“When our Board challenged us to lead an industry-wide strategic initiative designed to drive a 50% increase in market share we engaged Rob to be our consultant and guide. VIA did an outstanding job over a two year time period working with our Board and our diverse membership to help us achieve our objectives.”
Nancy Fletcher“Rob helped us create and advance Cable On Demand as a new category of television via a consortium of cable companies, content providers and suppliers that collaborated to reach agreement on standards, branding and measurement. Today, on demand is an essential part of American’s TV experience, but developing the product across companies with diverse interests required sharp strategic thinking, persuasion and patience.”
Char Beales President & CEOVIA has had the privilege of being engaged by four NY or DC-based associations, each representing hundreds of member companies. In two cases, the primary role of the association was legislative. In one case, the association role was industry-wide marketing. In another case, the association role was developing and driving industry technical standards.
What these associations had in common that they had been tasked by their Boards to go on the offensive and help grow the industry while continuing to fulfill their historic role. What they also had in common was having a CEO who was up to tackling the challenge.
All four recognized that employing an agnostic strategy consultant would be critical to their success given member companies having both similar and divergent interests. The consultant would need to have a proven ability to work with their many CEO members, develop strategy, facilitate consensus, and be the architect of an implementation plan. Put simply, these associations recognized that they did not have the resident skillsets or experience to fulfill this expanded role internally.
Industry association projects have unique challenges for the consultant. Typically membership spans a buy-sell value chain, and so competing interests are the norm. Care must be taken that the work stays within well-defined legal boundaries. There will almost always be larger and smaller members, and care must be taken that outcomes meet common interests irrespective of dues paid. Confidentiality takes on different and even higher order importance. And, unlike working with a single company client, it is more challenging to work with a roomful of CEOs than a single management team with a clear hierarchy.
Above are links to several case examples of our work with associations, and we look forward to discussing with you the growth opportunities your industry might open-up by harnessing the collective scale of your membership.