As trade associations lay out their strategic plans for 2012, most will have the same goal – to increase the size of the membership and to increase the rate of renewal. At its core, this is the same mission of a brand manager at a consumer goods company – to create new customers while increasing the loyalty of existing customers.

Why then are the marketing plans so different?

The board of a mid-sized trade association recently invited me to help them think through ways to rebrand the organization as a first step to increasing its footprint. I immediately abandoned my prepared presentation when I saw their signage in the lobby.

It read, “Investing hundreds of millions to stimulate to the creation of new companies, employment opportunities, new funding sources, and business investments in this geographic area”. [Exact wording intentionally altered.]

In the intangible world of professional services and trade associations, marketing messages often divert to the comfort zone of the organization’s staff rather than towards the needs of the targeted audience. Meaning they market what they do, rather than why what they do matters.

Would a soft drink manufacturer place this language in an ad to sell its product?

“We mix precise amounts of carbonated water with sugars and syrups and place it in cans and to be distributed to a point of sale for easy consumer access.”

Trade associations primarily care about two things: growing the membership base and getting members involved. It is a simple equation; the rate of membership renewal is equal to or greater than the value that a member gets from the program, and value is determined by respective ratios, including membership size, membership quality, resources, and – most of all – membership engagement.

Here are two simple lessons that trade associations can learn from consumer marketers to increase their rate of membership growth and renewal by engaging the membership.

1. It is about them. Not you. Qorvis took a look at more than 100 trade association websites this week. More than half of these websites had “About Us” as the first link in the global navigation. The first two sub-navigation under “About Us”? You guessed it, “Board of Directors” and “Staff.” If you went to any website for a soap, or a razor, or a candy bar, you would be hard pressed to find the brand manager’s name listed anywhere on the site. You would find, however, messages that guide you to consider the product.

Leaders, and their expertise, do matter in selling services and can differentiate you from alternative associations. It is important information to have listed. I am not arguing that.

What is important to note here is the root cause of the messaging problem. The board members are listed first because of a default to speak about one thing that the trade association knows most – itself.

2. Foster engagement. Don’t wait for it. Marketing a trade association doesn’t have to be overly complicated to apply similar concepts utilized by successful consumer brands. As long as the concept is tightly managed, it can remain simple in concept and still yield high levels of member involvement.

For example, Qorvis just managed a photo contest for the American Equipment Manufacturers’ I Make America campaign. EAM members and prospective members could submit images – often humorous – of instances where American infrastructure had lapsed. The campaign solved two problems. It provided a fact-basis in photographs to support legislative arguments in favor of the organization’s political agenda, while simultaneously engaging their current and prospective membership pool.

On the other end of your message is a member with dues to renew. Lead with messages that teach the member something he or she did not already know, or towards campaigns with which he or she can get involved. Your association will further establish its thought leadership, or provide an tangible opportunity to increase the value the member receives.

In a conversation at the Pentagon recently, we were discussing the debt ceiling limit and the “Super Committee” that will be overseeing budget cuts when the term “narrative” came up.  Specifically, I was told: “the contracting community is going to need to change the narrative.”

I first heard “narrative” three years ago in reference to ways that Afghanistan can “change its narrative”.  While this seemed a novel idea at the time, it turned out that my company’s recommendations for helping change the narrative for that war torn country was piled among a stack of 70 others.  Clearly ideas spread quickly in Washington.

As we approach the 10 year anniversary of 9-11, it really is time for the contracting community and government agencies to begin developing new narratives and positioning themselves for the years ahead.  The past decade saw an explosion of growth in government contracting that, after some signs of slowing down, looks like it could be coming to a screeching halt.  Understandably government agencies and the contractors that serve them are scrambling to sustain programs, as is pointed out in today’s Washington Post.

Like others, my company has seen a marked increase recently in the number of firms approaching us for communications assistance to help ensure programs stay funded.  We have seen associations and coalitions form around certain sectors to advocate program relevancy.  And we have seen government agencies eager to communicate to their stakeholders (read: Congress) through glossy annual reports and other marketing collateral that highlight the benefits that their agency provides either to national security or jobs.

What seems to be missing, however, is the realization that agencies and organizations need to develop new narratives.  The world has changed and the contracting community needs to change with it.  No longer can companies issue the token press release claiming multi-million-dollar program awards written for only the most technically astute program managers.  Instead, companies need to communicate awards and programs in terms that taxpayers understand.  It’s not difficult; it’s just communicating programs with a slightly different audience in mind.  My colleague Stan Collender made this point at last spring’s conference of the Coalition for Government Procurement, and I thought it was a brilliant recommendation.  While Stan knew the debt limit was going to be a focus of Washington politics this summer, I don’t think even he foresaw the possibility of the “Super Committee”.

