2024 | Edelman

The Saudi public places a high level of trust in the Kingdom’s government and business sector as the country pursues its innovation journey towards Vision 2030. A large majority of Saudis also trust both government leaders and scientists to manage innovation effectively.

As the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer shows, the Kingdom is also among the countries where people have the most trust in technology and especially AI regulation.

The annual Edelman Trust Barometer survey has found that Saudis have a high level of trust (at 86%) in their government, which is the highest rate globally. Saudi Arabia also leads the global survey in the belief that innovation is well managed.

In terms of trust in business, Saudi Arabia is among the global survey leaders — with an impressive 78% of respondents expressing confidence in this institution.

More than 80% of Saudis also place significant trust in government leaders and scientists, who they see as key partners in managing and regulating innovation. Additionally, the Kingdom ranks among the top countries globally for trust in AI regulation (56%), which highlights the country’s strong commitment to fostering and managing technological advancements effectively. These trust levels are significantly higher than in other countries, like the United States (24%), France and Japan (23%), the UK (18%), Germany (27%), and South Korea (28%).

The Edelman Trust Barometer, now in its 24th year, surveys over 32,000 respondents in 28 countries, measuring trust levels across four key institutions: business, government, media, and NGOs.

This year's findings underscore the critical role of innovation in driving economic and social progress. However, while global concerns over the regulation and direction of new technologies are on the rise, Saudi Arabia stands out with high levels of trust in how innovation is managed by businesses, scientists, and the government.

Globally, there has been a 15% increase in trust that government and business are collaborating well as they foster innovation. Among the 28 countries surveyed, Saudi respondents are among those most likely to believe that their government is competently regulating emerging technologies.

Arent Jan Hesselink, President and CEO of Edelman, EMEA, emphasized the importance of clear communication: "Innovation is the protagonist of our annual Trust Barometer study this year. The public needs assurance that emerging technologies from business have been evaluated by scientists and effectively regulated by government. People need to understand and feel in control over the impact of technological innovations in their lives."

The Edelman Trust Barometer also indicates high levels of trust in green energy and AI within the Kingdom, which are crucial elements of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. The country ranks higher than the global average for confidence that AI is effectively regulated and has a high trust level of 68% in companies operating in the Virtual/Augmented Reality space, compared to the global average of 50%.

Elie Azzi, General Manager at Edelman KSA, said: "Guided by high levels of public trust and the Kingdom's solid confidence in government and their leadership in the transformative objectives of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, there is a real opportunity to demonstrate innovation's deep impact on both the economy and society. It's important for the Kingdom to continue to demonstrate through communications and storytelling that innovation will bring us a better future."

“Saudi Arabia's proactive approach to innovation and a strong regulatory framework have resulted in a high level of trust in new technologies. This trust is crucial as the Kingdom advances towards its Vision 2030 and demonstrates how effective management and clear communication of technological advancements can result in widespread public support that drives economic growth”, Azzi commented.

About Edelman

Edelman is a global communications firm that partners with businesses and organizations to evolve, promote and protect their brands and reputations. Our 6,000 people in more than 60 offices deliver communications strategies that give our clients the confidence to lead and act with certainty, earning the trust of their stakeholders.

Our honors include PRWeek’s Global Agency of the Year (2023); PRovoke’s Global Agency of the Year (2022); Cannes Lions Grand Prix awards for PR (2016) and the Entertainment Lions for Sport (2021); a Gold Lion in the Brand Experience & Activation category (2023); a Gold Lion in the Sustainable Development Goals category (2022); Cannes Lions Independent Agency of the Year for the Entertainment Track (2021); Cannes Lions Co-Independent Agency of the Year for the Good Track (2022); and Advertising Age’s 2019 A-List.

Since our founding in 1952, we have remained an independent, family-run business. Edelman owns specialty companies Edelman Data x Intelligence (research, data), Edelman Smithfield (financial communications), Edelman Global Advisory (advisory), and United Entertainment Group (entertainment, sports, lifestyle).

About the Edelman Trust Barometer

The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer is the firm’s 24th annual trust and credibility survey. The survey sampled more than 32,000 respondents across 28 countries. Published every January, the report covers a range of timely and important societal indicators of trust among business, media, government and NGOs, shaping conversation and setting the agenda for the year ahead.

Last week was a tale of two conferences for me, each a snapshot of an industry at the crossroads of innovation and tradition—aptly delivered against the backdrop of a global and political push for change.

