Global | Edelman

Edelman is working with the Chicago Bears on their quest for a new stadium. I went yesterday to visit with club President and CEO Kevin Warren at Halas Hall, the team headquarters named for team founder George Halas.

The Bears are one of the few NFL teams still owned by the founding family. George McCaskey is a third-generation chairman of the team, with Conor McCaskey in the fourth generation waiting in the wings. Virginia Halas McCaskey, daughter of George Halas, passed away last year at 102 years old.

For a lifelong Bears fan, yesterday’s visit was complete sports fantasy. Here’s what I learned:

Halas was a great athlete. Before his NFL career, he played for the New York Yankees baseball team. He held the NFL record for a fumble recovery and return for touchdown (98 yards) until 1972.
Halas served as Bears coach from 1920 to 1930, then again from 1933 to 1968. He pioneered the T Formation offense in the 1930s. My father’s fraternity brother at Columbia, Sid Luckman, perfected the T Formation to such an extent that the Bears slaughtered the Washington Redskins in the 1940 NFL Championship game 73-0.
He won six NFL championships, the last in 1963 against the New York Giants. I remember listening to that game on the radio in our living room, with quarterback Bill Wade scoring twice on one-yard sneaks.
Coach Halas was the first to name an African American as co-captain of the team in 1966 (Willie McRae). He grouped roommates by position, not by color (example: Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers, both running backs).
The Bears have more players in the NFL Hall of Fame than any other team. Among the notables are Red Grange, Sid Luckman, Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka and Walter Payton.

Many of my favorite childhood memories are related to the Bears. My brother John and I would take turns playing Sayers and Butkus, trying to run over each other in my bedroom. I called Sid Luckman, the best Bears QB of all time, Uncle Sid. He told me that my father helped him with his homework in ZBT House at Columbia. Brian Piccolo came to speak at my Latin School Varsity Club dinner when he was halfback for the team, the year before he contracted a fatal disease.

The Bears deserve a stadium worthy of a world-class team. We are working hard to achieve that goal, one family business helping another. This quote from George Halas says it all. “Nothing is work unless you’d rather be doing something else.”

Richard Edelman is the CEO.

The WPP announcement this morning that places Burson into WPP Creative is a significant change in strategy that makes PR a support element for the larger creative agencies of Ogilvy, VML and AKQA. It is a further elaboration of a strategy initiated a decade ago by John Seifert, former CEO of Ogilvy, when he placed Ogilvy PR into a package of services instead of its previously independent status.

The WPP approach is one of three used by holding companies for PR units. The Publicis concept is multi-local, with MSL reporting to country managers, so that MSL is in fact a collective of local firms. The OMC concept is PR as a combination of brands in smaller markets under the OPR flag, with Golin, Weber and Fleishman as stand-alone in large markets. The WPP idea is PR as a key part of bespoke holding company teams such as WPP Open X which services Coca-Cola, while also servicing its own clients. These structures will orient PR firms within holding companies towards brand PR in support of advertising creative.

This leaves the reputation management and corporate segment of the business wide open for Edelman and advisory firms such as Brunswick and FGS. It also misses the opportunity in Earned First communications where an earned idea becomes the driving force in marketing, like Edelman’s Endless Runway for eBay which has exploded the high end second use clothing category. We are investing behind our Earned Flywheel, which will benefit both corporate and brand clients with a process that utilizes synthetic customer profiles to speed the creative process and deliver tangible sales or reputation results. This approach sets us apart from holding companies that continue to invest primarily in paid-first models.

We are not interested in playing second fiddle in an orchestra. We believe our role is to lead in the communications world, with trust as our guiding light. We operate at the speed of culture, partnering with creators as news makers not as channels for paid content delivery. We work with clients taking action like Women For Change, whose Unburied Casket campaign drew attention to South Africa’s femicide crisis.

We want our clients to operate as poly-nationals, with local identity, connectivity to community and commitment to local supply chain while reaching all stakeholders including employees, shareholders and communities, not just consumers. We work across brand and reputation for clients needing public affairs sensibility in evaluating marketing initiatives. The smart client will reevaluate marketing spend in the coming years to commit a higher portion of investment to earned media as the main driver of LLM search. If you want to join the revolution instead of watching industry consolidation, contact me.

