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June 17, 2010
Pam
Thirty-eight years ago, an energetic young Vassar graduate, fresh from a stint as a reporter, came into the Edelman Chicago office for the first time. She was an account executive in consumer marketing working for Judith Rich, a legendary creative force and long-time associate of my father, Dan Edelman. Her first account was 9-Lives cat food; her challenge was to make Morris the Cat more than an advertising icon. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship with our firm that comes to an end two weeks from today when Pam Talbot hangs up her spikes, the longest-tenured employee in the history of the firm and the one who has surely made the greatest contribution to our success.
Let’s start with Morris. Pam understood the power of cause-related marketing, initiating Adopt-a-Cat Month with the ASPCA, sponsored by 9 Lives. The rationale for the program was that Morris had been adopted from a shelter. The tawny tabby then went on to run for President, with Eleanor Mondale, daughter of the former vice president, acting as campaign spokesman and cheerleader at rallies where the crowd chanted, “We Want Morris, We Want Morris.” When Morris finally succumbed to old age, Pam persuaded the client to be transparent about his death, leading to an outpouring of sympathy including a famous cartoon in the Chicago Sun Times showing the cat ascending to heaven.
Pam cares deeply about nutrition, especially about childhood obesity. She helped to forge a partnership between Tufts University and Kraft Foods that enabled consumers to distinguish between fact and fiction on food claims on the Internet. She worked with the Dairy Management Inc. on three a day dairy products in school. She promoted a competition between Jackson, Michigan and Jackson, Mississippi on weight loss and wellness for client Kellogg.
She recognized the potential of applying Edelman’s consumer marketing skills to the burgeoning technology business, on behalf of Microsoft. The Explorasaurus bus toured America, introducing consumers to Microsoft’s Encarta CD-ROM. She organized the first event in Times Square after the 9/11 tragedy, working with ToysRUs to do a midnight launch of the new XBOX. Microsoft is now represented in 25 Edelman offices around the world.
Pam’s mantra of Creativity and Excellence is her legacy to Edelman. She is fanatical about putting the “wow” -- the “big idea” – into every program, delivering quality and results to clients. Pam created the Starkist Dolphin Safe Tuna program, partnering Starkist with Earth Island Institute, earning endorsements from celebrities such as Ted Danson, and securing a resolution in the US Senate. This was brilliant, groundbreaking thinking that set the standard for environmental PR.
Pam put employee satisfaction alongside client service in terms of importance. That is why she led the Vision Mission Values task force for the firm in 2001-2. She described the Type E person: “Intellect… a questioning intellect that demands to know more, learn more, experiment more. Openness to life and to experiences and to others. Respect for the individual and individualism while working as a team. Commitment to excellence in the most urgent sense. Courage… to go for the big idea, to make yourself heard, to tell an uncomfortable truth, to stretch beyond our grasp.”
She created our Quality program that involved regular client evaluation of our work and substantially reduced client turnover. With the development of more complex client relationships involving multiple practices and offices. Pam established our Global Client Relationship Management (GCRM) program to serve major clients such as HP, Microsoft, Starbucks, Unilever and J&J.
Pam’s outstanding stewardship of our US business enabled us to afford our global expansion and the development of capabilities in broader areas such as research, issues advertising, and digital. By the time she moved to her present of counsel status in June, 2008, the US business was almost $300 million and we were the third-largest PR firm in the world. She created a very smooth transition to the present leadership of the US business, Matt Harrington and Nancy Ruschienski, both of whom she mentored for years.
Here are just a few personal anecdotes that will no doubt amuse you. Pam and I went up to Minneapolis in the early 90s to do a series of new business calls. On a day when the high temperature was 4 degrees Farenheit, we chose to economize by taking taxis to our various appointments. Our final call of the day was at General Mills. As we pulled up to the Wayzata headquarters, we both pulled out our wallets and realized that we had exhausted our cash. After making our pitch, I had to ask the PR director for the money needed to return to the airport. It became our standing joke on every subsequent trip. Pam was a white-knuckle flyer while I fell asleep as soon as the engines went on; I would wake up from my Pavlovian snooze to see her intently consuming the NY Times or first class fiction, really relaxing only when the wheels hit the tarmac again. Going into her office, the work piled high on her desk, family photos (my favorite was her two young kids in Morris the Cat t-shirts down to their knees), the Roy Lichtenstein poster of a woman hugging a man with a tear coming from her eye, was to appreciate the dimension of this superstar, who brought all aspects of her life experience to bear in counseling clients and her peers.
I close with a quote from Shakespeare’s Henry VI, a tribute to Sir John Talbot, hero of the wars against the French:
“Welcome, brave captain and victorious lord! When I was young, as yet I am not old, I do remember how my father said a stouter champion never handled sword. Long since we were resolved of your truth, your faithful service and your toll in war; yet never have you tasted our reward or been reguerdoned with so much as thanks.” Enjoy this next phase of your life; Edelman will never again see the likes of you, our perpetual Most Valuable Player.
Posted by Edelman at June 17, 2010 5:16 PM |
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Comments
It is rare to read such a praise of a boss about his/her employee. It is not only that you were blessed by such an employee, but blessed are Edelman's employees who attain praises from their CEO. It is exciting, indeed!
Posted by: Ami Mintzer at June 18, 2010 5:47 AM
Thanks for paying tribute to Pam, Richard - she was indeed an extraordinary leader and brilliant counselor, and I've been lucky to have her as a mentor and friend for more than 20 years. Actually, to say "mentor" doesn't seem to go far enough: she taught me most of what I know. And the most valuable thing she taught me was that a five foot woman can be the biggest person in the room! HAVE A BLAST, PAM!
Posted by: Nancy Ruscheinski at June 19, 2010 4:29 PM
Pam Talbot was my boss for 16 of the 17 years that I worked at Edelman. No one was better, smarter, more creative or persuasive than Pam. She also had a sense of humor that could quickly diffuse otherwise tense moments and put people at ease. Ann Landers, a close friend of the Edelman family, once said, "Nobody says that you must laugh, but a sense of humor can help you overlook the unattractive, tolerate the unpleasant and copy with the unexpected." Thanks for making us laugh, Pam, and for many fond memories.
Posted by: Bob Kornecki at July 8, 2010 9:56 AM
What a beautiful and touching tribute. It speaks volumes not only about Pam, but the also the Edelman DNA. Nice one Richard!
Posted by: Bruce Garfield at July 22, 2010 9:31 PM