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September 28, 2010
Brazil
I have just returned from a three day trip to Sao Paulo, my first time in Brazil for six years. Edelman acquired Significa, a leading CSR and brand attitude, strategy firm, increasing our size in Brazil by 60% and making us one of the top six firms. I met with chief executives, communications directors and media while in town. Here are a few observations:
1) Rise of the C class of consumers—This is the demographic making the equivalent of $20,000 per year. It now constitutes 46% of total consumers in the country. They are regular consumers of brands. They aspire to drive cars. It is the fastest growing segment in the world’s fifth largest country. The D class, making $6,000 per year, tends to be resident in the northern part of the country.
2) Global Reputation of Brazilian Companies—The Edelman Trust Barometer indicates that Brazilian corporations rank near the bottom of twelve nations on “trust to do the right thing,” by people around the world, along with Chinese and Russian firms. The PR directors of major companies such as Embraer, Vale and Bank Itau, recognize the issue. “Brand Brazil can no longer be football, Lula and Carnival,” said one of them. “We need to point up our innovation, beautiful environment and unique ability to manage diverse populations.”
3) Car Culture—The mass transit system in Sao Paulo is woefully inadequate for the size of population and broad geographic expanse of the city. The jammed roads are crying out for congestion pricing, new subways and ride-share programs.
4) Environment—The stated concern for preservation of natural resources stands in sharp contrast to the reality of a fast-growing, urbanized society. A drive along the river, the Marginal, is a shattering experience, with effluent pouring into what can only be described as an outdoor sewer, replete with floating plastic bottles and other detritus. Few other countries care more about a company embracing social purpose, according to the latest (and soon to be published) Edelman goodpurpose Study, with ¾ of those polled stating they would buy products from a company that supports causes.
5) Design—The modern buildings in Sao Paulo, from the cereal bowl shaped Hotel Unique to the dramatic Natura corporate headquarters gracefully inserted into the hillside, utilize bare cement, walkways that float in the air and long glass enclosed corridors that denote transparency.
6) Advertising Banned—I was stunned to find no outdoor advertising in Sao Paulo. Apparently the local citizenry, angered by the excessive “visual pollution,” made it a political issue. You cannot even find full building exhibitions of Gisele Bündchen (that is a real shame!) until you near the airport.
7) Politics, Who Cares?—You could hardly have guessed that a presidential election would be held in two weeks. It is a foregone conclusion that Lula’s designated successor, Dilma, will defeat the more conservative candidate. There is quite low expectation of government; business will push forward with its aggressive agenda regardless of public policy.
8) Self Confidence but Not Over Confidence—The Brazilian mindset has shifted to quiet assurance, based on expectation of continued strong demand for commodities and a rising industrial sector. There are still pointed jibes in Sao Paulo about the work ethic in Rio de Janiero (sounds like NYC about LA).
9) The PR Market—The market is remarkably well developed, with two very large firms doing $35 million each, plus two firms in the $15 million range. It seems that half of the business is government contracts for economic development, tourism and the like. The Brazilian multinationals are not yet big buyers of services from PR firms. The communications sector is still dominated by Brazilian advertising agencies, such as ABC run by well known entrepreneur Nizan Guanaes.
Much has changed in this country since my last visit, with domestic companies now convinced of their global destiny, hot architects with mandates to build creative showplaces and a burgeoning middle class. But the basic challenges of governance, infrastructure and branding remain. I plan to spend my Christmas break with the family in Rio, Buzios and the Iguazu waterfalls to get a better sense of this beautiful country.
Posted by Edelman at 1:52 PM |
Comments
Passionate about Brazil as I am, it's inspiring to read a summary of where - what I love to call - the Empire is currently representing as a nation, business, and PR opportunity. A true example of what's best in Latin America. Wish many other nations could define a clear identity as Brazil, a North to follow.
Posted by: Natalia Martinez at September 28, 2010 6:04 PM
The BRICs begin with a capital "B." There are interesting developments in green business, auto design and materials production. Helping Brazilian companies establish a respected position in the global dialog is a real opportunity -- and Iguazu Falls can not be beat!
