I was reluctant at first to accept the kind invitation of fellow association executive, Evelyn Salire, secretary-general of the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA), to attend the opening of its 24th National Retail Conference and Stores Asia Expo 2017 on August 10. Besides not being in the retail business, I also was not sure if I can have takeaways from the conference that I can relate to my work and for this column. I was glad I did and here’s why.
First, the theme of the event was “Future-Proofing Retail”, which sounds intriguing. Wikipedia defines “future-proofing” as the process of anticipating the future and developing methods of minimizing the effects of shocks and stresses of future events. However, future-proofing is mainly used in industries, such as electronics, medical, industrial design and, more recent, in design for climate change. So if you can future-proof retail, can you do the same for associations?
Two: great plenary speakers at the PRA conference tickled my imagination on how future-proofing retail could also apply to associations. Irwin Lee, CEO of Rustan Supercenters Inc., summed up his talk that future-proofing retail entails a “balanced approach” on whether to (1) go online or offline; (2) go small or big; and (3) go for millennials or “feelennials” (interestingly coined for baby boomers for “feeling millennial”).
I thought the issue of going online or offline resonates, too, with associations in terms of the services they provide to their members, such as educational programs and publications. This is the reason blended learning—i.e., combining e-courses and face-to-face seminars—now exists. The same is true with e-newsletters and printed magazines that still coexist in most associations’ service portfolios.
Going small or big relates to associations, too, in the context of the knowledge content they provide to members. Due to competition from countless Internet content providers, associations now find merit in being content curators, separating the “grain from the chaff” so to speak, to supplement their own original content. This creates a balanced niche of knowledge resources for members.
The same can be said about targeting the millennials or feelennials. Associations have reached out to both demographics and have balanced their services to cater to both.
Another speaker at the PRA conference was Vic Tria, vice president and head of PLDT Alpha. His message to retailers was to consider “redefining” themselves to be relevant and to survive in the future. He also showed the new buying cycle, which consists of three elements: discovery, purchase and retention. Again, these guideposts relate to associations, as well. Giving a new meaning to and evolving your offerings to suit your members’ new needs and demands for professional growth, solutions to day-to-day operations, and business opportunities, are a must in today’s disruptive environment.
Likewise, the buying cycle for retailers and the membership lifecycle for associations (read my column on March 16, 2017) are actually similar. Potential members have to know first and learn more about the association (the “discovery”) before becoming a member (“purchase”) and remaining a member (“retention”).
At the end of the day, both speakers said it is the customer experience that will ultimately make or break one’s future-proofing plans. In like manner, it is the member’s experience in the association that will spell the difference between leaving and staying on as a member.
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The column contributor, Octavio “Bobby” Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) and the CEO and founder of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE). PCAAE is holding the Associations Summit 5 (AS5) on November 22 and 23, at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), which is expected to draw over 200 association professionals here and abroad.
The two-day event is supported by ADFIAP, the Tourism Promotions Board and the PICC. E-mail inquiries@adfiap.org for more details on AS5.