First up, B2B Marketing's Ignite —the premier gathering for B2B marketers eager to explore the latest trends and innovations whilst battling the need to ‘do more with less’.

Following closely was MAD//Fest pitched as the ‘UK's most distinctive and daring invite-only marketing, advertising and disruption festival’ where industry heavyweights like Sir Martin Sorrell and Rory Sutherland took centre stage.

A central theme of both conferences this year (whether advertised or not) was AI. As the global economic landscape shifts and new technologies usher in a new era, both B2B and Digital industries are striving to reinvent themselves, with AI at the forefront of this transformation.

All change please

Last year we heard a lot of AI theory. This year was all about putting it to practice. And there were new features and technologies as far as the eye could see, with Microsoft’s Ryan Miles showcasing the power of AI in ad creation. His session, titled "AI in Action!", demonstrated the AI tools Microsoft now brings to advertisers, enabling ad creation and personalisation at scale.

Andrew Shepherd of Palo Alto Networks and Ashley Robertson of The Marketing Practice delved into the often-elusive challenge of proving the business value of brand and demand before unveiling the mechanics behind their latest AI-generated creative campaign, ‘This is Precision AI', featuring Keanu Reeves. I always love to see high production quality in the B2B space and who isn’t a fan of Keanu Reeves?

David Keene from WIPRO offered a visionary perspective on the future of growth marketing in the post-pandemic world. His ultimate watch out was platform 'Enshittification' (a phrase first coined by Cory Doctorow). He worries LinkedIn is currently on the cusp of this fate too which would be a huge issue for those in B2B.

At MAD//Fest, Rory Sutherland's provocative stance on AI adoption challenged the industry’s haste to embrace the technology. He argued that the creative journey and iterative process of developing ad campaigns often hold more value for businesses than the final execution—especially in B2B. Sutherland’s perspective served as a reminder that while AI offers powerful tools, the essence of creativity and thoughtful strategy should not be overlooked.

A recurrent theme across both conferences was the impending demise of third-party cookies. With a startling revelation that 40% of marketers still lack any real plan for this shift, discussions at both B2B Ignite and MAD//Fest emphasised the urgent need for brands to pivot towards robust first-party insights and IP-based and contextual-based targeting strategies. This shift is crucial for maintaining effective customer engagement in a cookie-less future. Sir Martin Sorrell likened Google’s third-party deprecation to a Y2K moment, presumably a moment of hotly anticipated risk that never seems to materialise.

Two Industries Getting to Grips with AI

From the workshops and keynotes to the conversations on the ground, it is clear that the creative industries as a whole are eager to harness the power of Generative AI. Despite the great experimental and innovative programmes on display across the week, many marketers are still uncertain about how to invest in, or press ahead with the technology.

There did seem to be unanimity in where to look though and where the expected early advantages might come from, with many focusing on the potential of Generative AI to produce insight-driven content at scale. Likely fed by the need to ‘do more with less’.

Marketers have new weapons but are fighting the same battles

Despite the advent of new technologies, enduring challenges in marketing persist. Proving the value of marketing to the board was a common thread and even the subject of a keynote at B2B Ignite. So too at MAD//Fest, where Rory Sutherland aptly pointed out his frustration that creatives always have to seek approval from the CFO, while creatives never have the opportunity to mark the CFO’s homework. He highlights this as a business convention that stifles growth and innovation.

In B2B in particular, aligning sales and marketing efforts is still a major challenge and one that couples with measurement woes in long B2B buying cycles. Compounded by the fact that brands have effectively outsourced their data to platforms and consultancies for the past decade and are now left with a measurement patchwork quilt.

And finally, the role of creativity in B2B. An age-old battle for marketers pushing the creative boundaries in B2B. This battle, however, seems to be one where B2B is finally turning the tide. B2B campaigns showed up stronger than ever at this year’s Cannes Lions festival with Edelman's & DP World’s own Move to -15 campaign taking home Titanium. There was a lot of creativity driven by AI on display at both festivals and this was great to see.

Change is coming... whether you voted for it or not

In summary, B2B Ignite and MAD//Fest 2024 highlighted both the excitement and challenges of a rapidly evolving marketing landscape. Brands and agencies alike are hungry for change. As AI continues to shape the future, marketers must navigate its promises and pitfalls to succeed.

