« April 2007 | Main | June 2007 »
May 30, 2007
The Academics Summit
Edelman and PRWeek will be hosting a summit on new media next week for approximately 75 US and Canadian academics who specialize in journalism, public relations and communications. Our goal is to provide specifics about how social media is changing communications, to help them update their courses for next fall so that their students are even better prepared to enter the marketplace in the years to come.
This idea came to me when I went to Ball State University last spring to receive an award. I spoke at length to Professor Robert Pritchard, better known as “Pritch,” who told me that students were eagerly embracing new media but lacked specific cases in public affairs, marketing, corporate and employee engagement. This notion was reinforced by Professor Robert French at Auburn, who hosted our own Rick Murray, director of our Me2Revolution practice, last fall.
The event is planned for June 7-8 in New York City. We have attracted a wonderful group of faculty, including bloggers David Weinberger and Jay Rosen, important journalists Gordon Crovitz of Dow Jones, David Kirkpatrick of Fortune Magazine and Nick Lemann of Columbia University; social media pioneers such as Dan Gillmor and Andrew Baron, Rocketboom, plus marketing, PR directors and new media directors including Matthew Anchin, American Express; Deirdre Latour, GE; Babs Rangaiah, Unilever.
We have established a web site for the content (http://www.edelman.com/summit07/). We will blog from the Summit, and post video shortly following each session. We intend to host similar events in Europe and Asia in the next twelve months.
Posted by Edelman at 9:19 AM |
Comments
Post a comment
| TrackBackMay 25, 2007
The Power of One (and of Stories)
I went to a screening last night of the film “God Grew Tired of Us (The Lost Boys of Sudan),” produced by National Geographic Society. After the film, I met John Bul Dau, one of the Lost Boys, who spoke of his experience in the refugee camps.
At age 13, Mr. Bul Dau fled for his life as Arab tribesmen from northern Sudan invaded his village in the southern Christian area. He and his best friend made their way, often eating grass to survive. He spoke of nearly dying from thirst, eventually discovering a kind of mud that tasted like oatmeal which provided the necessary water for his body. He talked with passion about the refugee camp where he lived for 17 years, how despite his age, he organized 1000 fellow fugitives from the conflict so that order could be maintained. He expressed wonder about his present bliss as a new father and husband, having married one of the Lost Girls, a young Dinka tribeswoman who fled the violence, and after years in a camp, found her way to Seattle.
Here are my lessons from the film and the subsequent discussion:
1) Leaders can emerge from unexpected places and unforeseen circumstances. Mr. Bul Dau’s leadership skills were forged in the most intense crisis situation.
2) His optimism was tempered by realism but nourished by a deep faith from his religious background but also by confidence in himself
3) There is no substitute for hard work. Mr. Bul Dau worked three jobs when he arrived in the US. He awoke at 5 am so that a volunteer could drive him to his job in a foundry, then another volunteer took him to McDonalds where he flipped burgers. He eventually went on to university.
4) The power of family is a central element of his success. He was nourished by letters from home. The most touching moment in the film is the reunion of Mr. Bul Dau with his mother after 17 long years of separation. She prances through the Syracuse, NY airport emitting tribal shrieks of joy, in disbelief at her now 6 foot 6 inch son, a man living in the US.
The greatest gift that PR people can deliver is the telling of stories that inspire action. Betty Hudson and her husband, Boyd Matson, who work at National Geographic, have spurred thousands in the US to donate to health facilities and relief efforts in the Sudan. I thank them for this heroic effort and for the demonstration of the power of communications.
Posted by Edelman at 10:55 AM |
Comments
Thanks for your post about John Dau.
Maybe a greater gift that PR people can deliver is driving the inspired action to help the story tellers themselves.
John has his own campaign that has spurred thousands in the US to donate to health facilities and releif efforts in the Sudan. With the help of student groups and online fundraisiers, a clinic opened earlier this month in the village he grew up in.
Read more about John's project at http://www.directchange.org/sudan
Visit his fundraising page at http://my.directchange.org/page/lostboys
Posted by: Ken at May 25, 2007 3:44 PM
KD
You are absolutely right. Our job is to inspire through telling stories or to help the real actors tell their own stories
Posted by: Richard Edelman at May 29, 2007 10:04 AM
Richard Edelman -
Thank you for your note and for posting my comment.
