Edelman has named Michele Anderson vice chair of Brand in the U.S. and a member of the firm’s Global Brand leadership team. Based out of the firm’s co-headquarters in Chicago, Anderson will also oversee Edelman’s brand work throughout the Midwest.
In this new role, Anderson reports to Amanda Glasgow, Chair, U.S. Brand, and will partner with Glasgow to lead the brand business in the U.S. market -- evolving the go-to-market and talent strategy, overseeing high growth lines of business, and the integration of data and analytics and performance communications for the agency’s brand engagements.
“Brand at Edelman has evolved well beyond our early days of brilliant consumer PR,” said Glasgow. “Our work reimagines how brands can use an earned mindset to build trust and engagement. Michele not only gets this vision, but she’s perfectly equipped to drive it forward. She is a true integrated marketer and growth driver who will continue to innovate the work we do for clients.”
Anderson is a 25-year communications and marketing veteran, who joins Edelman from Ogilvy where she most recently served as U.S. Head of PR & Influence, responsible for driving innovation and integrated thinking across multiple disciplines. In addition to leading the U.S. PR&I operation, Anderson led teams and work across both integrated and earned scenarios in a client portfolio that included BP, Kimberly Clark, Sargento, IHG, Tyson Foods, CFA Institute, the Chicago Blackhawks and more.
Prior to that, she led Ogilvy’s integrated Chicago office and Ketchum’s Atlanta operation. Earlier in her career, Anderson co-founded South Africa’s largest and leading PR agency, where she served as CEO, working with Coca-Cola, BMW, British Airways, Vodafone, Disney, 2010 FIFA World Cup and many more. Most recently, Anderson and her teams have produced award-winning work including leading PR for State Street Global Advisors’ Fearless Girl campaign and Sargento’s 'The World’s Slowest Pizza Delivery'.
“With our industry transforming, I believe Edelman is well positioned to lead the future of brand marketing,” said Anderson. “With earned at the core, we understand cultural context, the importance of relevance and trust and how brands behave and perform in the world. To do that, I believe in the intersection of art and science, the marriage of brilliant creative with the science of data and analytics to drive predictable growth at scale for clients.”
Globally, Edelman has served as lead idea agency on a number of award-winning brand marketing campaigns, including the Taco Bell Hotel, ASICS Eternal Run and HP Escape Therapy.
Over the past few years, Edelman has strengthened and expanded its Brand offering globally by bringing aboard diverse talent, including Judy John as its first global chief creative officer, Yannis Kotziagkiaouridis, as the firm’s first chief Data & Analytics officer, as well as veterans of Razorfish, Ogilvy, Spark 44, Lewis and others.
Originally from South Africa, Michele is a true global citizen whose career highlights include working with apartheid heroes and global icons like Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Oprah Winfrey. She is a graduate of The University of Johannesburg.