This call to a new narrative was reinforced last night while reading Nicolas Schmidle’s New Yorker article “Getting Bin Laden”.  In the article, Schmidle writes about the close collaboration between Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and the CIA in the killing of Bin Laden.  The planning and execution of this mission brought the collaboration between these two agencies to its highest level.  As John Radsan, former assistant general counsel at the C.I.A., is quoted in the article, “the Abbottabad raid amounted to ‘a complete incorporation of JSOC into a C.I.A. operation.’”.  Add to this Mr. Panetta’s move from the Director of the CIA to the Secretary of Defense and General Petraeus’ move from commanding general in Afghanistan and Iraq to the Director of the CIA.  Now that’s a new narrative.

Little known fact: Qorvis has serious floral skills. Pictured here are flower center pieces shaped like tennis balls, made to adorn the high top tables at this year’s Kastles Season Kickoff Party “Wimbledon on the Water”—superbly constructed by Qorvis staff, including Meryl Draper and Grace Fenstermaker (featured above).

The floral tennis balls were created using 6″ foam to anchor the mix of green button flowers (covering the bulk of the ball) and white strati (for the “seam”). They took an average of four hours to complete, and they looked incredible.

As you may have seen in the resulting media, the party was quite a hit, and we’re excited to once again be partnered with the Washington Kastles as they head into another great season. More updates to come!

For college journalism/communications majors looking toward graduation, this is a confusing, even frightening time. There is much uncertainty out there. That’s why when I spoke yesterday to a group of Miami of Ohio University students at Qorvis, I was impressed with the demeanor, intelligence and seeming unconcern they had about their employment prospects. They are part of an Inside Washington, Miami University of Ohio program that introduces them to the nation’s capital by having them meet and talk with political leaders as well as journalists and communications’ professionals.

They are aware of the tight job market for journalists. From the thoughtful questions they asked, however, they clearly are focusing on the art of effective communications. They are well aware of the rapidly changing information environment and asked about the impact of social media and where technology is going. They want to know what to expect and how to master what exists and what is coming.

I pointed out that at Qorvis, understanding and effectively using every aspect of the Internet and social media world has become one of the most important communications areas of service to our clients. There are specialists on the Qorvis staff that constantly keep up with rapidly advancing technologies. Where all of this world of blogs and social networking will go is anyone’s guess, but I found reassuring that it was premier on the minds of the Miami students.

As a veteran journalist, I felt on more solid ground when I said that one of the key factors in being a good communicator in journalism, public relations, or in any other profession, is the ability to write. I said I am appalled at the number of young college graduates who don’t keep up with the news and who show little interest in writing.

At Qorvis, we are so concerned about writing that we regularly bring in journalists who teach on the college level to lecture and teach effective, clear writing. Even many of the writing veterans on the staff found it refreshing and informative to talk about writing and to brush up on what they can do.

I also mentioned our company’s “Qorvis University“ program in which language, political science, even fun things like wine lectures, are offered to make our employees confident and sophisticated working in a demanding environment like Washington, DC. For that, I explained, they needed to keep up on the news events of the world and that it isn’t keeping up with the news by relying on information from the Colbert Report.

The Miami University group was impressive and asked insightful, informed questions, some I found hard to answer. This is a group that will not have to worry about employment prospects when they go out into the market place.

Mr. Charlie Gibson was nice enough to highlight our Presidential Inauguration mobile app on the World News Webcast. He said: ”If you’re headed to Washington next week for Inauguration festivities, don’t forget your iPhone or your BlackBerry. It could be your key to finding your way around town.” We completely agree. Be sure to check out Version 2.0, which features a new polling function that will allow you to answer Inauguration-related questions and see the results from others all over the country.

So everyone in Washington is planning on throwing a party to celebrate Mr. Obama’s Inauguration. We decided to do it differently. As two companies that help people and organizations navigate the complexities of our nation’s capital (public affairs, legal services, issue advocacy, media and public relations, etc.), we thought we’d office this service on a different level: actually help you navigate the city. And the 2009 Presidential Inauguration App was born.

Qorvis designed the app and worked with our partner PointAbout to develop it. (As a fully-integrated communications firm, Qorvis has in-house capabilities to do this efficiently and effectively…) The application has evolving content—which will include RSS feeds on inauguration events and services and other related information, closer to the event date. Plans also include a polling component to gauge real-time user sentiment about the Inauguration. FortiusOne will be analyzing and visualizing the results through their GeoCommons platform.

Current services include:

• Zagat Restaurant Guide
• Walking directions to the Inauguration
• Metro train and bus schedules
• News and alerts
• Free Wi-Fi zone locations
• Local weather, traffic, and news
• Starbucks locations
• ATM-bank search

The Washingtonian blog covered the news first, and you can read our press release here.

The first iteration of the app is now available in the iTunes App Store. A Blackberry version will soon follow. Development of a version for the Google phone “Android” is slated for early January 2009. More news to follow, please check here for updates.