Generative AI has moved past theory for some and there are many working to integrate AI into their campaigns in one way or another. However, the models and uses of AI on show were as predictable as they were effective. Nobody yet seems to be disrupting the industry with an AI powered break through just yet. However I have no doubt that we are on the cusp of a big change... whether you voted for it or not.

Huge credit to Joel Harrison, the B2B Marketing team and the MAD//Fest organisers for putting on a great show this year.

Josh Turbill is Head of Digital, EMEA, Technology, at Edelman.

Every day in the media, we hear the perspectives of leaders about innovation. This year alone, we are seeing many organisations undertake strategic decisions that relate to the use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), to fundamentally transform or innovate processes over the next few years.

But what about the perspectives of employees? As a corollary to the innovation agenda, the employee upskilling and reskilling trend continues. More employees will be required to adapt to redesigned job roles or work in new teams. While we hear a lot from business leaders, we are not hearing enough from the very source that powers the business and may even be the spark behind the sought-after innovation. (Did you know that Frito-Lay’s top-selling Flamin’ Hot Cheetos started as an idea from a janitor who later became a top executive at the company?)

If middle managers and teams are implementing each of these strategic shifts, it makes sense to start with their perspective of what it takes to get them fully onboard and invested in driving the transformation. Here are three takeaways to consider, based on the Asia Pacific (APAC) findings of the Edelman Trust Barometer 2024 on trust and innovation and our Workplace Advisory team’s learnings with clients.

When communicating on innovation, engage employees on the pluses and minuses and seek their views on how they see innovation factoring into their work. The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that people are more likely to trust businesses to be good managers of change if they communicate the pluses and minuses of innovations. They are more likely to embrace innovations such as green energy, AI and gene-based medicine when they feel they have control over how the innovations will affect their lives.*

Therefore, embedding new ways of working, driven by the potential of AI and sustainability standards, will be most effective when leaders actively engage middle managers and employees to provide inputs into the change plans. Employees are more open to innovations when leaders and transformation teams listen, ask and test ideas on how innovation can be incorporated into their everyday work.
Develop change communication plans in anticipation of job loss anxiety. The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer research indicates that for respondents across 9 APAC markets, job loss is a top concern (net 91% of APAC employees worried) compared to inflation (72% of the APAC general population worried), hackers (78% of the general population worried) and other societal concerns. Worry about job loss is highest for employees in Malaysia (97%), India (96%), Indonesia (93%), Singapore (93%), South Korea (93%) and Thailand (92%).

For organisations undertaking major strategic shifts in areas such as digital and artificial intelligence (AI) transformation, anticipate anxiety, particularly in your APAC workforce, as you plan the change. Anxiety, whether unfounded or not, detracts greatly from daily productivity because of the mental toll it takes. APAC Business, Communications and Human Resource Leaders can come together to develop confidence-instilling plans with phased communications on what is expected of different employee segments. For example, steps employees can actively take to reskill, upskill or be transferred into job roles aligned to your strategies and what resources are available to support them in the change. Doing so will help your employees understand that while it requires change on their part, they have a future in your organisation.
Consider a nuanced approach when planning internal communications, based on the type of innovation and the general trust levels in that innovation across markets. The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer indicates that across types of innovation in APAC, green energy has the highest acceptance, followed by AI then gene-based medicine. Green energy is embraced by 55% of APAC respondents with only 11% rejecting green energy, in comparison to AI (37% embrace AI, 26% reject) and gene-based medicine (31% embrace, 31% reject).

On AI in particular, APAC markets on average are more accepting of this type of innovation in comparison to the global average (37% embrace in APAC versus 30% globally). Fewer in APAC reject AI innovation (26% reject in APAC versus 35% globally). The APAC markets leading on acceptance of AI include China (51%), India (47%) and Thailand (46%), while Australia has the highest level of rejection (53%), significantly higher than the other 8 APAC markets studied (14% to 27% rejection range).

On gene-based medicine, acceptance is highest in China (41% embrace this innovation), India (40%) and Thailand (39%), with the highest rejection in Malaysia (45% reject this innovation versus 31% APAC average). This reflects the importance of examining cultural nuances for each innovation type.
For green energy, while APAC markets (55%) are about on par with the global average (54%) when it comes to embracing green energy, people in Thailand (62%), Indonesia (62%) and India (60%) are the most accepting.

Therefore, for leaders communicating to a diverse APAC workforce, a data-driven approach that considers the range of sentiments across your employee segments as a starting basis to a data-driven communications plan would make the difference. Communication plans in terms of content and phasing can be adjusted based on the level of that population segment’s change readiness, localising the content not only in terms of language, but also the cultural nuances around the innovation.

