BETHESDA, Md. — A new three-year strategic plan and a bold campaign to educate consumers, policymakers, members and the industry at large on telematics and the connected car were unveiled to more than 400 volunteer leaders and attendees at the Auto Care Association’s Spring Leadership Days in Bonita Springs, Fla., last week.
Bill Hanvey, president and CEO, presented the association’s three-year strategic pillars on which the strategic plan is built:
- Emerging vehicle technologies
- Supply chain efficiency and standards adoption
- Membership growth and retention
- Global growth
- Profile and influence
“The association’s strategic plan empowers the execution of our new mission, which is to protect and advance the interests of businesses providing aftermarket products and services for all classes of motor vehicles,” said Hanvey.
Representatives of the Powell Tate public relations agency, hired by the association, presented details of the strategic planning process they will undertake in creating the “playbook” to raise the awareness of the implications of access to vehicle diagnostic data to vehicle owners and the auto care industry. Key deliverables will include consumer, industry and policymaker research, creative development, messaging, audience targeting strategies, advocacy strategy and measurement.
“The education campaign is one phase of our overall strategy to address the telematics/connected car issue,” said Hanvey. “Raising awareness and understanding about the challenges and opportunities of the vehicle diagnostic data piece of telematics will help lay the foundation for advocacy efforts, and the adoption of technical standards and solutions.”
“Our campaign is all about ensuring that car owners have the choice to decide where the diagnostic data from their vehicle is transmitted, and to ensure that independent repair shops have access to this data,” said Hanvey. “While our association is spearheading the creation of the education campaign strategic plan, all industry associations and companies will need to collaborate to ensure successful campaign execution.”
Additionally, a new “State of Auto Care: Your Industry, Your Association” report was released at Leadership Days. The 60-page publication profiles the auto care industry, focusing on key impactful issues, while sharing the association’s programs, initiatives and solutions designed to address the industry issues.
Forty individual events were held throughout the four-day Leadership Days, including meetings of segment communities, standing committees, the executive committee, the board of directors and dozens of other meetings and networking opportunities. Plans are underway for Fall Leadership Days in Washington, D.C., Sept. 7-9, with a focus on key legislative and regulatory issues.
