The PRDecoded Main Event

At PRWeek’s annual PRDecoded conference held yesterday in Chicago, Chris Foster, CEO of the Omnicom PR Group, and I stepped into the ring for a friendly sparring match to discuss the state of the PR industry. PRWeek editorial director Steve Barrett served as referee.

The conversation covered a wide range of topics, from AI and client expectations to misinformation, our evolving competitive landscape, and the challenges facing today’s CEOs and CMOs. Here are a few of the key points I shared:

1. This is a moment of Great Opportunity for PR Firms - LLM search is driven by earned media, plus content on corporate web sites and expert commentary. The LLM search process now leads directly to purchase, giving PR its best opportunity to yield tangible results for marketers. It is also a short window before advertising appears on LLM search engines, so we need to move quickly.
2. Edelman is building the Earned Flywheel – We’ve tasked Brian Buchwald, our new President of Global Transformation and Performance, with creating a “fighter-plane dashboard” for our account teams. It will draw on 20 plus years of Trust data, millions of media stories, and social content from X and LinkedIn. The Flywheel will help teams spot cultural trends, predict which ideas will gain traction, prioritize media targets, and track results in real time, moving Earned Creative from a channel tactic to a strategic driver.
3. The Industry Must Stand Up to Pressure - Employees and consumers expect that brands and companies will continue to do the work on sustainability and diversity. The terminology can change from equity to opportunity so that all are given an equal chance; or from sustainability to supply chain reliability. CEOs do not need to be societal leaders, but their companies are the best agents of rapid change. Values, consistency and conviction matter more now than ever.
4. There Is Need for Agency Reinvention - Certain lines of business have withered. Instead, we can focus on countering disinformation, especially in the food and health sectors (I noted the No Safe Level of alcohol consumption as an example of this). We can also help companies adjust to rising nationalism by helping to institute a more local approach to communications, including philanthropy and CEO positioning. Finally, we must help clients gain acceptance of innovation, especially in health and technology, with fears eclipsing advantages (Is Ai actually Globalization 2.0, causing jobs to disappear or move overseas).
5. Edelman Will Continue to Work with Holding Companies - We are best in class in communications. Our approach will be Polite but Ambitious. Our remit is everything from experiential to creator to content creation to media relations.
6. AI is Efficiency and Enablement - We can now compete head-on with ad agencies and digital firms because AI tools enable speed, cross-border execution and working at the speed of culture. We don’t need briefs, tissue sessions or multiple iterations of work.
7. Best Work Drives Action - Edelman uses the Action Method to persuade clients that Trust Drives Growth and Action Earns Trust. Two strong examples are DP World’s “Move to -15°C” campaign, which redefined shipping refrigeration standards, and eBay’s “Endless Runway,” which boosted demand for gently used fashion.
8. Work with Media Across the Ideological Spectrum and Industry Sector - The tech sector has spawned crucial voices such as Lex Fridman who are the first stop for tech CEOs. The conservative media is thriving in Substack, including FOX veterans such as Megyn Kelly. There is similar innovation on the left, with such entries as Under the Desk News.
9. The Mission - I said that the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer showed a descent into grievance, morphing into hostile activism by Gen Z with despairs about high food costs, lack of affordable housing and a slow job market. Edelman is committed to restoring optimism and belief in the future. We will do this by providing a full set of facts to citizens, by enabling dialogue and using non-traditional channels including local authority figures such as pastors and pharmacists.

Chris and I agreed on the necessity of an extensive global network of offices, of continued innovation in our offering and a desire to compete with our older brothers in advertising. We gave the attendees their money’s worth and a lot to think about. Ours is a noble profession that must emerge as the leader among the communications options for institutions.

Richard Edelman is CEO.