Taking the above points into consideration, organisations have the potential to not only enhance the effectiveness of their change management and transformation programs, but potentially spark greater innovation across the workforce. Empowering employees to serve as innovation ambassadors serves as a win-win for both the organisation, and the very people who will drive the agenda forward.

* The other top trust-building actions for business are keeping innovation affordable and working with government to develop regulations (83% and 81% of respondents respectively)

As Senior Vice President and Asia Pacific Practice Lead on Workplace Advisory at Edelman, Yan Jiejun partners with leaders to drive trusted organisational transformation including advising on communicating with their APAC workforces. She is a certified change practitioner, executive coach & HR professional, and is currently undertaking the INSEAD Executive Masters in Change.

Edelman has a global team of Workplace Advisory specialists, including in APAC, advising clients on culture, change, employee communications and employer brand. More details are found here. Contact us directly here.

The Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) recently announced its 2024 Guiding Council, featuring several new faces, including our own, Drew Collins.

AiMCO’s Guiding Council was established in 2019, coinciding with the creation of the Australian Influencer Marketing Council. The Guiding Council is responsible for overseeing the strategy and direction of AiMCO and its initiatives. It collaborates with members to implement policies and programmes, steering the overall direction of AiMCO’s activities.

Drew’s role as Head of Social and Influencer at Edelman perfectly aligns with his new position on the council. He has led best-in-class campaigns for major brands in the technology and FMCG sectors, with Australia often being a test bed and centre of excellence for innovative social and influencer strategies.

More incredible achievements of Drew’s include spearheading PayPal’s 2023 Melbourne Fashion Festival campaign, which won Best Fashion & Style Campaign at the AiMCO 2022 Influencer A wards. Additionally, he was named among B&T’s 30 Under 30 recipients in 2019 and has served as a judge at the AiMCO Awards, where he has championed the industry’s top work.

Adding to his impressive track record, Drew’s new role on the AiMCO Guiding Council is a testament to his expertise and leadership in the social and influencer space.

“It’s an honour to join the Guiding Council and an exciting opportunity to contribute to the continued advancement of influencer marketing practices in Australia,” Drew said. “I’m excited to work alongside this great team to drive innovation and enhance trust and transparency within the influencer marketing community”

The 2024 council comprises a mix of new and returning members, each bringing unique skills and experiences:

New councillors:

Alexis Whelan, Kinesso
Drew Collins, Edelman
Nicole Foster, Tourism Australia
Stephanie Pearson, OMG Group
Stephanie Scicchitano, BornBred Talent
Returned sitting councillors:
Anthony Richardson, Q-83
Natalie Giddings, Hoozu
Sam Kelly, Hello Social (Deputy Chairperson)
Sarah Letts, Totally Awesome
Tegan Boorman, Social Law Co (Chairperson)

Group 2 councillors (due for re-election in 2025):

Sonja Stindl, Amplify
Lucy Ronald, Fabulate
Jamie Taylor, Havas Media
Detch Singh, Hypetap (Deputy Chairperson)
Hannah McElhinney, SnackDrawer
Sharyn Smith, Social Soup
Steve Wright, Vamp
Shivani Maharaj, Wavemaker

Drew Collins, Head of Social & Influencer, Edelman Australia

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To state the obvious: AI is a transformational technology that will dramatically boost human productivity and creativity. But AI is not a silver bullet for companies that want to have impact in the b2b space. When it comes to thought leadership, there are plenty of AI pitfalls that companies must avoid.

I recently met a tech editor who had become an AI casualty. He and his entire team of 10 journalists – writing for three b2b websites focused on enterprise tech – had been laid off just before Christmas. His boss told him that the publishing house had decided to replace them with Generative AI.

Good luck to the people left to run these three websites, as they attempt to prompt and coax up-to-date and original content out of the AI’s Large Language Model.

Granted, the output of Generative AI systems like ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Gemini is dazzling. Like me, you will have had a ‘wow effect’ when you saw for the first time the quality and speed with which text was generated. AI content has great spelling and grammar, it usually makes sense, and often it reads compelling, even human.

Thought Laggardship

But here’s the pitfall: AI output is not and cannot be original. Today’s AIs are cognitive systems that are great at pattern recognition; they reflect and play back general knowledge. This knowledge, however, is also old. Even the very latest Large Language Models are based on training data that is at least half a year old.

