ISBA’s Phil Smith: “Leave the brand stronger than when you took it on”

ISBA’s Phil Smith: “Leave the brand stronger than when you took it on”

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Phil Smith shares key insights on leading a successful national association after eight years as ISBA Director General

Article details

  • Author:Phil Smith
    Director General, ISBA
Opinions
21 January 2025

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Over the last eight years at ISBA, I have been fortunate to work with exceptional members, a dedicated team, and the inspiring WFA network of national advertiser associations. My goal has been simple: to reinvigorate ISBA and make it fit for the future.

Along the way, I’ve learned important lessons and developed themes within ISBA, often borrowing shamelessly from the wisdom of others. While many of these insights may seem self-evident, I hope they serve as useful reminders of what drives success in our work.

1. Listen to members

Listening to members is obviously a vital responsibility for any National Association leader. Equally important is demonstrating that their voices are heard. At ISBA, we have progressively built an annual priority-setting cycle for our working groups and governance bodies. This process involves:

  • Structured input collection through facilitated workshops and an annual survey;
  • Engaging several hundred individuals across member companies; and
  • Aligning priorities with our Council, publishing them, and tracking progress.

This approach ensures that ISBA remains accountable to its membership and that our work reflects needs and concerns voiced by our members.

2. Be selective

One of the hardest challenges each year is limiting the list of priorities. Despite our efforts, we often hear feedback that we take on too much. To stay focused, we ask ourselves: What do we have to do because no one else will? This guiding principle helps us define our "must-do" list and differentiates ISBA’s efforts from those of other trade bodies.

3. Focus on action, not talk

We have worked hard to make our commitment to action a hallmark of ISBA’s approach. When setting priorities, we emphasize initiatives that:

  • Deliver tangible improvements to the industry ecosystem;
  • Build trust among brands, regulators, and legislators;
  • Maximize benefits for the greatest number of members and stakeholders; and
  • Strengthen ISBA’s reputation as a muscular trade body.

4. Lead and follow

Whilst ISBA leads in several areas, we also recognize the importance of collaboration and acting in a supporting role, particularly within the complex landscape of local and global trade bodies. In the UK, for instance,  we act as a supporter on significant DEI and sustainability initiatives, partnering with the Advertising Association on projects such as the All-In Census and Ad Net Zero.

5. Think global but act local

The global versus local dynamic requires balance – not least because many of our UK members are divisions of global businesses. The UK’s relatively large, well-developed ad market and a significant presence from tech companies allow us to act as a prototype for global initiatives.

Our work with WFA’s Media Charter, Halo and the Origin program has expanded our sphere of influence with global advertisers and tech platforms and enhanced our standing with local members.

6. Grow direct engagement

Sustained member engagement is essential to ISBA’s success. Our annual feedback loop thrives because members actively participate in steering and, in some cases, contributing hands-on to our work. Multiple points of member participation are critical for maintaining strong relationships. Put simply, we’ve found that the more individuals from a member company engage with ISBA, the more likely that company is to renew its membership year after year.

This strategy has paid off: ISBA has sustained a 95% membership renewal rate and grown its Net Promoter Score to an “excellent” 57 at the last count.

7. Be generous

We’ve found conventional wisdom often doesn’t apply when sustaining and growing a membership base – in particular, the idea that all the benefits of being a member must be kept from non-paying brands.

During the pandemic, we preserved membership benefits for several key members whose businesses were temporarily unable to renew. All renewed within six months once the pandemic had passed and the long-term benefits to ISBA’s reputation and relationships have been substantial.

We’ve extended this spirit of generosity to prospective members, recognizing that:

  • Recruiting new members often requires long-term relationship-building;
  • Maintaining contact with prospective members, even if they do not immediately join, is crucial;
  • Actively creating opportunities to bring non-members selectively into contact with members really pays off; and
  • Judiciously flexing ISBA’s subscription cycle to offer membership benefits better aligned to the member’s business cycle can accelerate commitment and build goodwill.

8. Measure what matters

Finally, while strong financial governance and team goals aligned with the health of revenues are of course vital, we’ve developed KPIs to act as a forward-looking monitor of the health of ISBA’s relationships with its member base. These metrics are derived from:

  • The number of individuals from member companies actively engaged.
  • The frequency of engagement.
  • The value derived from their interactions with ISBA.

These are tracked and reported both within our team and to our membership Council.

I’m sure that other WFA member national associations will have their own examples of best practice under these same headings that outshine those of ISBA – and that there will be other ideas that are equally useful. For me one of the most rewarding aspects of the role of national association head has been the openness and opportunity for collaboration with my counterparts in other markets.

I hope these reflections resonate as we all navigate our myriad challenges and opportunities. “Leave the brand in better shape than when you took it on” was a lesson I learned early as a CPG brand manager and I believe serves us all equally well as a mantra today.

Article details

  • Author:Phil Smith
    Director General, ISBA
Opinions
21 January 2025

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