights to continuously improve.

Most franchisors agree this is brilliant for physical locations. But they're completely ignoring the same opportunity in the digital space—where the actual battle for customers is being fought.

The franchise brands that will dominate in 2025 and beyond won't be the ones with the biggest ad budgets or the flashiest creative agencies. They'll be the ones with the best competitive intelligence systems—implemented consistently, discussed openly, and applied strategically.

Foreplay operationalizes the Dustin Method for the digital age. It turns competitor monitoring from a sporadic, manual task into a systematic competitive advantage embedded in your franchise culture.

The question isn't whether you should monitor competitors digitally. With 851,000+ franchise locations fighting for the same customers and over 60% of new franchises failing due to inadequate market intelligence, the question is whether you can afford not to.

Your competitors are already studying you. The only question is: Are you studying them?

Ready to implement digital competitive intelligence in your franchise system?

Start by identifying your top 5-10 competitors and signing up for Foreplay's 7-day free trial. Spend 30 minutes exploring what they're running right now. Bring those insights to your next team meeting.

Watch what happens when you stop breathing your own fumes and start learning from the market.

For more franchise growth strategies and operational frameworks, visit Franchise Frameworks.

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