Vianovo is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

-based management and communication consultancy. The firm serves as a strategic advisor to

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

startups A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

and

non-profit organizations A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

on brand, policy and crisis issues. The

bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing political parties find co ...

firm was founded in 2005 by political strategists Blaine Bull,

Matthew Dowd Matthew John Dowd (born May 29, 1961) is an American political pundit and consultant. He was the chief strategist for the Bush–Cheney 2004 presidential campaign and was an ABC News political analyst. On September 29, 2021, he announced a run fo ...

Tucker Eskew Tucker Eskew is a political and communications strategist in the United States who served as Deputy Assistant to the President for Media Affairs and Global Communications under President George W. Bush. He joined Senator John McCain's presidenti ...

and James Taylor. Many of the firm's partners were previously senior staff members on presidential campaigns, at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

, and on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

Company overview

Vianovo is a management, advocacy and communication consultancy with offices in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Dallas-Fort Worth,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. The firm's services include

opinion An opinion is a judgment, viewpoint, or statement that is not conclusive, rather than facts, which are true statements. Definition A given opinion may deal with subjective matters in which there is no conclusive finding, or it may deal with f ...

research, strategic planning, public campaigns, issue advocacy,

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

, coalition building,

crisis management Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders. The study of crisis management originated with large-scale industrial and envir ...

and cross-border expansion. Vianovo serves as an advisor to corporations, startups and non-profit organizations. Notable clients have included

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Malaria No More Malaria No More is a nonprofit organization that seeks to eradicate malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, a ...

Valeant Pharmaceuticals Bausch Health Companies Inc. (formerly Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.) is a Canadian multinational specialty pharmaceutical company based in Laval, Quebec, Canada. It develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products and ...

, and Bears for Leadership Reform. The firm also has an investment group, Vianovo Ventures, which partners with and supports startups. Vianovo is led by eight partners: Blaine Bull,

, Matthew Miller, Billy Moore, Katherine Nash Goehring, Robert Norcross, Michael Shannon and James Taylor. Other key Vianovo staff members include vice presidents Julie Hillrichs, Elizabeth Lippincott, Cesar Martinez, Lori McClure and senior advisor M.C. Andrews.

Company history

Vianovo was established as a

firm in May 2005 by political strategists Bull,

Dowd Dowd is a derivation of an ancient surname once common in Ireland but now not readily found. The name Dowd is an Anglicisation of the original Ó Dubhda (pronounced ), through its more common form O'Dowd. The Uí Dubhda are one of the Clann Uí Fia ...

, Eskew and Taylor. The firm merged the founders' four agencies: Eskew Strategy Group, Dowd Strategic Consulting, StratCom Group, and CIMA Strategies. The name Vianovo is derived from the Latin root meaning “new way.” Previous to their work at Vianovo, Dowd and Eskew held senior positions on the presidential campaigns of former president

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, and Eskew served as head of media affairs in the

. Bull, Dowd, Moore and Taylor worked for Senator Lloyd Bentsen in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

. In 2005, the company employed a new proprietary process called AIMD, which stands for Audience, Insight, Message and Delivery. Vianovo uses the process to plan and implement targeted communication. In 2006, partners William "Billy" Moore, Michael Shannon and Robert Norcross joined Vianovo. Moore was a veteran of over 50 political campaigns. Shannon came to Vianovo from the Boston Consulting Group and had previously been a strategist on the 2004 George W. Bush presidential campaign. That same year, Norcross opened a new Vianovo office in Dallas-Fort Worth. Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Antonio "Tony" Garza joined Vianovo as a partner in June 2009. As of 2013, Garza is chairman of Vianovo Ventures, Vianovo’s investment arm, which partners with and funds startups. Matthew Miller joined Vianovo as a partner in 2011 after leaving his role at the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

, where he served as Attorney General Eric Holder's spokesperson. 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. Founding partner Matthew Dowd left Vianovo in 2015 to launch Paradox Capital, a social impact venture fund. Katherine Nash Goehring became a partner in 2015. Prior to that, Goehring led communications and investor relations for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Notable projects

Vianovo was hired by the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

to help the league find a new demographic of fans in 2005. The firm conducted focus groups and consulted with NBA Commissioner

David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of ...

. 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. In December 2006, Vianovo handled media relations and communications for the White House-backed non-profit organization

. That same year, the firm developed a marketing campaign using a political model for

’s launch of

U-verse U-verse TV is a DirecTV brand of IPTV service. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), IP telephone (now AT&T Phone), and IPTV (U-verse TV) services in 48 states.2004 Bush campaign. In 2008, Vianovo partnered with Convio for a

National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...

panel discussion called “Converging Campaigns: How the Internet is changing philanthropy, advocacy and politics”. The talk featured strategists and executives from

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

Rock the Vote Rock the Vote is a non-profit progressive-aligned organization in the United States whose stated mission is "to engage and build the political power of young Americans." The organization was founded in 1990 by Virgin Records America Co-Chairman ...

, the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

, and the Cancer Action Network. 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. In 2012, the firm invested in the series A round of an online fundraising platform,

Rally.org Rally.org is an American social online fundraising platform for use by a wide range of individuals and organizations. It allows users to set up their own fundraising page, through which supporters can find information about their campaigns and ma ...

, alongside Bully Pulpit Initiative, Greylock Partners, Charity: Water, and

Google Ventures GV is a venture capital investment arm of Alphabet Inc., founded by Bill Maris, that provides Seed investment, seed, Venture capital financing, venture, and Growth investing, growth stage funding to technology companies. Founded as Google Venture ...

. Together, the investors raised $7.9 million. In September 2013, Vianovo funded and completed a survey of 1,000 Mexican citizens on Mexican President

Enrique Peña Nieto Enrique Peña Nieto (; born 20 July 1966), commonly referred to by his initials EPN, is a Mexican politician who served as the 64th president of Mexico from 1 December 2012 to 30 November 2018. A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party ...

’s energy reform agenda to assess the Mexican political landscape and gauge public opinion. In both 2012 and 2016, the firm and advertising agency

GSD&M GSD&M is an American advertising agency headquartered in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1971 by graduates of University of Texas at Austin – Roy Spence, Judy Trabulsi, Tim McClure and Steve Gurasich, and others, as AdVantage Associates. After ...

conducted a national poll of U.S. adults measuring American perceptions of

. In 2015, Valeant Pharmaceuticals hired Vianovo for crisis management support related to public scrutiny and congressional investigations of the company’s drug pricing. In 2016, the firm began representing Bears for Leadership Reform, a group of

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

alumni advocating for transparency and changes to the university’s governance in response to its sexual assault scandal.

References

External links

* {{official website, www.vianovo.com/ Research and analysis firms of the United States Research and analysis firms Companies established in 2005 Public relations companies of the United States Polling companies Companies based in Texas