Vianovo
TypePrivate
IndustryManagement consulting
Communications
Advocacy
Public relations
Founded2005
Headquarters
United States
Mexico
Number of locations
4 (2014)
ServicesStrategic planning
Crisis communications
Issue campaigns
Coalition building
Grassroots mobilization
Opinion research
Market entry
Websitewww.vianovo.com

Vianovo is a United States and Mexico-based management and communication consultancy. The firm serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, startups and non-profit organizations on brand, policy and crisis issues. The bipartisan firm was founded in 2005 by political strategists Blaine Bull, Matthew Dowd, Tucker Eskew and James Taylor. Many of the firm's partners were previously senior staff members on presidential campaigns, at the White House, and on Capitol Hill.

Company overview

Vianovo is a management, advocacy and communication consultancy with offices in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Washington, D.C. and Mexico City.[1][2] The firm's services include opinion research, strategic planning, public campaigns, issue advocacy, public relations, coalition building, crisis management and cross-border expansion.[1][3][4] Vianovo serves as an advisor to corporations, startups and non-profit organizations.[5][6]

Notable clients have included AT&T,[7] the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,[8] the NBA,[4] Malaria No More,[9] Valeant Pharmaceuticals,[10] and Bears for Leadership Reform.[11] The firm also has an investment group, Vianovo Ventures, which partners with and supports startups.[6]

Vianovo is led by eight partners: Blaine Bull, Tucker Eskew, Matthew Miller,[12] Billy Moore,[1] Katherine Nash Goehring,[13] Robert Norcross,[1] Michael Shannon[1] and James Taylor.[14] Other key Vianovo staff members include vice presidents Julie Hillrichs,[15] Elizabeth Lippincott,[16] Cesar Martinez,[17] Lori McClure and senior advisor M.C. Andrews.[18]

Company history

Vianovo was established as a bipartisan firm in May 2005 by political strategists Bull, Dowd, Eskew and Taylor.[19] The firm merged the founders' four agencies: Eskew Strategy Group, Dowd Strategic Consulting, StratCom Group, and CIMA Strategies.[19] The name Vianovo is derived from the Latin root meaning “new way.”[20]

Previous to their work at Vianovo, Dowd and Eskew held senior positions on the presidential campaigns of former president George W. Bush,[19][21] and Eskew served as head of media affairs in the White House.[22] Bull, Dowd, Moore and Taylor worked for Senator Lloyd Bentsen in Congress.[14]

In 2005, the company employed a new proprietary process called AIMD, which stands for Audience, Insight, Message and Delivery.[5] Vianovo uses the process to plan and implement targeted communication.[23] In 2006, partners William "Billy" Moore, Michael Shannon and Robert Norcross joined Vianovo.[1] Moore was a veteran of over 50 political campaigns.[24] Shannon came to Vianovo from the Boston Consulting Group and had previously been a strategist on the 2004 George W. Bush presidential campaign.[1] That same year, Norcross opened a new Vianovo office in Dallas-Fort Worth.[2] Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Antonio "Tony" Garza joined Vianovo as a partner in June 2009.[25] As of 2013, Garza is chairman of Vianovo Ventures, Vianovo’s investment arm, which partners with and funds startups.[25][26]

Matthew Miller joined Vianovo as a partner in 2011 after leaving his role at the United States Department of Justice, where he served as Attorney General Eric Holder's spokesperson.[27] In March 2014, the firm formed Mexico Energy Strategic Advisory (MESA), an advisory board that offers U.S. companies and investors information, strategic advice and policy analysis on the Mexico energy market.[2]

Founding partner Matthew Dowd left Vianovo in 2015 to launch Paradox Capital, a social impact venture fund.[28] Katherine Nash Goehring became a partner in 2015.[13] Prior to that, Goehring led communications and investor relations for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.[29]

Notable projects

Vianovo was hired by the National Basketball Association to help the league find a new demographic of fans in 2005.[4] The firm conducted focus groups and consulted with NBA Commissioner David Stern. Stern implemented a controversial dress code for players later that year, banning baggy jeans, gold chains and large white T-shirts while players represented the league in an official capacity.[4]

In December 2006, Vianovo handled media relations and communications for the White House-backed non-profit organization Malaria No More.[9] That same year, the firm developed a marketing campaign using a political model for AT&T’s launch of U-verse, the company's bundle of fiber-optic services.[30] AT&T and Vianovo held promotional neighborhood block parties, a tactic used by partner Dowd during the 2004 Bush campaign.[30]

In 2008, Vianovo partnered with Convio for a National Press Club panel discussion called “Converging Campaigns: How the Internet is changing philanthropy, advocacy and politics”.[31] The talk featured strategists and executives from Facebook, Rock the Vote, the American Cancer Society, and the Cancer Action Network.[31] In 2009, the firm partnered with Hart Research Associates to conduct a survey among registered U.S. voters to determine public opinion in America on immunizations for children in developing countries. The project was commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[8]

In 2012, the firm invested in the series A round of an online fundraising platform, Rally.org, alongside Bully Pulpit Initiative, Greylock Partners, Charity: Water, and Google Ventures. Together, the investors raised $7.9 million.[32] In September 2013, Vianovo funded and completed a survey of 1,000 Mexican citizens on Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s energy reform agenda to assess the Mexican political landscape and gauge public opinion.[33]

