Australia’s leading provider of physiotherapy and related services.

From a humble, in-home practice established in 1999 to a thriving franchise with more than 480 staff in 90+ locations and more than 50 franchises in six Australian states in 2015. Back In Motion Health Group’s continued success has perfectly placed the franchise to capitalise on the booming health and wellbeing industry.

The challenges of ensuring franchise owners maintain brand integrity

Back In Motion’s sights are set on expanding further across the country and more than doubling their practices in the coming years, therefore maintaining brand integrity is imperative. As with any business objective, brand integrity requires resources that can be delivered in-house or outsourced. To achieve this objective a broad range of factors must be taken into account, such as; accurate reproduction of logo and brand elements, colour consistency, uniformity of paper stock and finishing options, ensuring collateral is produced in the correct format, maintaining a high standard of image resolution and that all information published is current and correct. In of itself this is a lot of work, but multiplied by dozens of locations across Australia, using a multitude of different printers, it becomes impossible to guarantee any sort of consistency for a brand that new practices are buying into.

In addition to the necessary investment, scrutinising every piece of print produced by each practice would do little to foster a gratified and well-supported franchise system. Back In Motion was in need of a business to provide support and fulfil this need.

When looking for best practice solutions to improve marketing and print aspects of their business, Whirlwind was recommended to Back In Motion through their franchise network. Whirlwind’s reputation in the sector combined with the print solutions offered; in particular the Online Print Management (OPM) system, made them an ideal candidate to support the growing number of practices.

Strategically, outsourcing brand management was the best solution.

To provide true value the OPM system must absolutely meet the needs of both Back In Motion National Support Office and the franchise owners.

• Every Back In Motion practice has a unique log in, which means an equal level of support can be provided no matter their location
• Distributing new collateral is as easy as sending artwork to Whirlwind; the OPM team convert it to templates and make it available for all practice owners to access online
• All key information is pre-populated onto a designed template, making it incredibly easy and fast for practices to log into the system and personalise their marketing material, such as business cards, appointment cards and promotional materials
• Static printed items and merchandise are ordered in bulk and stored at Whirlwind’s growing pick and pack fulfilment warehouse, providing time and cost savings to both head office and individual practices
• Practices are able to select from any of the static or variable templates, order and pay online at their convenience, even outside of practice & client focused hours
• Establishing a new practice is made easier with the “new practice launch kit”; this takes the guess work out of ordering the must-haves for a new practice – they’re able to select and order marketing collateral from a complete package developed by Back In Motion
• Any questions or troubleshooting issues are addressed directly by a dedicated account manager at Whirlwind who understands the Back In Motion business, online products and history

100% of the practices choose to use Back In Motion’s OPM, which is a resounding testament to the capabilities of the system.

“Whirlwind provides our business a holistic print solution with their OPM platform and a dedicated Account Manager. The convenience of the platform, customer service and cost effectiveness are all reasons that I would recommend Whirlwind.” Natalie Whittington – Marketing, Communications and Public Relations, Back In Motion.

More than a Whirlwind romance

Since engaging Whirlwind as their print partner in early 2010, Back In Motion has confidence that their practice owners all have access to the best quality print and are supported by excellent staff at Whirlwind. Key Account Manager Jenny Young identifies the professionalism of every practice director as one of the reasons she loves managing the Back In Motion account. “Whether I’m following up jobs or handling an unusual request, every interaction is productive and positive. I’m given the impression that each practice director trusts Whirlwind to get the job done and personally I find that attitude incredibly motivating.”

“Building a key, longstanding relationship with one print partner ensures that they understand our business and our needs.” Natalie Whittington – Marketing, Communications and Public Relations, Back In Motion.

A strong partnership is of upmost importance for Back In Motion, especially during the current growth phase. Back In Motion’s In-house Graphic Designer works with Whirlwind on a daily basis while the Marketing Manager manages the relationship on a broader scale, ensuring the relationship meets the evolving business needs. Whirlwind is committed to the ongoing improvement of service and Back In Motion credits the diligent account management with strengthening the partnership over time. It is the quick turnaround time on quotes, enquiries and merchandising and the services above and beyond print that keeps Back In Motion satisfied.