« August 2011 | Main | October 2011 »
September 30, 2011
Global Agency of the Year
Last night in SIntra, Portugal, the Holmes Report named Edelman its first Global Agency of the Year. On behalf of my 4,000 colleagues around the world, I want to express my deep appreciation to our clients, whose trust in the firm allows us to innovate and operate with confidence every day.
Here is the story behind this award and our success.
1) My parents, Dan and Ruth Edelman, are founders and entrepreneurs in the true sense of the word. They could have chosen to take the big bucks by selling out to one of the holding companies. Instead, they chose to maintain the company in family hands so that our values of client service, creativity, and being a part of the community are our primary purpose. My father, at age 91, begins every conversation with me as follows: “How are we doing? Who is your toughest competitor? Never take the client for granted. Good that you are seeing clients and media.” My mother, who broke her hip and had a new one installed on Wednesday, asked me, when I saw her post surgery, “How was your trip to Silicon Valley? Are the clients happy?” They are not fancy people; they just want to make sure that their legacy is an outstanding PR firm that cares for its clients and its people.
2) By remaining independent, we have been able to invest in building a global integrated network by reinvesting earnings. We started our first international office in London in 1967 and now have 54 wholly owned offices. Our company is at once local and global; we have important client relationships in local markets that connect us to opinion leaders and media, enabling better work for our global clients. We strive to nurture a global mindset through initiatives like the Fellows program, which we established sixteen months ago to move key executives from developed to fast-growing markets. We are about do the reverse – transplanting a dozen emerging leaders from offices in Mumbai and Moscow to offices such as Toronto and London.
3) We made quality an obsession. Our Q program—enabling every client to evaluate us across 36 key metrics regularly, initiated and run by Janice Rotchstein, is operated separately from the client service teams and gives us an independent feedback loop. It identifies service issues early so that we can address them and, often, build even stronger connections with our clients as a result.
4) We invested in intellectual property, such as the Trust Barometer, Health Barometer, 8095 study and Good Purpose to enhance our understanding of markets around the world, and to improve our service and counsel.
5) We are ahead in digital because we have been at it for 15 years. We understood early that the Internet would transform how a client does business. We were pioneers in putting embassies on Facebook and Twitter, the essence of “social digital.” Our work in info-graphics is at the highest standard. We are creating content that prompts viral behavior and co-creation. We run Edelman Digital as a true partner of the main firm, with an integrated work product.
6) We do not put all of the power into a single office, but rather spread it across many locations. Seattle is home to our technology practice leader, Seoul and Chicago to our crisis practice leads, and Atlanta to our consumer practice lead. London is a center of excellence for content creation.
7) We run a triangle offense for clients, including geography, practice, and global client leaders. It may be more complicated but ultimately this approach leads to best outcomes, because it brings local knowledge, sector awareness, and strategic insights to the client.
8) We have a culture that demands relentless achievement. It is a culture of YES. “Go ahead and take the initiative.” We are never self-satisfied or complacent. This comes from my father. (Quick deviation here—I was pretty good American History student—got 780 out of 800 on my Achievement test for college—his only comment, “I thought you were perfect in American History. What did you miss?”)
9) We give back to the community. We donated $5.1 million in public relations pro-bono work and cash contributions last year. My brother, John, runs the Edelman Community Grants program. He gave out 62 grants last year to enable employees to support their personal causes.
10) Most of all, we work for great organizations on ground-breaking programs, such as Pepsi Refresh, which won the Holmes Report Best Program of the Year (with Weber Shandwick, our worthy competitor) and Social Media Campaign Sabre (also with Weber), and the Xbox Kinect launch, which won in the Product Media Relations category.
I am deeply humbled by the recognition of our firm. Edelman will continue to evolve, but I will continue to operate our company guided by the values upon which Dan founded the firm. Now I am off to the hospital to see my mom.
Posted by Edelman at 11:33 AM |
Comments
Congratulations, my friend!
Posted by: Tom Mattia at October 5, 2011 10:10 AM
Wonderful parents and a very faithful son :)
Surfing on your site I discover a tobacco cessation section. That's really good and that makes me wonder if Edelman could not play an active role to promote tobacco control in... Africa, by raising the awareness about companies that prohibit smoking (provide smoke-free workplaces). They are still quite rare and there is big need for the private sector to lead the way and good PR about smokefree companies would help a lot.