I had not heard from John about the fundraising success (he received about $8K in pledges) at the event that you bloged about when I posted my comment. As your blog post demonstrates, John's story is extremely powerful. However, most of the media coverage (traditional and new media) of his story and the film have had little impact on his fundraising efforts.
As it is rare that John's presentation has an audience filled with the leaders of the PR industry, any feedback on his presentation or how to better leverage his story would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Ken Deutsch
Posted by: Ken Deutsch at May 29, 2007 10:45 AM
Post a comment
| TrackBackMay 18, 2007
The Cities Speak Green
This week, the C40 group of large city mayors convened in New York City. It was the second such meeting of mayor; the first was held in London two years ago. As you might imagine, the topic of week has been climate change, in particular what each city can do to reduce emissions. I attended breakfast events with Mayor Ken Livingstone of London, Mayor Gilberto Kassab of Sao Paulo, and Mayor Shubba Umesh Raul of Mumbai. Here are a few of the highlights:
1) Transit, Automobiles and Trucks—The congestion charge program has been a great success for London, with 70,000 fewer cars coming into the center city each day, increasing average vehicle speed by 25%, reducing pollution and improving quality of life. London intends to implement a city-wide congestion charge in February, 2008, with a heavy tax on trucks ($400 a day) not compliant with tough Euro 3 emission standard and a differential tax on autos depending on fuel consumption and emission (Prius style electric cars go untaxed). The retail sales in the center of London grew 7.5% in the past year, outstripping the rise in the rest of the UK. In Mumbai, there are 1.8 million cars for 15 million people. The priority is fixing infrastructure, creating more parking spaces underground and adding to bus, subway and rail capacity. The challenge in Mumbai is that 6.5 million people commute into and out of the central business district each day.
2) Garbage—The goal is to improve the rate of recycling. In Mumbai, there is 8,500 tons of new garbage a day, with 60% bio-degradable and 30% recycled. The city is creating large dumps for disposal, while implementing strict cleanliness by-laws with large fines on littering. London has only a 20% recycling rate, half of the average for US cities. Sao Paulo is working with business to capture the methane generated in its garbage dumps.
3) Retrofitting buildings—The homes in London are the source of 40% of the city’s carbon emissions. British Gas has agreed to a retrofit program with a less than two year payback for the homeowner (L550 cost, payback of L350 per year in energy savings). The commercial and industrial structures in London are responsible for 40% of carbon emissions; the owners are now being pushed by city regulators to make necessary changes to the properties. In Mumbai, the city is forcing developers to add solar reflectors in new buildings, with special tax benefits made available for rain water collection.
4) Green Space—Sao Paulo planted 160,000 trees last year and is creating or upgrading 14 parks around the city. Mumbai has a serious problem of overcrowding due to immigration from rural areas, with 57% of the 15 million residents living in slums (90% of new residents go into slums). This population increase has severely strained recreational resources.
5) Energy Sources—London is moving toward decentralized energy production, with smaller power producing facilities distributed in neighborhoods, overcoming the usual loss due to transmission. The city is also pushing for combined heat and power systems, using the heat from energy generation to warm neighborhood homes.
The most interesting change is the acceptance of the central role of business in achieving these ambitious goals. Mayor Livingstone (disclosure: a project client of Edelman) said “Business is more innovative than Government. Our relationship with business used to be ideological and politicized. Now business is asking for government to provide a regulatory framework so they can plan their investments. CEOs are being Loud, Long and Lean with our Administration.”
I believe that PR will provide a critical bridge to stakeholders as business seeks to implement more joint initiatives with government or takes on projects through privatization of services. Ordinary people want change that reverses global warming and improves the environment. PR pros can help companies demonstrate leadership and prove accountability. PR can also help cities by providing an authoritative central source of information on new projects, such as our lowermanhattaninfo.com on the rebuilding of downtown New York City. As always, I welcome your views.
Posted by Edelman at 12:06 PM |
Comments
I agree with you, and I think PR is a most important role to help all stakeholders to do something right about climate change.
PR Pros are doing something to against Global Warming in PR way.