Richard Edelman is the CEO.

We’re spotlighting our Edelman Culture Champions, individuals recognized by their peers for exceptional dedication, positivity, and contributions to fostering a supportive workplace environment. These champions play a pivotal role in cultivating a culture where every voice is heard and valued. This edition of Inside Edelman features profiles of these outstanding colleagues from our U.S. offices, showcasing their efforts to uphold Edelman’s values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB).

Tell us about your Edelman journey.

I still remember a LinkedIn message from Liz Barenholtz almost 7 years ago. Something like, “At Edelman, you might write a CEO speech, create an economic development plan for a city, launch an integrated marketing campaign for a startup.” A broader set of solutions than you typically see at an agency. And her message has proven true. My strategy team has led over 100 projects over the years – across non-profits, tech, food and beverage, financial services. And in my mind, I have a trophy case of campaigns and narratives.

You were nominated for Culture Champion by your colleagues – how do you foster a collaborative and respectful culture within your team?

Ask for help. I read a study that “asking for help” rather than “offering to help” drives more collaboration. You’d think the opposite to be true. But people who have immense expertise are often happy, delighted even, to share their gift with others.

How does your personal background play a role in your professional life?

Even as a kid, I’ve always loved ads, brands, magazines, pop culture. As a parent, it’s motivating to point out to my 7 year-old son how we impact culture – my company worked on this Super Bowl spot, my office launched this new sports drink, my coworker produced this event.

When you think about the future of Edelman, what does it look like for you?

I feel like there is a sense of optimism, with new wins and momentum at Edelman. As for me personally, I don’t make career plans. If at every day, project, team, I’m having fun and learning something new, I’ll see where it takes me.

How do you stay engaged with colleagues who work on a different team or in a different part of the business? Why is it important to make these outside connections?

With the limited time I have on earth, I want to have a good time. I want to make friends, have inside jokes, help make someone’s day.

As for how to engage with colleagues, I think it takes a bit of boldness. I once read better conversations start from making a bold statement rather than asking a general question. Someone who leaves a movie theater and declares to the group, “That’s the worst movie I’ve ever seen, and I’ll fight anyone who disagrees!” is more likely to start a robust conversation than someone who benignly asks, “What’d everyone think of the movie?”

Takes a bit of putting oneself out there to make connections ;)

Tara Hagan is a Senior Vice President on the Social Strategy team based in New York.

Attending the International Women’s Forum (IWF) Cornerstone Conference in Cape Town was more than a professional experience; it was a profound personal journey. For our Edelman delegation, the week was a reminder of what leadership truly means: connection, courage, and collective strength.

Set against the vibrant backdrop of South Africa, a country that embodies resilience and community, the conference brought together nearly 500 women leaders from over 30 countries. United under the theme of Ubuntu, meaning “I am because we are,” the event invited us to explore how leadership, empathy, and collaboration intertwine to create meaningful impact.

Redefining Leadership Through Connection

Many of us arrived in Cape Town yearning to learn more about leadership, belonging, and how to lead with authenticity in a rapidly changing world. Refreshingly, the panels didn’t focus on power or hierarchy. Instead, they delved into purpose, empathy, and the courage to show vulnerability.

What we heard was that leadership isn’t defined by seniority or title. It’s about connections. Leadership is found in conversations that challenge assumptions, in the teams that encourage us to listen more deeply, and in the networks that help us grow into better versions of ourselves.

That sentiment resonated throughout the sessions, which explored themes such as:

Creating psychological safety in an increasingly self-protective world.
The role of creativity, joy, and food security as survival topics, not side topics
How communities and women rise together.

We left reminded that while technology and AI may evolve faster than ever, the leadership qualities that matter most remain timeless: trust, empathy, and connection.

The Spirit of Ubuntu

Ubuntu was not just a theme; it was alive in every interaction. As President Cyril Ramaphosa, during the opening session, shared, “Our progress is intertwined, and when women rise, societies rise with them.”