Posted by: Tom Mattia at September 29, 2010 2:40 PM
It's very interesting to hear your comments about Brazil and the economic changes. The last time I visited Brazil, I taught a management course there and I felt as though the advertising and PR opportunities were untapped and had significant potential.
Posted by: Stephen Marberry at October 4, 2010 9:28 PM
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| TrackBackSeptember 24, 2010
The Professor
I will deliver these remarks at the Atlantic Council dinner in New York City honoring Klaus Schwab, founder and chairman of the World Economic Forum, which I’ve happily attended for the last twelve years.
Dear Professor Schwab,
How to capture the essence of a career of service to the global community? For me, it is three words: Inquiry; Inclusion; and Family.
Inquiry-You are relentless in your pursuit of knowledge. You never are comfortable with accepted wisdom; you challenge every assumption. Your teaching method is similar to the approach of the famous Harvard Professor Louis Agassiz, as "teaching students to see-to observe and compare...to have the student learn to think for himself...to become capable of hard, continuous, original work without the support of the teacher."
Inclusion-You're testament to the power of an individual to change the course of history. In your early and impassioned advocacy of the stakeholder model, you have helped move the world beyond Milton Friedman's contention that the social responsibility of business is to increase its profit. You have set business on a sustainable path, whereby private enterprise is a force for good in society that enhances people’s lives while creating long term shareholder value.
Family-You and Hilde run the Forum as an extension of your family. You are both companions for us in the journey of life, counseling us on business and private matters, always with love and integrity. When I think of Hilde, I’m reminded of Abigail Adams, wife to America's second President and mother to the sixth, whom it was written "Possessing at every period of life the unlimited confidence as well as the affection of her husband. She was admitted at all time to share in his thoughts. She was a friend whom it was his delight to consult in every perplexity of public affairs. Her intuitive judgment was blended with consummate prudence. In the storm as well as the smooth seas of life, her virtues were ever the object of his trust and veneration."
Thank you for your passionate leadership and vision.
Posted by Edelman at 10:29 AM |
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Thank you for being a guidance in my life. I am 23 and the woman that is my companion right now displays none of the qualities Abigail lived. Could it be that I'm no John Adams? Like attracts like. I must develop my virtues, then maybe I can help my girl out. Or is it up to her to change? Or should I just leave her and move on to one that I think fits the bill?
I am developing my library daily for the past 2 years and I am at 93 books. My desire for knowledge is insatiable. My quest is unstoppable, I love to read and write. Life is great and getting better all the time.
Nelson Jr.
Posted by: Nelson Jr. at September 25, 2010 1:53 AM
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| TrackBackSeptember 16, 2010
The Interview
I spent the first three days of this week in London interviewing candidates for Edelman Europe’s CEO. My style must be somewhat disconcerting to any candidate in that I do not follow a script nor do I have any specific direction for the conversation. It is a bit like a blind date- you go with the flow, hoping to glean tidbits of a personality and operating style. So much of our business is reacting to crisis or taking advantage of news opportunities. That is why I prefer the spontaneous interchange, probing for the creative spark, intellectual curiosity, business results and the fit with the entrepreneurial ethos of Edelman. I have made mistakes in hiring throughout my career by focusing on the CV of the candidate; now I opt for a honest exchange of views and interpersonal chemistry. Every time I go through this process, I recall the most difficult interview in my life, with the Dean of Admissions for Harvard College.
I was in the fall of my senior year at Phillips Exeter Academy. In those days, a prep school such as Exeter was prime recruiting ground for the top universities. I had pretty good grades, was a scrub (that means bench warmer) on the varsity football team, ran a high school literary magazine and was elected proctor of my dormitory. In short, I was a good but not great candidate for an Ivy League school, long on self confidence and ambition but neither a likely Rhodes Scholar nor Heisman Trophy winner. Over the summer I wrote my application to Harvard and left it in the mailbox for the postman. I will never forget my poor sister coming to the beach where I was sunning with my girlfriend to tell me that my mother had found a typo and that I was to report to the house immediately to fix it.
