Conditional Formatting an Excel Template

I have an Excel template that is used, periodically, for reporting a list of names. The names are grouped and sorted and I can conditionally format the report to highlight the rows when the name changes. However, when I add the same rule to the template, the conditional format is not applied to the reports.
Formula: =$A2<>$A1
Applies to: $A$1:$H$5000
How can I add this conditional format to my template and see it applied to the reports?