Instead of thought leadership, AI produces thought laggardship.

If we turn b2b communications into a space where AIs write for other AIs that write for other AIs, we will replace intelligent discourse with the ultimate digital Hall of Mirrors; make that a Hell of Mirrors.

There are other AI pitfalls, but I want to highlight three of them specifically:

Firstly, there is the well-known issue of hallucinations and misunderstandings – where the AI either makes stuff up, or a tiny change to a prompt (the question put to the AI) results in dramatically different and potentially useless output.

Secondly, companies must understand that many free AI tools feed any input directly into their training models. This in turn will compromise your intellectual property and there are companies already that have lost patents to this by-design flaw.

Thirdly, there is the danger that both trolls and malicious actors poison the knowledge well – sometimes with hilarious results (glue in your pizza, anyone?), sometimes threatening serious reputational damage.

AI is great, I use it everyday

But hold on, this is not a diss track. In fact, I strongly believe that AI is an extremely useful tool. As a matter of fact, I’m using AI nearly every single working day – whether that’s for research, to develop outlines, de-jargonise source material, to find ‘white space’ for a sector or to ‘juice my creativity’ as one of my colleagues puts it.

I believe that writers must use AI, not fear it. In fact, the better a storyteller you are, the better your prompts and thus your AI outcomes will be. AI, however, can only be a tool used by humans, not a replacement for human thinking. That’s because good (human) writing triggers good thinking, just as good thinking inspires good writing.

When we consider using AI, we must first determine the place of the AI content on what I call the continuum of originality. The more original the expected output, the more it should be human made. The more derivative the text (say a press release based on an existing narrative, message house or Q&A etc), the more you can use AI as your writing companion, provided you have access to a secure and properly sandboxed enterprise-level AI.

AI cannot replace the learning journey

Yes, AI will accelerate everybody’s path to brilliance, but we must not fall into the biggest bear trap of all – which is the assumption that AI can efficiently and cost effectively replace large swathes of junior and mid-level staff. There are tasks where this is possible, but full automation of core business tasks will lead to a depletion of in-house skills. That’s especially true for good writing, which depends a lot on learning-by-doing and that can happen only on the job, not by crafting AI prompts.

Of course, there will be plenty of people who believe that their AI output is ‘good enough.’ This is a fallacy. Our world has reached not peak content but peak attention, and content that’s purely AI generated will struggle to stand out – at least for now.

As this year’s Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report proves once again, opting for ‘good enough’ content simply does not cut it with customers and decision makers. They want to know what you know; you have to earn their trust in your expertise. And that can’t be done by simply repeating what others have already said many times before.

This is not optional. Impactful thought leadership has a direct and strong influence on sales and pricing. It helps you to keep your existing customers and makes it easier to poach new customers from rivals.

Companies must make a choice. They can rely on AI to do their writing, which will make it smooth but bland; however, it will make them the thought laggards of their industries.

Alternatively, they can focus on human creativity and augment it with enterprise-level AI. Then they can stand out and provide true thought leadership – with impact.

In this PRCA Fuse Podcast, Edelman Africa's Head of Brand for Africa, Mpumelelo Zondi, discusses the incredible success of our KFC Proposal campaign during the PRCA.

We revisit this epic campaign that caused a social media sensation. This case study continues to capture attention and is a go-to for those seeking extraordinary campaigns.

Mpumelelo walks us through the strategy that made the KFC campaign stand out, emphasising the power of social listening and demonstrating how a good communication toolkit can turn good news into a story worth sharing.

Watch Busi Roberts from Edelman Africa and other PR industry leaders engage in this important discussion on the impact of mental health within the PR landscape.

Discover invaluable insights and actionable strategies for prioritising mental well-being in your workplace.

This continent-specific campaign is designed to provide essential support for leaders, professionals, and newcomers in the PR and communications industry.

25 Years of Trust

Government and business are bedrocks of trust in fostering tech innovation in Saudi Arabia

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About the Edelman Trust Barometer

2024 Edelman Trust Barometer: Special Report - Business and Racial Justice

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Careers

B2B Ignite & MAD//Fest 2024: Two industries at a crossroads of innovation and tradition

All change please

Two Industries Getting to Grips with AI

Marketers have new weapons but are fighting the same battles

Change is coming... whether you voted for it or not

Business leaders need to not only lead innovation, but also spark it amongst their employees

Influencer Marketing Expert, Drew Collins, Joins AiMCO Guiding Council

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