Thunderly's "Franchise Freaks" Podcast Wins Bronze for Business People & Entrepreneurs Shaping Culture at the 5th Annual Signal Awards

Episode with PESO Model® creator Gini Dietrich recognized

Signal Awards honor the risk takers shaping podcasting

DALLAS, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- "Franchise Freaks," the podcast from Thunderly, a full-service franchise marketing agency, has been awarded Bronze in the Business People & Entrepreneurs Shaping Culture category within the Shows division of the 5th Annual Signal Awards. Recognizing podcasts that push creative boundaries, challenge traditional formats and find innovative ways to connect with listeners, the award honors Franchise Freaks Season 2, Episode 22 installment, "PESO: Paid Earned Shared and Owned Media with Gini Dietrich."

Released in June 2025, the 15-minute episode features Gini Dietrich, founder and CEO of Spin Sucks and creator of the PESO Model®, discussing how paid, earned, shared and owned media work together to create a unified communications strategy. The conversation explores practical ways to implement the model and its future, with the first half airing on the Social Geek podcast and the second on "Franchise Freaks."

"Franchise Freaks started as a nickname inside our team, and a podcast about franchise marketing is not an obvious bet. The risk was that nobody outside our industry would care," said Jack Monson, Chief Growth Officer of Thunderly, who hosts the podcast. "As the podcast has continued to gather more attention, we kept making it because franchising has some of the best entrepreneurial stories in business. Being recognized by a Judging Academy full of the people who shape this medium means a great deal to everyone who has worked on it."

Winners are selected by The Signal Awards Judging Academy, a collective made up of the architects, instigators and trailblazers of the medium.

"Podcasting is no longer defined by a single format, platform or approach to storytelling, and this year's submissions make that evolution impossible to ignore," said Jemma Brown, GM of The Signal Awards. "Charts and download counts can only tell us what's popular. At Signal, our role is to notice the creative risks that are quietly changing what everyone else makes next. This year's Winners offer a first look at podcasting's next chapter."

Each year, The Signal Awards present Gold, Silver and Bronze honors, and the listening public votes for their favorite Finalists to receive the Listener's Choice Award in each category. In 2026, Listener's Choice voting drew more than 260,000 votes from 94,000 listeners.

"We tell franchise brands that owned media like a podcast does double duty. It builds a relationship with listeners, and it creates expert content that earned and search channels can pick up," said Scott White, CEO of Thunderly. "Having an episode about the PESO Model® recognized this way shows we practice what we preach."

To listen to the episode, visit franchisefreaks.fireside.fm/22. Franchise Freaks is also available on Spotify and Amazon Music.

More information about Thunderly and its proprietary AIM Model© is available at www.thunderlymarketing.com.

About The Signal Awards

The Signal Awards recognizes the podcasts that define culture. The awards body is mission-focused on uplifting the podcast medium by recognizing the most potent, meaningful and unprecedented audio projects being made today as decided by The Signal Awards Judging Academy.

About Thunderly

Recently named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies for the second year in a row and annually included in Entrepreneur magazine's listing of Top Franchise Marketing Agencies, Thunderly is a full-service franchise marketing agency built to amplify and grow franchises and other dynamic brands. Throughout its history, Thunderly has helped franchisors award more than 15,000 franchises.

Founded in 1999, Thunderly brings decades of expertise in franchise development under one roof, including lead generation, website design, video production, public relations, social media, thought leadership, influencer campaigns, digital advertising, graphic design, crisis communication, personal branding, podcast production and more.

Known for its proprietary AIM Model© (Amplified Integrated Marketing), Thunderly enables brands to align every aspect of marketing communications into a cohesive, structured strategy designed to maximize visibility in a zero-click world across both traditional and AI-powered platforms.

More information is available at www.thunderlymarketing.com.

SOURCE Thunderly Marketing