Long John Silver's had made the decision to switch from local spot media buys to a national media plan. This was a major change for Long John Silver's franchisees, because they were used to the control that came with local media buys. Additionally, national media buys didn't deliver the same GRPs in each market, causing some franchisees to feel slighted since they were paying the same amount but not receiving equal exposure. Empower MediaMarketingwas hired to develop a national media plan that would satisfy all involved.

Long John Silver's realized that it needed to get the buy-in from all of its franchisees in order to make the national media plan a reality. Empower embarked on creating a method for compensating franchisees in markets that did not benefit as much from the national media due to spill (franchisees make up one-third of the eatery's locations.). The result of Empower's efforts was a proprietary tool -the National Media Funding Allocation Chart. This tool allowed Long John Silver's to determine the rebate due to the franchise market and write a plan to reinvest the dollars to support the market.

Based on the formula, Long John Silver's refunded the difference in value to the under-delivered franchisees, giving the franchisees advertising dollars they could spend on local advertising. The franchisees went from feeling slighted to gaining national exposure as well as the local control and spots they desired.

Empower's tool also revealed markets that were underpaying, but benefiting more. This money was placed back into additional national media, stretching Long John Silver's total advertising budget even further.