Flash forward to the fall, a vivid New England day, with a blue sky and crisp weather, leaves turning orange and red on the maples on the Exeter green. It was Harvard’s scheduled visit, to find the best and brightest from our class. I saw that I was selected as the first of seventy young men and that I had been tapped by the Dean himself, the estimable Chase Peterson, not his two young associates from admissions. A lanky but very formal man, dressed in a bow tie, with horn rim glasses that dominated his face, Dr. Peterson (later a noted heart surgeon), grasped my hand firmly and beckoned me to the high-backed wooden chair in front of him. He looked intently at me and asked, “Why did you have a gossip columnist write you a letter of recommendation? Is your application so weak that you needed to go to such lengths for an endorsement?”
I could see that my fate hung on my response to this aggressive opening move. He had decided to take me as his first interview of the day because Ann Landers, famous journalist and long time friend of my mother’s, had written him a letter. He peered over the tortoise shell glasses as he leaned forward, waiting for the inevitable crumbling of the lamb in front of the lion.
“You see Dean Peterson,” I said, “you should take me because I am pretty good at everything and not great at anything. I will not lead your orchestra nor catch the touchdown pass against Yale nor will I finish as valedictorian. You need a few well rounded, normal kids in the class. I am a hard worker who never quits.” He pushed back in his chair and smiled, moving onto more comfortable subjects. I even got him to laugh when I told him the story of my canvassing for votes for Democratic Senate candidate Adlai Stevenson III, when I learned the hard way to position myself sideways when ringing the doorbell in case a German Shepherd answered instead of the owner.
What’s the moral of the story? Turn adversity into opportunity, whether you are in a new business presentation or an interview. Take a chance, go with the big idea, connect when your interlocutor is pushing you the hardest. Think fast on your feet by saying the unexpected and thereby disarming the questioner. Respond as if you are a jujitsu expert, going with the flow but turning it to your advantage. Delivered with enthusiasm, the bold stroke is a winning strategy. Tell me your favorite interview stories and see whether you can top the sheer terror of the Ann Landers moment.
Posted by Edelman at 1:03 PM |
Comments
I don't have an interview horror story yet, but I wanted to leave a comment to say that I really enjoyed this post and it comes with great timing as I will soon be interviewing for my university internship. I've heard it said that the CV may get you the interview, but it's the personality that gets you the job. Your post reaffirms this!
Posted by: Corina at September 16, 2010 5:33 PM
Your style of interviewing-is Richard Edelmanesque- go with the flow, blind date"ish"..I hope you were impressed RE...those folks- oh so fortunate to meet w/the likes of you.
JB
EVP Recruitment- Edelman U.S.
Posted by: Julie Biber at September 17, 2010 3:35 PM
Richard, everyone has a style to how they interview, and that changes through various events. Nevertheless- the candidates who meet you, are fortunate and you've found your niche how to select- good luck with that for the UK...
Julie B
Posted by: Julie Biber at September 17, 2010 4:01 PM
Thanks for this post-- as a young professional, its often easy to focus on lack of experience as a negative rather than an opportunity to shine. Nice to see the other side of the interview table is thinking this way.
Posted by: Jake at September 21, 2010 10:05 PM
Richard,
I can’t top your Ann Landers moment but I believe the following further reinforces the moral of your story:
An excerpt from the foreword by Mike Jackson, Chairman and CEO, AutoNation to, Sixty to zero: an inside look at the collapse of General Motors --and the Detroit Auto Industry,:
“There are plenty of insights here for businesspeople today, regardless of the industry they serve. The lessons Taylor discusses have less to do with the automotive world than they do with the nature of organizations and the individuals who compose them. As the author shows, GM suffered the inevitable fate of any company that becomes so large and so dominant that it begins to believes its own infallibility. He catalogs in vivid detail the inevitable results of a system that required processes to be maintained at the expenses of results. And he shows the natural consequences of an environment where the fear of failure became greater than the promise of innovation.”
"...and then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin
Posted by: Hugh Campbell at September 24, 2010 9:51 AM
I like this post. I know from experience that overthinking an interview - no matter how important - is torturous.
Prepare, be honest, ignore the fear and at the very least you'll be able to look yourself in the eye.
Posted by: Sorilbran at September 26, 2010 10:35 PM
When interviewing with Wells Fargo's new online division 10 years ago, I was early asked what the biggest challenge in interviewing with them. After a breath or two I said "getting in here."