In both 2012 and 2016, the firm and advertising agency GSD&M conducted a national poll of U.S. adults measuring American perceptions of Mexico.[34][35][36]

In 2015, Valeant Pharmaceuticals hired Vianovo for crisis management support related to public scrutiny and congressional investigations of the company’s drug pricing.[10] In 2016, the firm began representing Bears for Leadership Reform, a group of Baylor University alumni advocating for transparency and changes to the university’s governance in response to its sexual assault scandal.[11][37]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Paul Holmes (20 January 2006). "Vianovo Adds Three Senior Counselors". The Holmes Report. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Nicholas Sakelaris (20 March 2014). "Want to drill in Mexico? Consultants launch new practice to get you ready". Dallas Business Journal. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  3. ↑ E. Eduardo Castillo (22 November 2012). "Mexican president tries to change country's name". USA Today. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Scott Shoshnick (31 May 2005). "Matthew Dowd, Who Helped Bush Win, Hired to Find New NBA Fans". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  5. 1 2 Paul Holmes (1 June 2005). "Political Veterans Join Forces to Create Consulting Firm". The Holmes Report. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Antonio O. Garza to Join White & Case" (Press release). White & Case LLC. 23 June 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Robin Andersen (September 2013). "Aaron Sorkin's Newsroom; a deeply flawed yet riveting lament for the news". Extra!. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  8. 1 2 "Childhood Immunizations: Successes Evident; Equity Gaps Clear". Global Health Council Blog. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  9. 1 2 "Malaria No More unites private, public sectors" (Press release). Press Week. 18 December 2006. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  10. 1 2 Jason Tannahill (15 December 2015). "In Response to Mounting Scrutiny, Valeant, Hires Crisis Management Firm Vianovo". EverythingPR. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  11. 1 2 John Carroll (2 December 2016). "BU reform group to meet with Baylor regents for first time". KWTX-TV. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "The Note: Fiddle Sixes". ABCNews. 6 January 2006. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  13. 1 2 Hazley, Greg (11 March 2015). "Ex-MSLO PR Exec Goehring Named Partner at Vianovo". O'Dwyer's. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  14. 1 2 Alex Guillen (20 March 2014). "Podesta pushes back on greens over grass". Politico. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  15. ↑ "Julie Hillrichs". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  16. ↑ The Alcalde. TX: Texas Exes. 2009. p. 80. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  17. ↑ Vicki Vaughan (6 April 2014). "Texas to benefit as Pemex ends its mythology". El Paso Inc. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  18. ↑ "Mary Catherine Andrews". Harvard IOP. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  19. 1 2 3 Judy Sarasohn (26 May 2005). "Aid in Schiavo Case Lands a Lobbying Gig". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  20. ↑ John McCaslin (30 May 2005). "Not Again". The Washington Times. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  21. ↑ "Matthew Dowd". ABCNews. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  22. ↑ "Tucker Eskew: American Spin Doctor in London". The Independent. 19 Mar 2002. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  23. ↑ Paul Holmes (2 November 2006). "Public affairs and Strategic Communications Consultancy". The Holmes Report. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  24. ↑ "William K Moore". txdot.gov. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  25. 1 2 Peggy Fikac (23 June 2009). "Tony Garza, consultant". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  26. ↑ Rodney Gibbs (6 May 2013). "TribLive: A Conversation with Tony Garza". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  27. ↑ Andrew Ramonas (14 June 2011). "Matthew Miller, top DOJ spokesman leaving". Main Justice. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  28. ↑ Allen, Mike (30 January 2015). "Playbook: Plouffe Steers Kinder, Gentler Uber". Politico. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  29. ↑ Mitchell, Elizabeth (13 March 2015). "Roll Call: Hill+Knowlton, MWW, WPP, and More". AdWeek. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  30. 1 2 Marc Lifsher (18 July 2006). "Gov.'s Aide Serves Firm With Stake in State Bill". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  31. 1 2 "Convio and Vianovo Hosting National Press Club Panel". Wireless News. 15 May 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  32. ↑ "Raising Funds for Causes that Matter: Rally.org Raises $7.9 Million to Rally the World" (Press release). Rally.org. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  33. ↑ Shannon K. O'Neil (24 September 2013). "Public Perceptions of Mexico's Reform Agenda". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  34. ↑ "Few Americans have favorable image of MX". Mexico News Daily. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  35. ↑ Carin Zissis (9 August 2016). "The Trump Effect: Why Mexico's Image Problem Spells Trouble for the U.S." World Politics Review. Retrieved 19 June 2017. A Vianovo/GSD&M survey from June 2016 found that 28 percent of respondents think that ties have worsened over the past four years, compared to only 8 percent who think they've improved.
  36. ↑ Alfredo Corchado (23 November 2012). "Poll finds that Mexico's image is suffering in the U.S." The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  37. ↑ Kalyn Story (9 November 2016). "New task force created to address Board of Regents operations". The Baylor Lariat. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
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