Posted by: Zion Laing from EPR Taiwan at May 20, 2007 5:51 AM
Post a comment
| TrackBackMay 11, 2007
Beating The Evil Weed
I have just returned from a board of directors meeting at the Centers for Disease Control Foundation. The most interesting topic at this spring’s session was the CDC Foundation’s partnership with the Bloomberg Foundation (New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s charitable arm) to reduce the prevalence of smoking around the world. Mayor Mike took a very controversial stand early in his first term to ban smoking in NY City restaurants and has now decided to address the issue on a broader stage by donating $125 million to five health non-governmental organizations who work on this issue.
Here are some staggering statistics. Tobacco is the number one preventable cause of death with five million lives lost annually to tobacco related disease (HIV AIDS is #2 at three million a year). Tobacco control is woefully under funded, with spending per annual mortality at one-sixteenth as much HIV AIDS. In Bangladesh, between 20 and 40% of adult males smoke; they spend twice as much on tobacco as on clothing, housing and education combined. Half of total deaths occur in middle age, with terrible consequences for productivity and family. 440,000 Americans die each year as a result of smoking, accounting for one in five of all US deaths annually. Smokers cost employees $1900 per year in lost productivity and smoking related illness, plus $1850 in excess medical expenses due to sickness.
What is known so far about prevention and cessation? School based education programs seem ineffective. It is much better to have important cultural and sports figures such as Yao Ming, the Chinese basketball star, or Bollywood actors/actresses speaking out in media to counter the inevitable peer pressure and seductive imagery of smoking. Relatively few women smoke; there is still time to keep it this way, according to Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC. Youth demand is very responsive to price rises; meanwhile there is evidence that governments seeking to maximize revenue from tobacco taxation do best with a smaller number of users paying a higher price. Counter-marketing, making fun of traditional images such as the Marlboro cowboy, is vital. The implementation of smoke-free zones (at work or at retail) and clinical cessation aids for those addicted (disclosure: Edelman works with Pfizer on one such pharmaceutical treatment) are also important.
The CDC Foundation intends to survey smokers in 13-15 key markets such as China, Mexico, India, Egypt, Russia, Brazil, and Turkey where 2/3 of the world’s smokers live. The goal is to create a protocol which can be used by the four other Bloomberg Foundation partners such as Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids to maximize the $125 million grant. Among the questions currently under consideration: Have you quit before? Have you seen any ads asking you to quit? Where do you buy your cigarettes? Does your employer encourage you to quit? If you have other questions that come to mind, please post a comment on my blog and I will forward them to the CDC.
The CDC is also interested in finding private sector partners who might want to improve the health of their employees in developing markets while helping their own bottom line through lower absenteeism and better productivity. Please let me know whether any of your companies might be willing to have a discussion with the CDC.
At Edelman, we have just earned the Gold Standard accreditation with the CEO Roundtable on Cancer’s protocol www.ceoroundtableoncancer.org, which establishes a tobacco-free workplace and offers assistance to present smokers.
The CEO Cancer Gold Standard is the first major initiative of the Roundtable on Cancer-- a group of CEOs and business leaders from diverse industries united by a pledge to apply the untapped power of business to fight cancer and save lives. It has five pillars: tobacco cessation, diet and nutrition, physical activity, screening and early detection, and education on cancer clinical trials.
In addition to our new U.S. tobacco-free workplace policy and smoking cessation initiatives and support, we will be introducing a “Wellness and You” link on our intranet to provide practical information for all staff for living a healthy lifestyle including nutrition information such as: healthy recipes, tips sheets for proper diet, and eating on the road. Organized walk/run events hosted throughout will also be posted on the site giving employees the opportunity to join an event in their area. The site will provide guidelines for getting timely cancer screening care and early detection, and provide links to information on cancer clinical trials. To date we’ve concentrated on the US were more than half of our staff are based, but we’re currently working on creating similar initiatives around the world.
To provide additional incentive, I am offering to give any employee who quits within the next few months a financial reward of $500 if they’re smoke-free six months later. After all, I am the guy who kept stuffing my father’s cigarette packages into the toilet in my parents’ bathroom; after three visits by the plumber, my father took his advice, gave in to his six year old and stopped smoking.
I hope to detail the effectiveness of our efforts through this blog.