I remember in France, before the prohibition to smoke on the workplace and in public places was adopted, how the tobacco control advocates had to rely on the good examples provided by the companies that went ahead to protect the health of their employees and customers.
All my best wishes to your Mom for a prompt return home.
Posted by: Philippe at October 6, 2011 8:11 PM
Unfortunately I see you don't have any presence in Africa... but you could partner with organizations/companies that are working there?
Posted by: Philippe at October 6, 2011 8:25 PM
i just discover that the Clinton Global Initiative announced (with a few partners) a Global Smoke-Free Workplace initiative.
Unfortunately, as of today there is no contact on line, no website... nothing but the announcement. They sure could use some PR expertise.
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/tobacco_unfiltered/post/2011_09_22_cgi
Posted by: Philippe at October 11, 2011 7:25 PM
Post a comment
| TrackBackSeptember 23, 2011
24 Hours in NYC
New York City in mid-September is a swirl of events superimposed upon a city already straining its infrastructure in normal times. In the past 24 hours, I have attended a dinner at the Plaza Hotel for the Atlantic Council which honored Christine Lagarde, who now leads the International Monetary Fund; a discussion on the Middle East with the Hariri Center; a luncheon with the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi; and a session at the Clinton Global Initiative on Innovation. My head is exploding, my armpits are damp from running in and out of the subway and my trusty notebook is nearly illegible. Here are a few highlights of each event:
Atlantic Council—Lagarde disposed of her formal address in favor of an off-the-cuff talk on the need for citizens of all Western nations to come to grips with the changed economic outlook and accept some shared sacrifice. She also noted her preference for straight talk and civility among government and business chieftains. She is a remarkable leader, absolutely comfortable in her own skin. In the words of WEF Founder Klaus Schwab, she has, “heart, head, soul and nerve”.
Hariri Center—We need to appreciate the economic aspect of the Arab Spring transition, with specific focus on creating jobs. There is a fundamental role for the USA and EU in being role models and partners for the emerging Arab democracies. There will be an uncomfortable period as subsidies on services/goods are reduced and market reforms are introduced – we must help the new governments sell this.
Chinese Foreign Minister—The US is making a big mistake by updating Taiwanese fighter jets. This is a violation of our internal affairs and undermines our security. We also need to come to a mutual benefit relationship, not a zero sum game like the Cold War. Trade protectionism must be rejected—let US sell high tech goods to China, and make it easier for Chinese companies to invest in the USA. China is committed to intellectual property protection. We need better coordination on international issues such as the de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
Innovation—Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, now has rolled out the concept under the brand Teach For All to 40 countries. “We need the most promising young leaders in the world to commit to education of the disadvantaged—this is the game change.” (Edelman helped Wendy with pro bono PR about 15 years ago when she started!) Bob McDonald, P&G’s CEO, committed to educating 100 million households in developed economies on the benefits of washing clothes with cold water to save energy. In addition, P&G plans to donate personal hygiene products for young girls in Africa to help them stay in school. Andy Liveris, CEO of Dow, spoke of the new golden triangle of business, government and civil society. He said that the right to operate for business depends on counting the cost to the planet not just classic P&L accounting. He concluded, “We have a mismatch of long cycle, socially-based investment with quarterly judgment by financial analysts. I for one am going to be courageous and stand my ground.”
Now I am going to do yoga to relax. I can’t take any more input today.
Posted by Edelman at 12:16 PM |
Comments
Post a comment
| TrackBackSeptember 19, 2011
Curiosity & PR’s Impact on Society
Earlier this year I sat down with Richard Sergey, Chief Curator for Discovery Channel’s The Curiosity Project, to discuss the role PR plays in business and society. Sergey, a veteran of ABC News and a specialist in the technology sector, interviewed 250 “founding experts” as part of Curiosity.com. I am not asking why I am being included with such leaders as Sergey Brin, Wynton Marsalis, and Elie Wiesel , though I feel a bit like Woody Allen in his movie Zelig. This is part of a four-part strategy conceived by Discovery Channel founder John Hendricks to “explore the questions of life.” The web site will be a “new and robust platform for education and leadership,” Hendricks said. The other elements are in-person retreats, 60 television segments, and educational initiatives.
