Nationwide Marketing Group’s Oasys Residential Technology Group division reported this week that its membership has grown “over 100%” in 2023, a remarkable achievement in a relatively short period of time. It also propels the overall organization towards its publicly stated goal of achieving a total of at least 1,000 custom integration members across its three brands as part of its “Drive to 1,000,” first announced in March this year.
Learn more on Oasys driving progress to the Nationwide 1,000 member goal
There are a lot of changes taking place at Nationwide, especially as it announced in early 2023 that it had developed a plan to grow its overall custom integration group membership to 1,000 dealers. The initiative, known as the “Drive to 1,000” included two of its main buying groups – Oasys (the former HTSN) and Azione Unlimited – and provided for the addition of a new group targeted at the commercial integration channel known as Ellipsys.
Part of the strategy for the initiative was to create three independent buying groups targeted for a specific dealer profile that best served the needs of any size or type of custom integration business. Based on some initial data, the plan looked to add the bulk of these new members across the brand-new Ellipsys group and at the rebranded Oasys organization.
Oasys Membership Skyrocketed
According to this week’s announcement, throughout the last nine months of 2023, Oasys saw its membership level skyrocket “over 100%” and will close out the year with “nearly 300 total CI members.” This is both a sign of substantial positive momentum as a result of actions to drive the initiative and an indicator that the path to 1,000 members is now much shorter.
I say that because by my rough calculation, combining 300 Oasys members with approximately 300 Azione Unlimited members puts them 2/3rds of the way to their goal of 1,000 total CI dealers. I have reached out to the organization to see if I can discover the progress at Ellipsys, their new commercial integration group. As Ellipsys is totally new, it may be a slightly longer path for them to hit their share of the overall goal.
‘A Lot of Excitement’ and ‘Buzz Around the Industry’
The rebrand [from HTSN to Oasys] provided us an opportunity to refocus our efforts and define not only who we are but how we help our members accomplish their goals and reach new heights. It also allowed us to generate a lot of excitement within the group and buzz around the industry, which we’re continuing to build off of. As we close out this year and look back on what we’ve been able to do, I’m excited about where we’re heading in 2024 and beyond.
Hank Alexander, Director of Nationwide’s Oasys group (formerly HTSN)
At the outset of this initiative when it was first announced in March, the group had said it had 252 members in HTSN (which later became Oasys), which would mean that the growth was a much more modest – albeit still respectable – 19%. So that seems to conflict with the claimed 100% growth. However, it is possible the organization lost members as it recast itself as a custom integration group. Prior to that, there had been an eclectic blend of many types of dealers.
I have reached out to the organization for clarification.
A Plethora of New Participating Brands
Oasys also announced that it has partnered with a plethora of new participating manufacturer brands, including Sonance, Masimo Consumer, American Lighting, Lowell, Future Ready Solutions, and ProjX360. The group says it expects to make many more announcements as more manufacturers seek to tie into its momentum.
All of this good news for Nationwide is likely bad news for competitor group ProSource, which a few years ago announced a plan to build its membership to 800 members. Although Nationwide and its group brands deny any competitive intent versus ProSource, it appears to be the most closely related competitive organization.
‘A Beacon of Light’; Dates of Spring Oasys Summit Announced
This year was all about laying a solid foundation for the group. As we look ahead to next year, the real fun begins. We get to tell the Oasys story, continue to grow the organization and become that beacon of light for custom integrators.
Alexander
Oasys will hold its 2024 Oasys Summit on April 29-May 1, 2024 in Austin Texas. I was at their first Summit in Nashville and you can see my report here.
Learn all about Oasys Residential Technology Group by visiting oasysgroup.org.
See more on Nationwide Marketing Group at nationwidegroup.org.
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