The spirit of Ubuntu calls us to build ecosystems, not empires and to recognize that our humanity exists through others. We cannot be fully human if we diminish someone else’s humanity. It’s a call to lead with purpose, to uplift others as we rise, and to celebrate success collectively rather than competitively.

We witnessed that spirit vividly in the women of South Africa, in their warmth, confidence, and grace, reflected not just in their words but mostly in their presence.

Each of us left Cape Town changed. We were reminded that leadership is often about making decisions that shape lives, not about the titles we hold. That birthing new ideas, like human birth, can be messy, but necessary if we want something real to emerge.

We also found strength in each other. The bonds we built, across Toronto, Washington D.C., Dubai, Chicago, Seoul, and beyond, are ones we will carry forward. Together, we’ve pledged to stay connected as women leaders who support one another across geographies and disciplines.

To the IWF organizers, thank you for curating a truly transformative experience. To our Edelman leaders, Taryn Solomon, Claudia Patton, Lisa Sepulveda, Matthew Harrington, our managers and our account teams, and many others, thank you for making this opportunity possible. And to our fellow Edelman delegates: Ivana Musich, Kevval Hanna, Marta Guasch, Alesia Nadtochiy, and Janet Kim, thank you for the laughter, the learning, and the late-night red cappuccinos.

We returned home grounded, inspired, and committed to leading with courage, empathy, and intention, and to carrying the spirit of Ubuntu into everything we do.

Co-authored by: Ivana Musich (Toronto), Kevval Hanna (Washington D.C.), Marta Guasch (Dubai), Alesia Nadtochiy (Chicago / LATAM), Janet Kim (Seoul).

The Edelman Family lost a true friend today. Reverend Jesse Jackson passed away this morning in Chicago, ending a fifty-year relationship with our family. He was omnipresent, giving the eulogy at my father’s funeral, presiding at my marriage to Claudia, coming to our new office in Chicago for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the company. Edelman was the PR advisor and marketing arm for Operation Rainbow PUSH for a generation, helping him to broaden his appeal to corporate America.

It all began with a visit by Rev. Jackson to my father’s office in the early 70s. Rev. Jackson was upset about Edelman’s representation of a company that was resisting his efforts to diversify its supply chain to include black-owned businesses. The meeting got quite heated, with Rev. Jackson suggesting that he might even encourage action against Edelman. By the end of the session, these two big personalities found a way forward and began a lifetime friendship. Whenever Operation Rainbow PUSH needed a publicity campaign, a new brochure or support for events, Edelman provided pro-bono services. My mother forged an independent relationship with Rev. Jackson on issues such as mental health in the African American community.

My father passed the torch to me in his final years so that I became a constant recipient of Rev. Jackson’s ideas and desires. There were frequent visits to his office. We disagreed on issues like the proper role of Government in capitalism, but we found an equilibrium, which was mostly him talking, me listening and gently giving guidance.

Here are my favorite memories of our fifteen years together.