Among the issues I address in my 30 short segments are:
1. Decline in trust in institutions, particularly media—especially acute in Western nations such as the US and UK
2. How every company can be a media company
3. The changing communications mix as budgets move from advertising to PR and digital
4. Operating in a stakeholder, not just a shareholder world, epitomized by Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo’s mantra of “Performance with Purpose”
5. How companies and inform the people’s conversation, and give up a little control
6. Media cloverleaf
7. Brand America
8. Trust in CEOs
I encourage you to contribute to the discussion about PR’s current and future role in society on Twitter at @curiositytv, or to post a comment/question to my page.
Posted by Edelman at 8:12 AM |
Comments
Post a comment
| TrackBackSeptember 16, 2011
Visualizing Information
PR pros have always used compelling visuals to help journalists convey information, and the media have used info graphics for decades, going back to USA Today in 1981. With the advent of direct-to-end-user communication and the propensity of people online to link to compelling content (especially visual content), we need to make greater use of information visualization, because people don’t have sufficient time to read nowadays. This is storytelling through commissioned and curated data, key to success in the Media Cloverleaf.
Our Chief Content Officer Richard Sambrook, a founder of BBC.com, defines effective information visualization as being premised on simplicity (complex notions simplified to save time for reader); transparency (visual honesty and responsibility in sourcing); creativity (design that is memorable and understandable); sociability (easily shared and improved). He distinguishes between infographics and data visualization, with the former being simple messages for time-starved audiences and the latter a more complex interactive tool that gives an attentive audience the opportunity to learn more. Information visualization differs from illustration, which is entertaining and visually engaging.
The best visualizations use comparisons to make the case, with a central graphic contrasting specific data points. They engage an audience by using a popular metaphor-- sinking ships for comparison of the largest bankruptcies in US financial history. Colors are used to show data patterns and enhance understanding, not as decoration.
Infographics make stories more “findable” and sharable. Infographics tend to generate conversation and the best ones get retweeted and Liked. The inclusion of infographics and other kinds of visual content boost search engine results for a story.
Sambrook insists on ethics and compliance, as befits a former journalist. “We should engage with graphics but not exaggerate.” He quotes visualization guru Edward Tufte: “It is wrong to distort the data measures in order to make an editorial comment or fit a decorative scheme.”
I recently gave a presentation to our firm’s global leadership team using “Prezi” because it illustrated our overarching strategy, and allowed me to fly around and zoom in when I needed to focus on a specific point (such as Captain Morgie!). It was so much more engaging than 60 PowerPoint slides.
Edelman has used information visualization for clients including eBay, and Symantec’s consumer brand, Norton (see below). Information visualization helps us do our job properly. That is to say we succeed with statistics, with stories, and with authoritative sources. From the static to the interactive infographic that enables readers to control and explore data that has layers of complexity, the PR person must be as comfortable telling stories visually as we are with the written word.
Posted by Edelman at 11:46 AM |
Comments
Mr. Edelman,
Visualize this: The middle class in America protesting a few blocks away from your office. Storms and floods causing damage all over New York. The stock market on the verge of collapse. Regular American and European citizens living in poverty. The beautiful country your family helped build descending to complete anarchy.
You think that if you do your yoga every morning your world will continue to be perfect. But it won't. From this point onward, every individual has to do what is their power to do. CSR programs that focus on each issue separately don't even scratch the surface, because all our escalating issues are interconnected.
Forget about yesterday. We are living in a completely new world. Use all your power of presentation to explain to the world what this crisis is really all about. I hope you won't wait until the water is up to the ceiling in your office to do that.
With Edelman at the top of the pyramid, ignoring the signs will come at a huge cost. Not to mention that the affluent part of society that you belong to, has the most to lose. What will you do with all your assets when unemployment hits 60%? That is the scenario you are facing and somewhere inside you know it.
I can provide you with a strategy that would be very simple for you to implement and you would see positive results immediately.
Please stop ignoring the signs and contact me.
