Vianovo

Vianovo

Company type	Private
Industry	Management consulting, Communications
Founded	May 2005 (2005-05)
Founder	Blaine Bull, Matthew Dowd, Tucker Eskew, James Taylor
Headquarters	Austin, Texas , United States
Area served	United States, Mexico
Key people	Blaine Bull, Tucker Eskew, Matthew Miller, Billy Moore, Katherine Nash Goehring, Robert Norcross, Michael Shannon, James Taylor
Products	Opinion research, strategic development, public campaign management, advocacy, public relations, coalition formation, crisis response, cross-border growth facilitation
Number of employees	(not specified)

Vianovo is a consultancy specializing in management and communications, with operations in both the United States and Mexico. The company provides guidance to businesses, emerging enterprises, and nonprofit organizations on matters related to branding, policy, and crisis response. Established in 2005 by political consultants Blaine Bull, Matthew Dowd, Tucker Eskew, and James Taylor, many of its partners have previously held prominent positions within presidential campaigns, the White House, and Capitol Hill.

Company overview

Vianovo maintains offices in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Washington, D.C., and Mexico City. Its portfolio of services encompasses opinion research, strategic development, public campaign management, advocacy on key issues, public relations, coalition formation, crisis response, and facilitating cross-border growth. The firm caters to a broad spectrum of clients including corporations, startups, and nonprofit entities.

Among its distinguished clients are AT&T, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the NBA, Malaria No More, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, and Bears for Leadership Reform. Additionally, Vianovo oversees an investment division known as Vianovo Ventures that supports the expansion of startup companies.

The leadership team consists of eight partners: Blaine Bull, Tucker Eskew, Matthew Miller, Billy Moore, Katherine Nash Goehring, Robert Norcross, Michael Shannon, and James Taylor. Key members of the executive staff include vice presidents Julie Hillrichs, Elizabeth Lippincott, Cesar Martinez, Lori McClure, along with senior advisor M.C. Andrews.

Company history

Founded in May 2005 as a bipartisan consultancy by political strategists Bull, Dowd, Eskew, and Taylor, Vianovo was formed through the consolidation of their respective firms: Eskew Strategy Group, Dowd Strategic Consulting, StratCom Group, and CIMA Strategies. The name "Vianovo" translates from Latin as “new way.”

Prior to establishing Vianovo, Dowd and Eskew held senior positions in former president George W. Bush's campaigns; Eskew additionally served as White House director of media affairs. Bull, Dowd, Moore, and Taylor had experience working for Senator Lloyd Bentsen during his tenure in Congress.

In 2005, Vianovo developed AIMD (Audience, Insight, Message, Delivery), a proprietary framework designed for precision-targeted communications. The following year saw the addition of partners William "Billy" Moore, Michael Shannon, and Robert Norcross; Moore brought extensive experience from over 50 political campaigns; Shannon joined from Boston Consulting Group and Bush’s 2004 campaign; Norcross established the Dallas-Fort Worth office. In 2009, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Antonio "Tony" Garza became a partner and currently leads Vianovo Ventures—an investment branch dedicated to fostering startup growth.

Matthew Miller joined as partner in 2011 after his role as spokesperson for Attorney General Eric Holder at the Department of Justice. In 2014, Vianovo launched Mexico Energy Strategic Advisory (MESA) to offer strategic counsel to U.S. companies navigating Mexico’s energy sector.

Founding partner Matthew Dowd departed in 2015 to create Paradox Capital, a social impact venture fund. That same year Katherine Nash Goehring became a partner, bringing her expertise from top communications and investor relations roles at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Notable projects

In 2005, Vianovo was commissioned by the National Basketball Association to explore emerging fan segments. The company facilitated focus groups and provided strategic counsel to NBA Commissioner David Stern, who then introduced a dress code for players during official events, subsequently impacting trends in men's fashion.

The following year, Vianovo oversaw media communications for the White House-supported nonprofit Malaria No More and crafted a political-style marketing initiative for AT&T’s rollout of U-verse. This campaign utilized neighborhood block parties as promotional events, a strategy inspired by the 2004 Bush presidential campaign.

By 2008, Vianovo collaborated with Convio to organize a National Press Club discussion on the transformative effects of the internet on philanthropy and political engagement. The panel featured prominent figures from Facebook, Rock the Vote, and the American Cancer Society. In 2009, the firm partnered with Hart Research Associates to conduct a survey commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, examining American voter attitudes toward vaccination efforts in developing nations.

In 2012, Vianovo participated in the Series A investment round for the online fundraising platform Rally.org, joining notable investors such as Greylock Partners and Google Ventures to secure $7.9 million in funding. The next year, it executed a survey involving 1,000 Mexican respondents to assess public opinion on President Enrique Peña Nieto’s energy reform policies, providing insight into Mexico’s political environment.

Together with advertising agency GSD&M, Vianovo conducted nationwide polls in both 2012 and 2016 to gauge American perceptions of Mexico, uncovering significant changes in public sentiment that carry consequences for bilateral relations.

In 2015, Valeant Pharmaceuticals engaged Vianovo for crisis communication support amid controversies regarding drug pricing and congressional inquiries. The following year, the firm represented Bears for Leadership Reform, a group of Baylor University alumni pushing for greater transparency in governance after the university faced a sexual assault scandal.