Lead from the Front – He volunteered for the hardest assignments, including a mission to Serbia to free an American pilot who had been captured in the Bosnian war. He marched with striking teachers and grape pickers to generate publicity for the cause.
The Matchmaker – He came to the Cannes Festival of Creativity with a message; you are missing the opportunity of a diverse work force. He organized a sit-down on the lawn in Cannes for me and three other Edelman executives with a group of 20 African American marketers. This accelerated our push for diversity and inclusion.
Not a Moment to Waste – His middle name was discipline. He preached it in his Sunday morning sermons from the pulpit. He lived it by exercising every morning and working on every flight while the rest of us were taking a nap. He believed in effort and excellence. There is always someone to help and a cause to be endorsed.
The Performer – He was blessed with a magical ability as an orator. His speech at the 1988 Democratic Convention united a divided party, while providing a historical narrative of struggle. He lit up every room he entered. His eulogy of my father in 2013 at Temple Sinai in Chicago relied on the Old Testament, a reference to Moses taking his people to the Promised Land but leaving it to the next generation to carry on…looking straight at me.
A Fair Share – He knew that the key to African American advancement was getting the black community into board rooms, bond offerings, and supply chains. He held an annual convening on Wall Street, featuring black bankers and money managers including John Rogers and Jim Reynolds who showed the way. He worked with major foreign companies with important investments in the U.S. such as Toyota to endow college scholarships for promising high school students.
Political Force – His presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 helped pave the way for Barack Obama to become the first Black president of the United States. His office in Chicago was a mecca for ambitious politicians seeking his endorsement. He pushed the candidates on higher minimum wage; more support for unions and national healthcare.
Family Man – Rev. Jackson was devoted to his family, which included the long-time employees of Operation Rainbow PUSH. His son Yusef, a successful businessman, will take responsibility for the NGO, which still has an important voice in the fight for equal opportunity. His son Jonathan has served as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 1st congressional district since 2023. And his oldest son Jesse still has a bright political future, having served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Two years ago, I went for a brainstorm on fundraising at Rev. Jackson’s office. His mind was active, his verbal skills were diminished, and he was confined to a wheelchair by the demon of Parkinson’s disease. He wanted events in Silicon Valley, in Los Angeles and New York City to inspire the next generation of change-makers. He accompanied me to the exit in his wheelchair, then insisted on a photo. He pushed himself up and stood on his own, his arm around me, a force of will triumphing over age and illness. This vignette captures the spirit of the indomitable Jesse Jackson. The world will miss him profoundly. I will miss him even more. I join my wife Claudia, brother John and sister Renée in sending our condolences to his family.

Richard Edelman is the CEO.

At CES this year, I had the opportunity to moderate a panel on a topic that feels less theoretical by the day: how AI is fundamentally reshaping post-production.

The conversation brought together creators and platform leaders who are building and using AI-powered tools to streamline workflows, boost creativity, and rethink how content moves from idea to distribution. But what became clear during the discussion is that this shift isn’t about one breakthrough tool or a handful of clever automations.

It’s an end-to-end transformation of how modern production operates.

And it’s already happening.

Shrinking the Gap Between Idea and First Cut

For decades, creative production followed a familiar ratio: roughly 20% of the time spent on ideation and 80% spent on execution (editing, formatting, revisions, versioning, distribution, etc).

AI is flipping that ratio.

Today, creative teams can move from concept to viable first cut faster than ever. That doesn’t mean AI is telling the story. It means teams can explore more directions earlier, test more variations, and bring human judgment into the process sooner.

At Edelman, we’re embedding AI across research, development, and distribution workflows to reduce friction where it slows creativity. Not to automate for automation’s sake, but to create more space for thinking, refinement, and craft.

The earlier you can see something tangible, the earlier your taste and expertise can shape it.

And taste is the one thing that doesn’t scale.

Storytelling at Scale

Efficiency is often the headline when people talk about AI in production. But what I’m seeing, and what we discussed at CES, is something bigger.

AI isn’t just reducing production time. It’s enabling:

Faster experimentation across formats
Rapid iteration based on performance data
Seamless adaptation for different platforms and audiences

When repetitive tasks are automated, creative professionals can spend more time on strategy, structure, and narrative precision. Instead of manually versioning assets across platforms, they can focus on refining the idea itself.

This matters because modern culture demands production speed. But speed alone isn’t valuable. Speed that protects quality and deepens creative thinking is.

Trust, Disclosure, and Governance as Production Quality

As AI-assisted content scales, so does scrutiny.

Audiences are increasingly attuned to authenticity, provenance, and transparency. At Edelman, we’ve built what I think of as “trust checkpoints” directly into the production pipeline. That includes:

Rights and IP review
Disclosure guidance
Bias and fairness checks
Factuality validation

Governance ensures that human creative input remains central. It protects brand integrity. It safeguards reputation. And it allows innovation to scale responsibly.

The more powerful these tools become, the more essential thoughtful guardrails are.

Trust is no longer adjacent to production. It’s embedded within it.

Tools Matter. Workflow Design Matters More.

At CES, we talked about everything from rapid clipping and voice tools to automation systems that can transform one piece of content into multiple outputs across formats.