Ms. Josia Nakash
International Consultant
Tel Aviv, Israel
Cell: +972-54-5606702
Tel: +972-3-9228428
Fax: +972-3-9228431
http://il.linkedin.com/in/josia
Posted by: Josia at September 19, 2011 6:30 AM
Post a comment
| TrackBackSeptember 9, 2011
Rush to Judgment
I attended the 9-11 Memorial Foundation Dinner last night in Lower Manhattan. The 10th anniversary event was packed with politicians, businesspeople and community activists. Companies such as Cantor Fitzgerald, Keefe Bruyette and Fred Alger, that lost employees in the terror attack, have donated to the Memorial which opens on Sunday.
I spent a few minutes with Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald. We reminisced about the weeks after the disaster, when Edelman was PR counsel to the firm. I congratulated him on bringing his enterprise through the crisis and told him how proud I was to have worked with him. I remember so well his public outpouring of grief in TV appearances and print interviews as he became the symbol of business, bravely soldiering on in temporary quarters seeking to serve clients. Then came the awful backlash, when the widows slammed Lutnick for cutting off the salaries of their dead spouses, creating a media firestorm. He pledged 25% of the firm’s annual profits for five years to their 658 families plus ten years of healthcare, totaling more than $180 million. In addition, each year on September 11, they donate all global revenues to dozens of charities worldwide, which has amounted to $65 million to date. Forbes Magazine, the most vitriolic critic in the media, even issued a rare quasi-retraction of its decade-old position, crediting Lutnick with keeping his word.
The tendency of PR people is to want to satisfy the media, preserve relationships, and meet our obligation for transparency. But it is also incumbent on us to avoid feeding the rush to judgment. A key lesson for CEOs from recent crises, from BP to Goldman Sachs to Toyota, is that continuous availability will lead to mistakes and misperceptions. They have companies to run and customers to satisfy. And in many cases, the CEOs lack the specific expertise necessary to make the right response in a timely manner. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, a fellow countryman who is a technical expert is a credible spokesperson during a crisis. It is also essential to treat employees are your best allies by informing them about the matter, so that they can speak out in social media and to their communities.
The job of the PR person is to counsel our clients, especially CEOs, to lay out the facts as presently available, to establish a process for further release of information, and to appoint an expert within the organization who is responsible for updates. Heroes lead from the front, but the job of the general is to have a strategy and then delegate responsibility to those able to execute it.
Posted by Edelman at 9:03 AM |
Comments
Great observations, Richard, and hats off to Howard Lutnick, who kept his promise to the families.
We should also remember our former Edelman colleague, Suria Clarke, a woman of great talent and energy who joined the PR staff at Cantor Fitzgerald just a few months before that fateful day.
Posted by: Richard Mahony at September 22, 2011 10:05 AM
Post a comment
| TrackBackSeptember 1, 2011
GWEN
I went to a small community theater last night in New York City to see Shakespeare’s Cymbeline. The king, Cymbeline, is infuriated by his daughter, Imogen, who marries an impoverished but ingenious orphan instead of the oafish prince. The king and his daughter are eventually reconciled after the usual cross-dressing and feigned death by potion scenes. This play is evocative of another Shakespeare comedy that I saw in July, All’s Well That Ends Well, in which the heroine, Helena, solves the king’s dire medical issue and is allowed to select the man of her dreams to wed. She chooses the handsome noble, but the cad runs away to war in France and seeks to bed an attractive local. Helena, ever inventive, befriends the beauty and through a blindfold, substitutes in the bedroom scene. In the end, the noble, a soon to be father, agrees to wed the quite pregnant and most persistent Helena.
Why am I obsessing about these two plays? Because it must not be so hard for women to get ahead in the business world. My wife bailed out of her investment bank after a Wharton education, 17 years with many happy clients, not just because we had our third child, but because her male peers were getting better opportunities to rise in management.
We have never explicitly paid attention to the gender issue at Edelman. We have countless smart, talented and driven women here, many who have been very successful, such as Pam Talbot, who ran our US company for 15 years, while raising two outstanding children and contributing to the Chicago community. But now the playing field is becoming more complicated, with executives often needing to move across geographies, large clients and practices, with dual career couples or single headed households, often working long hours, and juggling responsibilities outside of work, such as caring for children, aging parents, etc.