Richard
Posted by Edelman at 3:47 PM |
Comments
I have to take my hat of to you offering this kind of incentive for people to quit smoking
Posted by: eddie mullen at May 14, 2007 1:55 PM
Richard:
The CEO Roundtable Gold Standard is also strongly support by our client, C-Change. The mission of C-Change is to leverage the combined expertise and resources of its Members to eliminate cancer as a (major) public health problem at the earliest possible time. Great to see that we are practicing what we communicate.
Lynn
Posted by: Lynn at May 15, 2007 12:43 PM
If the staggering statistics aren't enough of a motivator for people to quit smoking, then maybe the government can provide a tax advantage to employers to incentivize them. Kinda a reimbursement program for the $500 you are offering to each employee that quits.
Posted by: Shimon Sandler - Search guru at May 15, 2007 2:15 PM
Post a comment
| TrackBackMay 8, 2007
Loss of a Friend/Colleague
Charles Fremes, 58, chief executive officer of our Canadian operation, died last night of a heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Judith McDermid, and his daughter, Danielle Fremes. There will be a family-only funeral later this week, followed by a memorial service for his many friends either next week or the week after.
I feel like I have lost my older brother. Charles was a wonderful friend, with a unique ability to offer advice without prejudice. He had a marvelously impish smile and twinkle in his eye. He was perpetually curious about the world, always reading and learning from those around him. He was a wonderful family man, deeply in love with his wife “Jude” and constantly talking about his daughter, Danielle. He carried his Canadian heritage proudly, from his life-long allegiance to the hockey team of his youth (the Canadians) to his recognition that his country (and he) played a special role as diplomat. He took his gardening so seriously that he wore a lapel pin in the shape of a trowel.
Charles helped to shape modern public relations in Canada. His work at Molson, where he served as VP of Corporate Affairs, on prevention of drunk driving and then in support of HIV AIDS research was first of its kind in the country. When he came to Edelman over a decade ago, he wondered whether he could make the transition from the corporate side. Charles, my boy, you did us proud. Your work on behalf of the Province of Ontario during the SARS crisis helped restore confidence of tourists and business alike. Your counsel to major Canadian companies such as Hudson Bay, Tory’s and Canadian Broadcasting was best in class. You have built a three office enterprise in Edelman Canada staffed by outstanding professionals committed to the same high standards as your own.
Charles often spoke to me about his father, who practiced medicine in Toronto for five decades until retiring recently, well into his 80s. He talked about going with his dad on hospital rounds, about the care and concern his father showed to each of his patients. Charles absorbed this lesson; a reputation is forged over a lifetime of effort, excellence and trusted relationships.
I quote from Shakespeare’s Henry V, who stands before his bedraggled army at Agincourt, outnumbered 10 to 1 by the enemy, “That he which hath no stomach to this fight, Let him depart…We would not die in that man’s company That fears his fellowship to die with us…From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother.” I will miss you more than you will ever know.
Posted by Edelman at 3:15 PM |
Comments
My thoughts are with you. A comment that I find comfort in is below -
“On the death of a friend, we should consider that the fates through confidence have devolved on us the task of a double living, that we have henceforth to fulfill the promise of our friend's life also, in our own, to the world.”
--Henry David Thoreau
Posted by: Renzi Stone at May 8, 2007 6:18 PM
He was a great colleague and a brilliant friend. He rally was the best of us.
Posted by: David Brain at May 9, 2007 5:25 AM
Charles was a great man and an inspriring colleague. On behalf of all of us at the Wilcox Group we send our best wishes to the Edelman team in Canada.
Mat Wilcox
Posted by: Mat Wilcox at May 9, 2007 11:59 AM
I never had a conversation with Charles that did not involve laughter and usually lots of it. Charles R.I.P.
Posted by: Ron Moore at May 9, 2007 3:51 PM
Puts all of our daily issues, blog battles, client dilemmas and success in perspective.
Carpe Diem.
Posted by: Adam Zand at May 10, 2007 10:46 AM
I worked with Charles years ago when I was in the financial practice at Edelman. He was a wonderful man, never played politics and taught me a lot.
Elliot Sloane
Posted by: Elliot Sloane at May 10, 2007 5:31 PM
I remember Charles very warmly - great man, great teacher plus he always made me laugh. It's so hard to think of Edelman without Charles. He will certainly ALWAYS be in our hearts.