But the real difference between a “cool demo” and reliable production isn’t the tool.

It’s workflow design.

Automation itself is a form of creativity. Designing the system—deciding where human input is essential, where iteration should happen, and where automation can responsibly accelerate output—is strategic work.

Prompting is already becoming less central as software layers create predictability and control. The future is less about crafting the perfect sentence for a model and more about building integrated systems that allow creative teams to operate with clarity and precision.

In our studios, we treat generative tools as collaborators, not replacements. They accelerate options. They surface possibilities. But humans remain responsible for story, taste, nuance, and brand alignment.

Interestingly, the more we operationalize workflows, the more creativity we unlock. When friction drops, exploration increases.

The Expanding Role of Producers and Editors

If there’s one takeaway from CES, it’s this: the role of the producer and editor is expanding, not shrinking. The future creative professional is:

An orchestrator of systems
A curator of options
A creative director across human and machine collaborators

At Edelman, we’re preparing for that future by:

Embedding AI across production workflows to accelerate prototyping and iteration
Scaling localization and multimodal distribution
Building quality guardrails to ensure outputs are compliant, consistent, and brand-aligned
Developing an AI-native team with sustained investment in tools and training

AI is not replacing creativity. It’s redistributing effort away from repetitive execution and toward judgment, taste, and strategy.

And in a world where culture moves faster than ever, that shift isn’t optional.

It’s foundational.

You can watch the full recording of Gabe’s panel at CES here.

Gabe Michael is SVP, Group Executive Producer - AI.

The announcement by Omnicom PR Group of the consolidation of Golin with Ketchum and FleishmanHillard with Porter Novelli is further confirmation of the fundamental reshaping of the PR industry. There will be five global, full-service firms: Edelman, Weber Shandwick, Burson, FleishmanHillard and Golin. Only five years ago, there were five others: Hill & Knowlton, MSL, Ogilvy, Porter Novelli and Ketchum.

What’s happened to the PR industry?

Reaction to the Downturn of the Last Three Years — The recovery from COVID-19 was dramatic, led by spending in health and technology. The downturn has been a slow escape of air from the balloon. The holding companies insisted that their agencies maintain 25 percent to 30 percent margins while revenue dropped in some cases by 40 percent. The only way to achieve that was to close or combine international offices while reducing staff in core markets. Edelman, as a private company, maintained its global footprint and its breadth of services.
The Growth of the Advisory Firms — Hill & Knowlton and Burson had the best financial and public affairs practices in the industry 20 years ago. Much of that high margin work has moved to Teneo, FGS Global and Brunswick. The only global firm that competes vigorously in both of those important segments is Edelman.
The Combination with Ad Agency — Both Ogilvy and MSL have suffered from becoming line extensions of the agency. MSL lost its global network in the Publicis One structure, which gives priority to the geographic/regional entity in management. Edelman works with ad agencies as an equal, offering our own ideas for earned-first strategy, not as an add-on.
Inability to Invest in Growth Areas — Influencer firms were acquired by the holding companies and given to the powerful media buying units instead of partnering with the PR operations. By contrast Edelman makes the most of its influencer business by combining Creator with earned media and digital.
AI Investment — The orientation of the holding companies is the PESO model (Paid, Earned, Social) which allows custom content to be served up to the highest potential consumers targeted through data. We are putting our bets on the ESO model of Earned, Social and Owned media, which is winning the race for LLM search outcomes. PR should lead, not follow, in this game, particularly in a world of rising nationalism requiring the melding of brand and reputation skills.

I want to pay tribute to industry leaders from Ketchum, including Paul Alvarez, Mike Doyle, David Drobis, Rob Flaherty, and Barri Rafferty, plus the leaders of Porter Novelli, including Bob Druckenmiller and Bill Novelli. They did so much to build our industry. We intend to fight for PR in its broadest construct, believing that Trust Drives Growth and Action Earns Trust.

Richard Edelman is the CEO.

