Cliff Kennedy spent eight months as a Frios Gourmet Pops franchisee before buying the whole company in 2018. Back then, Frios had about 12 brick-and-mortar shops. During COVID, Cliff rewrote the FDD from the ground up, moved franchisees out of their leases, and turned the brand into “the modern day ice cream truck.” Today Frios has more than 100 tie-dye-wrapped mobile locations across the country.

In this episode of The Art of Franchise Marketing, host Erin Martin and Cliff dig into how Frios markets a brand that sells happiness. They cover why “how it’s made” content is outperforming event footage, how a rock, paper, scissors game with Cliff’s son created the #1 flavor, why strawberry mango wins in the West but not the Northeast, and how Frios hands franchisees a playbook for every new flavor launch.

Then it gets tactical on AI. Cliff walks through the dashboards he’s built by connecting Google Search Console, HubSpot, sales and ordering data, and how he studies creators’ first three seconds to sharpen his own content. His bottom line: use AI for the data and the drafts, but stay human in everything you put out.

What you’ll learn

• How Frios pivoted from storefronts to a mobile model, and got franchisees on board

• Why product-making content resonates with both consumers and franchise candidates

• How regional flavor data shapes the innovation roadmap and LTOs

• How Frios turns franchisee and influencer moments into brand partnerships

• The “first three seconds” test, and how to stop burying the lead in social content

• Real AI workflows: weekly data dashboards, flavor trend tracking, and personalized outreach at scale