Can I use advertising materials for my Embassy Suites hotel before Embassy Suites approves 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, franchisees must submit all advertising and promotional materials to Embassy Suites for approval before they can be used. This includes materials in digital, electronic, or computerized form, or in any form of media that exists now or is developed in the future. Franchisees cannot begin using these materials until Embassy Suites provides its approval. This requirement ensures that all advertising aligns with the brand's standards and identity.
Embassy Suites retains the right to demand that franchisees immediately stop using any advertising or promotional material that it reasonably believes is not in the best interest of the hotel or the Embassy Suites system, even if the materials were previously approved. This provision allows Embassy Suites to maintain control over its brand image and marketing strategies, ensuring consistency and quality across all locations. 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 system without any compensation to the originating franchisee.
These stipulations are typical in franchising, where maintaining brand consistency is crucial. The franchisee bears the cost and expense of local and regional advertising, which must be conducted in a first-class, dignified manner, adhering to Embassy Suites's identity and graphics standards. This ensures that the local advertising efforts complement the national advertising strategies managed by Embassy Suites's in-house marketing department and external vendors.