This week, I had dinner with the CEO of Axel Springer plus senior journalists from The Wall Street Journal, Semafor, Bloomberg, Fortune and TIME. I had lunch with the editor-in-chief of the Chicago Tribune. I spoke with the editor of Die Zeit Digital, a very important media outlet in Germany. And I absorbed the stunning announcement from The Washington Post which is terminating one third of its journalists, effectively wiping out its international, sports and weekend cultural coverage. Here are a few observations on the witching hour for media:

Subscription Model is the Way To Go — Publications that relied on clicks from “buzzy stories” which could then be monetized in advertising have fallen on hard times. Editors are being asked to offer real value for readers in deeply reported stories that are truly breaking news or important feature coverage.
Short form or Long Form — The Axios style of headline and four paragraphs, in newsletter style, is a breakthrough concept. So is the long form podcast, a deep exploration of a topic or long discussion with a guest whose personality shines through. The seven-hundred-word story seems an endangered species.
The Bears Rule — The number one attraction for Chicago Tribune readers is stories about the Chicago Bears (YEAH….I am one of those people). The Bears are much more of a draw than the other teams in town. Especially when they have a good season!
Offering MSM Platform to Creators — To broaden the appeal of basic news content, Die Zeit is giving creators of all ages and political bents access to its platform. It is the Bloomingdale’s strategy in retailing of 40 years ago, inviting Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan to have their own boutiques within the store.
The Power of Events — Semafor has signed up 400 CEOs for its April conference in Washington, D.C. It will last five days. The media companies believe that in person convening and relationships forged by attendees make this an attractive proposition, competitive with the World Economic Forum or G100.
Truth and Trust — Journalists believe that there will be a premium placed on accuracy and proper sourcing. They would rather be right than first on a story. They are recognizing that LLM search results are premised most importantly on stories from the most elite media.
The Social Dilemma — Posting stories on social channels such as TikTok or X does relatively little to boost circulation or traffic to the mainstream media.

The PR industry has allowed its media relations skills to atrophy in favor of content creation for social media. The reality of LLM search and the importance of truth behoove each of us to develop strong relationships with reporters and their editors. What’s old is new again.

Richard Edelman is the CEO.

25 Years of Trust

A Visit to Halas Hall

Related Content

6 A.M.

WPP Makes PR the Supporting Cast

6 A.M.

Reverend Jesse Jackson; A Fifty-Year Friendship

6 A.M.

And Now There Are Five

WPP Makes PR the Supporting Cast

Related Content

6 A.M.

Reverend Jesse Jackson; A Fifty-Year Friendship

6 A.M.

And Now There Are Five

6 A.M.

Mainstream Media’s Witching Hour

Inside Edelman: Meet our U.S. Culture Champions – Tara Hagan

Tell us about your Edelman journey.

You were nominated for Culture Champion by your colleagues – how do you foster a collaborative and respectful culture within your team?

How does your personal background play a role in your professional life?

When you think about the future of Edelman, what does it look like for you?

How do you stay engaged with colleagues who work on a different team or in a different part of the business? Why is it important to make these outside connections?

Related Content

Inside Edelman

Inside Edelman: Meet our U.S. Culture Champions – Janae Holloway

Inside Edelman

Inside Edelman: Meet our U.S. Culture Champions – Blair Colson

Inside Edelman

Inside Edelman: Meet our U.S. Culture Champions – Masa Najjar

Ubuntu in Action: Reflections from the International Women’s Forum in Cape Town

The 100-Year Life is Here

Reverend Jesse Jackson; A Fifty-Year Friendship

Related Content

6 A.M.

And Now There Are Five

6 A.M.

Mainstream Media’s Witching Hour

6 A.M.

Davos 2026—The Great Realignment

2026 Edelman Trust Barometer - Special Report: Health

How AI Is Reshaping Post-Production: Insights from CES

And Now There Are Five

Related Content

6 A.M.

Mainstream Media’s Witching Hour

6 A.M.

Davos 2026—The Great Realignment

6 A.M.

Insularity - The Next Crisis of Trust

Mainstream Media’s Witching Hour

Related Content

6 A.M.

Davos 2026—The Great Realignment

6 A.M.

Insularity - The Next Crisis of Trust

6 A.M.

Winter Break Reading List