Despite some stellar examples of women who have risen through the ranks, we have an issue at Edelman like much of the corporate world, which can best be understood in quantitative terms. Women account for approximately two thirds of our total work force, but only 34% of our Strategy Committee and 28% of our Operating Committee. One of our four regional presidents is a woman. Of our sixteen Global Client Relationship Managers, five are women or 31%. Of our five large practice chairs, two are held by women. Our goal is simple—50% of those on Strategy Committee, Operating Committee, GCRM and practice leadership will be women by 2016. They will have earned the positions; there will not be a quota.
In view of this challenge, I have asked Gail Becker, Chair of Canada and Latin America and the U.S. Western Region, to take on the challenge of addressing this issue and creating an environment in which women are able to succeed at the senior most levels of Edelman. She has created an internal task force called the Global Women Executive Network (GWEN); more than 250 women have signed up. She is focused on:
1. Mentorship – increasing opportunities of women learning from other women through direct interactions
2. Sponsorship – being an advocate for other women when they are not “in the room”
3. Education – addressing culture that can perpetuate potential problems
4. Policy – examining HR policy to ensure that it is aligned with our goals
5. Career Paths - working with women across the firm to define goals and a defined way forward
We have set up a special domain on our internal portal, FUSION, where people can share stories on their careers, plus a blog that brings in outside commentators. GWEN also has a number of additional initiatives underway including employee surveys and focus groups to gain a better understanding of the issues before us in all regions of the company.
We have made progress even in the past few months, with women accounting for seven of the nine Edelman Fellows serving in the BRIICME nations. Half of the committee chairs in our Strategy Committee are women (innovation, global clients, mature markets and talent). We have also recently named Claudia Patton as Chief Talent Officer; as an experienced line manager, she will implement change across the firm.
I am ultimately going to turn the reins at Edelman over to my three daughters, whether as owners or managers. They will have to make their own decisions about work/life balance, about the right life partners and about where to live. What I want for them and for all of the women at Edelman is that they make the call about how far and how fast they want to rise in the organization and that they have the opportunity to thrive without having to choose between Edelman and life outside of work. I don’t want Edelman women to, in the words of Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, “leave before you leave,” to hold back in anticipation of children. I want Edelman to be the place where women can grow, succeed, choose to have children and come back to lead. So many women have given their ‘all’ to Edelman so it’s only natural that Edelman can and should be the place for women to have it all.
That’s a promise I will keep.
Posted by Edelman at 4:59 PM |
Comments
Wow. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Awesome post, awesome program, awesome promise. As a recent but now former Edelmanite, this makes me remember the thinking and strategic forethought that really made me enjoy being Type E. I'm sad to miss out but will be watching and cheering!
Posted by: Larisa Spillman at September 1, 2011 8:30 PM
Looking forward to what's ahead!!
Posted by: Dominic Ybarra at September 1, 2011 10:05 PM
Thank you Richard.
Posted by: Philippe at September 2, 2011 11:21 AM
More men need to think like Richard Edelman. I doubt most male executives are even aware of the representation of women in their company's ranks, let alone making such a public commitment to improving those numbers. I salute you, Richard. Your company will be better off with more women at the top; it's a proven boost to the bottom-line.
Posted by: Kat Gordon at September 3, 2011 6:40 AM
Hi Richard,
Your commitment to developing the leadership potential of women within your organization is visionary. If only more industries and businesses built flexible career paths to accommodate major life events, such as parenthood, family illness/ crises, caring for elderly parents, etc. Women have traditionally been the nurturers, and are torn between pursuing their professional goals and caring for a nuclear and/or extended family. Your strategic goal to level the playing field and significantly increase female representation in upper management is inspirational.
My best to you and your family,
Cathleen Cogswell
Posted by: Cathleen Cogswell at September 6, 2011 9:27 AM
As a hopeful female interviewee for your internship program, reading this blog gives me confidence in a company I already admire but also in the leader behind such a company. Your support is much appreciated.
Posted by: Ishtar Schneider at September 12, 2011 10:16 AM
Bravo! This makes me proud to be an Edelman alum.
Posted by: Victoria Glazar at September 12, 2011 2:18 PM