I told my three hosts that stepping off on the 34th floor to a long empty corridor with two, electronically locked double doors at either end, no way to call the key operated elevator and no intercom to the offices was a bit challenging for about the first 12 minutes. Until I realized I had my cell and called a friend in another division to alert my interviewer. 5 minutes later someone opened the doors only to say they were running late.
One interviewer shifted uncomfortably and looked to the floor. The man just stared at his papers on the desk, while the third woman look straight at me an said flatly, "Really."
I knew this was going to be a bad fit- for me and for them. There was no connection with me as a person. They missed the opportunity to connect with the reality of the moment.
I've always believed that the interview was like that first dance, to see if we were a good fit together. Both parties have to be willing to give and take in sharing openly, as they are about to potentially enter into a longterm relationship.
Posted by: Amos at September 29, 2010 4:00 PM
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| TrackBackSeptember 10, 2010
Taking a Walk to Ground Zero
I am walking from our New York office to Ground Zero today with 50 of my fellow Edelman employees. I have made this journey on my own in each of the past eight years but this time asked whether others would like to join on this ninth anniversary of the 9-11 tragedy. I have a personal connection to the World Trade Center. My wife, Roz, worked at Keefe Bruyette & Woods, a small investment bank until the birth of our third child. She was in the building for the first bombing in the early 90s. I tried desperately to reach her throughout the day. She came home with soot in her nostrils, having walked down 85 flights. Sixty-seven of her former colleagues were not so lucky the next time. We will be going to the Children’s Zoo in Central Park at dusk on Saturday with Keefe employees and families where the list of names of the deceased will be read as it has been each year on the September 11.
Edelman people played an important role in the aftermath of the disaster. Displaying his customary dignity and initiative, Matt Harrington organized the New York team to staff an all volunteer grieving center first at the Plaza Hotel and then the Pierre Hotel for the families of Cantor Fitzgerald. Our staff worked tirelessly, trying to answer questions on finances, child care, burial plans and the firm’s very ability to operate. We counseled Cantor CEO Howard Lutnick, overwhelmed by the loss of both his brother and nearly his entire NY City leadership team, he was saved only by the need to drop his first grader off for the first day of school. His media appearances and visits with family members delivered the message that the firm would carry on and would give 25% of its profits to the families of the deceased. Touching us further was the loss of Suria Clarke who had just left our New York office to join Cantor and was in her second day at the new firm. Suria was a wonderful young woman who like so many that day was lost far too soon.
In the summer following the attack, we were contacted by the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development to compete for an information campaign. Companies located in Lower Manhattan were besieged by employees who were convinced that there would be another attack, that there were terrible residual environmental issues and that they would perpetually have to cope with a devastated infrastructure (no direct subway access). Edelman partnered with the construction firm Parsons Brinkerhoff to win the bid over 70 others. Our solution to the problem: LowerManhattan.info, a web site that would provide up to the minute information on the rebuilding process for infrastructure, credible data on environment, entertainment and food options and a chat room for residents. We built the site in 60 days and had it ready to launch the week before the first anniversary, only through the heroic efforts of Russ Dubner, Justin Blake, Kate Ferguson and many others. The site immediately attracted significant traffic and changed the conversation toward progress and optimism.
In the effort to rebuild the site, developer Larry Silverstein, who ironically had purchased the two buildings only two months before the terrorist action, sued the insurance companies that held the contracts on the two buildings. He contended that he had insured the buildings separately and was therefore entitled to two payments. The insurers said that the buildings were insured as a package and therefore he was to get one payment. Swiss Re, as holder of the largest share of the insurance contract, took the lead in the litigation; we were hired as the PR firm. Local politicians weighed in, already counting the money, pressuring the Swiss as if it were a matter of patriotism to pay their fair share. We advised Swiss Re to meet one on one with opinion formers, from academics to journalists, to show them the insurance contract and to make clear that the company would have its day in court without being rushed an unfair settlement. We worked with the company all the way to the courtroom, when a judge found for the insurers.
