Special Edition


09


we spoke with Trust, the PPA team was busy planning their strategy for when the economy starts again. He’s certain that PPA will have fewer customers (members) but says the huge increase in viewings of their educational videos has caused a solid bump in pre-roll advertising (prior to the video playing). The fact that members join PPA because they need the benefits offered isn’t likely to change, and the organization’s rapid responsiveness to the needs of photographers may have even bolstered their already high brand equity in the worldwide photography community. “The biggest challenge will be knowing just


what to say—finding that formula,” Trust says. “We don’t want to fire up the tanks like it is back to business as usual and run over our own customers. We don’t have that messaging yet, but it will be along the lines of, ‘Get out of the blocks quickly!’” Predicting the post-COVID-19 future is


impossible, but looking back may shed some light on the types of strategies that stand the test of turbulent times, and delivering value is a proven formula. Although the two moments differ greatly, Trust and PPA faced similar challenges during and following the 2008–2009 global financial collapse, a period that was particularly rough on photographers. PPA’s membership had plateaued, so they turned their attention to creating more value for their members, and in messaging that value, photographers felt compelled to join. Much of that was the creation of PPA’s current education system and the introduction of their free equipment insurance benefit, which is still their top-rated benefit today. “Those benefits required some gut-


wrenching investments in our members and in the association’s future, and the ending is happy in that the strategy worked,” Trust says. “Of course, our members loved that we were creating all the new value, and many non-members found it difficult to remain non- members. I think the message is the same now and we will have to find more ways to invest in our membership. If we do, they will once again reward us with loyalty.” n


LESSONS By David Trust


LEARNED


When there is so much suffering and illness involved as there has been with the COVID-19 crisis, it is difficult to sift through and find takeaways that will help our companies in the future. These are things we’ve learned so far in the early days following the shutdown.


1Where our weaknesses and vulnerabilities lie. Anyone can steer the ship when the seas are calm. It is when things


get tough that we prove our mettle and see who wants the ball in their hands when the game is on the line.


2 How important it is to be an honest voice of calm and hope for the future. When the next crisis comes at us (and


there will be others), we won’t be afraid to jump out in front and lead. Our customers want leadership. They want to have faith in something. We also learned how desperately they want to hang on to their membership, so we understand our own brand strength a bit better.


3 How nimble our thinking is, how nimble our operations can be, and how committed we are to what we do. We’ve had


to ask ourselves if we have been proactive enough and if our vision is realistic and our past judgments were sound.


4 How fragile our economy (world and national) really is, and why it is so important to plan—not just for


the next financial reports, but for the future stability of the organization—and to think about how leveraged we are at any given time.


5 To keep listening. One of the things we preach is that it is always about the consumer and never about us.


We serve ourselves and our company best by focusing on our members—creating value and outstanding member experiences. If we listen to what they are really saying, our members will guide us through this next phase.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20