If I develop advertising materials for my Embassy Suites hotel that are approved, can other hotels use them?
Embassy_Suites Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
You must advertise and promote the hotel and related facilities and services on a local and regional basis as we specify in the Manual, in a first-class, dignified manner, using our identity and graphics standards for all System Hotels, at your cost and expense. You must submit to us samples of all advertising and promotional materials that we have not previously approved (including any materials in digital, electronic, or computerized form, or in any form of media that exists now or is developed in the future) before you produce or distribute them. You may not begin using the materials until we approve them. You must immediately discontinue your use of any advertising or promotional material that we reasonably believe is not in the best interest of your Hotel or the System, even if we previously approved the materials. Any advertising or promotional materials, or sales or marketing concepts, you develop for your Hotel that we approve may be used by other hotels in the System without any compensation to you. (Franchise Agreement, Section 5.1.7).
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND TRAINING (FDD pages 53–67)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Embassy Suites's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, any advertising or promotional materials, or sales or marketing concepts, that a franchisee develops for their hotel and that Embassy Suites approves, may be used by other hotels in the Embassy Suites system without any compensation to the franchisee who developed them. This means that if a franchisee invests time and resources into creating successful advertising campaigns, Embassy Suites has the right to share those materials with other franchisees in the system.
This policy could be seen as both a benefit and a risk for franchisees. On one hand, it allows franchisees to potentially benefit from the creative work of others in the system, gaining access to effective advertising materials they may not have been able to develop on their own. On the other hand, it means that a franchisee's own innovative ideas could be used by others without any direct financial reward.
It is important for prospective Embassy Suites franchisees to consider this aspect of the franchise agreement and factor it into their decision-making process. While the sharing of advertising materials can foster collaboration and efficiency within the franchise system, it also raises questions about intellectual property and the potential for uncompensated use of a franchisee's creative work.