Sandra Saias
Posted by: Sandra Saias at May 14, 2007 3:44 PM
I grew up with Charlie as a cousin of the family friends, the Singer family - and was at his first wedding in Vienna....and we played street hockey as kids...and he had a great Charlie Hodge impression that I always made him do for me when we saw each other, which has been rarely in recent years. I just went on-line to look for his number and found out that he is gone.
His friendship and warmth will be missed....
Posted by: robert r blume at September 19, 2007 3:03 PM
Post a comment
| TrackBackMay 4, 2007
Wow, We Spotted This Trend First
Geoff Colvin’s excellent article in the May 14 issue of Fortune Magazine titled "Business Is Back" contends that after a five and a half year period in the wilderness, “business is back in America’s good graces.” Colvin quotes liberally from the Edelman Trust Barometer, which has been tracking attitudes towards institutions for the past seven years.
In the report, we noted that business was the most trusted institution in eight of the 18 countries surveyed (equal to non-governmental organizations) and was more trusted than government in every country except China. We found that the rise in trust in business was attributable to three factors:
1) Business is stepping up to important global challenges, not as a matter of philanthropy but because of the market opportunity. Food companies are revising their product mix toward “good for you products” because they can make better margins and beat off the store brands. GE (an Edelman client) has launched ecomagination because “green is green,” allowing price premiums on fuel-sipping locomotives or efficient turbines.
2) Government has proven unable to make change while prosperity is being attributed to private enterprise. Whether the inept response to Hurricane Katrina in the US or the disappointment with the chief executive in countries from Korea to the United Kingdom, the public sector has lost credibility. We found it particularly interesting that in the developing world, business consistently rated well above government.
3) CEOs are again willing to speak about important issues. Though the “rock star” model is out of vogue, leaders such as Howard Schultz, chairman of Starbucks (an Edelman client) are taking the lead on health care reform, the environment and free trade. As Neville Isdell, CEO of Coca Cola Company said at Davos, “It is time for us to put our heads above the parapet again.” Trust in analysts, accountants and other business professionals is on the rise as well.
How do we keep business on this comeback trail? Public relations will play a critical role in the process. How do PR professionals help business remain trusted? We listen and understand the impact of policies on all stakeholders. We need to keep our clients focused on the stakeholder, not the shareholder model, for example partnering with NGOs (note the recent TXU deal with private equity firm KKR endorsed by Environmental Defense and NRDC). A new level of transparency is expected from companies, asking for input from enthusiastic consumers and informing communities about the rationale for a new power plant before going to government for approval. Respect for employees is the “new green” unearthed by the Edelman Trust Barometer, with continued communication on performance and purpose a necessity.
We should not allow ideologues to stigmatize these new corporate initiatives as “just PR” because we are, in fact, changing the face of business so that it can succeed in the 21st century. We are helping to provide the license to operate by letting business again be trusted to do what is right. I disagree with the UK’s Daily Telegraph article this morning by Jeff Randall who says “You cannot PR your way to a sustainable reputation. Those who think they can are confusing form and substance; they are doomed to fail.” The best PR is about substance, communicated well to all shareholders.
P.S. In this context, I am profoundly saddened by the resignation of BP’s chief executive, Lord Browne, earlier this week. He helped to show the way for other CEOs in seeking to reconcile the needs of business and society, while making BP again a feared competitor in the global energy market. I hope that he continues to find ways to contribute to the dialogue.
Posted by Edelman at 12:50 PM |
Comments
Nicely placed story, usually with PR agencies they are the worst people at doing their own PR.
Posted by: Ged Carroll at May 4, 2007 3:03 PM
Quite an interesting entry. I must say I am a bit uncomfortable with the first half of the entry while the second half strikes me (situated here in Singapore) as right on target. In the USA 53% of the responses indicated trust in business while in Russia the number was below 40%. While I love the improvement, and businesses should get credit for all their hard work, I am not sure that 1 in 2 people trusting business is something we should be too proud of. 47% of the people out there hold some sort of a negative opinion. In my mind, this is the number I would want to focus on.
So the second half where you ask how we can continue to make progress...this strikes me as right on target.
I love the work you folks are doing and the research you are uncovering. Keep up the great work, and keep up the great work in Asia. We need all the research and case studies we can get!
Posted by: Michael Netzley at May 9, 2007 9:29 PM