Zhaga Consortium
building strategy from the inside out (training & workshops) 

About Zhaga Consortium    

Zhaga Consortium is a global consortium shaping the technical standards behind smart, sustainable lighting. Its “Books” (interface specifications) are embedded in city lighting systems, sensors, modules and smart grids worldwide.  

in brief — challenge → move → outcome 

Challenge
Technical depth, many audiences; need a shared story with real internal ownership.  
 
Move
Inside-out facilitation: listening labs, message architecture workshop, stakeholder pressure-testing, toolmaking for leaders and chairs.
 
Outcome
A stable, adoption-ready narrative that reflects ambition and stands up in labs and policy rooms alike — recognisably Zhaga Consortium.    

Context — one message, many audiences

To scale impact across regions and audiences (engineers, members, cities, regulators), the communication strategy had to be co-built from inside the organisation — rooted in mission and governance, not layered on afterwards. 

The challenge

Turn deep, technical value into a shared story that travels from labs to policy rooms — without diluting substance — and build internal ownership so the narrative is used consistently by leaders, technical chairs and partners.    

Our role — discreet co-pilot, inside your rhythm 

Since 2018, we’ve worked alongside Zhaga Consortium’s leadership (Secretaries-General and communications leads) across Europe, North America and Asia. Our contribution: structure and facilitate a programme of workshops and working sessions that translate ambition into a coherent story and usable tools — always recognisably Zhaga Consortium.  

What we did — the workshop arc

  • Discovery & listening labs — sessions with engineers, governance actors and comms leads to surface intent, constraints and proof. We “entered their world” first, before shaping messages.  
  • Message architecture workshop — from mission to value proposition to proof points; build a narrative that reflects ambition and is legible for technical and political audiences.  
  • Story pressure-testing — practise with real stakeholder scenarios (cities, partners, regulators); refine wording until it holds under scrutiny.  
  • Toolmaking & adoption — turn agreements into slide blocks, one-pagers and speaker notes so the Secretary-General, technical chairs and partners can deploy the story in their own voice.  

Outcomes — built for brussels and beyond  

  • Consistent narrative across technical and policy audiences — a story that engineers endorse and non-engineers can act on.  
  • Credible, value-driven brand in a highly specialised field — rooted in how the organisation actually works.  
  • A communication ecosystem that grows with the organisation — tools and habits that scale across continents.