I go to the site today to say a prayer for former Edelman person Suria Clarke and Keefe employees I knew (David Barry, Joe Barry). I go also to honor the determination of humanity to build back in the face of often staggering obstacles. Elie Wiesel wrote, “God gave Adam a secret and that secret was not how to begin but how to begin again.” We defy those who sought to terrorize us by insisting on a return to a normal life, free of prejudice and unafraid to demonstrate our values of freedom and family.
Posted by Edelman at 10:19 AM |
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Richard, I certainly remember Edelman's herculean efforts post-9/11 on behalf Cantor Fitzgerald and so many other firms. And what it meant to people so incredibly traumatized. I hope you had a wonderful walk, it certainly is a place of promise and possibilities these days.
Posted by: Barry Collodi at September 10, 2010 2:13 PM
Richard,
Thank you for including us in your walk to ground zero yesterday. In case you wanted the email, below is the memo Dan sent to all staff on September 12th - thought it was very powerful putting an unthinkable tragedy into context and rallying us.
I remember clearly 9 years ago today the realization that the first plane was not accident, but an overt attack. And the short window of time when we thought we would be next in Times Square.
What I remember most about the Cantor experience was how we managed to create some order out of chaos. As you pointed out in your blog, we helped with finances, child care - developing schedules for prayer services and more than anything being a human point of contact. I was also struck by how, for at least for the first week, it was less of a grieving center than a hope center - everyone was convinced that their loved one would somehow emerge.
It's important to remember - and to think about how these experiences have changed us and made us stronger.
Larry
Posted by: Larry Koffler at September 13, 2010 9:02 AM
It's very well post thanks for sharing this useful information
Posted by: TasFlowrance at October 10, 2010 9:36 AM
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| TrackBackSeptember 2, 2010
The Jewish Immigrant Success Story
I journeyed to Philadelphia today to see the soon-to-be-opened National Museum of American Jewish History, conveniently located near Independence Hall and the Constitution Center. As our client, Michael Rosenzweig, director of the Museum, told me, “This is a celebration of the American immigrant experience. It shows the benefits of liberty and free markets for immigrants of all backgrounds.”
The first Jews came to America in 1654 from Brazil, moving to the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (now New York City). In their petition to Governor Peter Stuyvesant, they asked simply for freedom to pursue their religious practices and to avoid prejudice. The first synagogue in what would become the United States was built in New York City in 1730, followed by one in Philadelphia in 1740. It is this same Philadelphia congregation that established the National Museum of American Jewish History in 1976 to coincide with the Bicentennial.
The new building, expected to attract 250,000 visitors per year, houses an exhibition on the lives of the 18 most famous American Jews, from the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis to entertainer Barbara Streisand to filmmaker Stephen Spielberg to Emma Lazarus, author of the poem about the Statue of Liberty, to Estee Lauder who mixed ingredients on her stove at home. Among the archival material collected includes Spielberg’s first movie camera, vials from Dr. Jonas Salk’s laboratory that found a polio vaccine, clothes from Streisand’s movies and Irving Berlin’s piano on which he composed God Bless America. Russian-born Berlin’s story is typical, with the family fleeing Tsarist-inspired pogroms, coming to the Lower East Side in NYC, working as a newspaper boy when he finds that singing brings more customers than song-writing.
More than thirty short films will tell the story of the American Jewish experience. There are several moving tales, none funnier than the Trefa dinner in New York, organized by the founder of Reform Judaism, Isaac Wise in the late 1800s. To draw a sharp contrast between Reform and Orthodox practices, the dinner featured oysters, shrimp and frog’s legs. The more devout members of the movement were so upset by the dinner that they founded Conservative Judaism. Or the often repeated saga of Sandy Koufax, star pitcher of the LA Dodgers, who refused to pitch on the High Holy Days, even though his team was in the World Series, then went onto be the MVP of the Series.
I have known many self-made American Jews, including client Charles Lubin, who pioneered flash freezing of cakes to create Sara Lee, Len Abramson who was an early devotee of managed care through US Healthcare and Joe Neubauer, who has outsourced services from school cafeterias to hospital gowns at Aramark. They share a love of community, commitment to religion, and devotion to family. We have been given an unprecedented opportunity in America, the ability to compete without the historical constraints. We can never take this privilege for granted.
Posted by Edelman at 4:11 PM |
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