With feverish speculation about the imminent calling of a General Election – perhaps as early as 6pm this evening – the Edelman Public Affairs team assesses the likely outcomes ahead and their impact on businesses.

While just three ultimate end states remain the same - no deal, deal, no Brexit – the former is becoming increasingly likely, and the routes to achieve them are also crystallising.

This week will see rebel Conservatives join forces with other parties to seek to extend the Brexit deadline, while Team Johnson has vowed to eject and deselect any Tory MPs seeking to undermine his no deal position.

It is hard to see any outcome being reached without an election being called to give the Prime Minister the majority he craves. The question is whether Labour would vote in favour of an election (which could fall in November), having spent the last three years calling for one, or whether they follow Tony Blair’s advice not to “fall into the trap” of enabling an accidental no deal.

Buckle in for the biggest week in politics since the last. But this time we may well see the real splitting of the Conservative Party and without doubt a test of nerve on all sides.

Click here to read the full analysis.

Edelman Sport: Pushed to the Limit

Commercial success in modern sport is no longer measured by performance alone, and not everyone agrees on what success looks like.

Find out more

Offer focused on helping brands promote and protect their reputation in sport 

  • Formalises growing client demand for deeper sector expertise across integrated sports communications and advisory
  • Where passion meets scrutiny, the new division is dedicated to elevating and safeguarding the reputation of sports brands

29 October 2025, London:

Edelman UK has launched Edelman Sport, a dedicated sports division, in response to growing client demand and the continued expansion of its work in the sector. This evolution reflects the firm’s momentum and success across a series of high-profile campaigns and partnerships, formalising a capability that has long operated at the intersection of culture, commerce, and competition.

Edelman’s expanded focus on sports communications reflects the continued growth and transformation of the sector. Sport has become an integral part of culture, business, and public dialogue, bringing with it increased visibility, stakeholder interest, and reputational considerations.

The firm’s enhanced capability is designed to help clients promote – by earning cultural relevance through meaningful action – and protect – by building trust and resilience when it matters most. By blending a heritage in trust and corporate reputation with world-class brand strategy and integrated creative excellence, Edelman enables clients to engage in sport with confidence, clarity, and cultural impact.

Julian Payne, UK CEO, Edelman, said: “At Edelman we have long understood the delicate balance between promoting and protecting reputations and nowhere is this more in focus than the world of sport.

In recent years, the reputations of teams, sponsors and governing bodies have become subject to much greater scrutiny as audiences grow ever larger around the world. To be able to thrive in this environment you must establish a strong identity and a relationship of trust with your audiences.

We have studied what it takes to build trust for more than 25 years and we have seen that there are unique forces at play within the sporting arena which is why we have decided to create a dedicated space to serve this industry. We have an incredible array of clients already and I am excited to see where this team can go next.”

Edelman UK’s sports division is driven by a cross-practice hub that unites specialists from Corporate, Brand, Strategy, Creator, Crisis & Risk and Talent. Fraser Walters (Corporate Director), Nick Parnell (Brand Senior Director), Will Butterworth (Strategy Lead), and Loulou Dundas (Talent & Content Senior Director), will co-lead the group. This collaborative approach leverages Edelman’s UK and global network to deliver integrated communications programmes for some of the world’s leading sports organisations. 

With more than 6,000 people in over 60 offices worldwide, Edelman brings unmatched scale and depth to sports communications, offering clients local insight with global reach. From global governing bodies and grassroots charities to elite athletes, iconic teams, brand sponsors, and leading media platforms, Edelman’s deep experience across every corner of the sporting landscape offers a unique vantage point. 

The move follows the agency’s appointment by European Football Clubs (EFC) – the independent body representing over 800 professional football clubs across Europe – the latest in a string of major client wins that includes multiple motorsports teams and world-leading fitness brands. Together, these partnerships underscore Edelman’s growing reputation as a trusted advisor to the world’s most ambitious brands and organisations in sport. 

EFC selected the agency after a competitive pitch to support its pan-European communications strategy and stakeholder engagement as part of a major repositioning and rebranding exercise earlier this month. Edelman’s new sports division, in collaboration with Edelman offices in several European markets, will help articulate EFC’s increasingly influential role in shaping the future of European club football. 

Alongside these latest signings, the team has worked with some of the biggest names in sport and sponsorship including Heineken, Unilever, and Ascot Racecourse. From the relaunch of Formula 1 under Liberty Media’s ownership to the Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winning Eternal Run for ASICS, Edelman has a rich heritage in the sector, advising brands and organisations at the heart of sport’s cultural and commercial evolution. For more information, please visit the website here


About Edelman 
Edelman is a global communications firm that partners with businesses and organisations 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. For more than 20 years, we have studied the influence of trust across society — government, media, business, and NGOs — to shape conversation, drive results and earn action. 

In 2024 alone, we were awarded the EMEA SABRE Award for Large Regional Consultancy of the Year, ranked 2nd across the board at Cannes Lions for Independent Network of the Year, were the first legacy PR agency to win a Titanium Lion, recognised as PRWeek's Dynasty Agency for the Past 25 Years and named an Agency Stand Out by AdAge. 

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), EGA (government and public affairs advisory), and UEG (entertainment, sports and lifestyle).

Omnichannel is more than just a set of digital tactics. It’s a strategic, insight-driven approach designed to deliver seamless, personalized customer experiences by integrating messaging across multiple touchpoints.

It ensures that every interaction, whether through a medical science liaison (MSL), a rep visit, an email, or an AI-powered chatbot, is part of a connected, data-driven ecosystem.

Pharma’s omnichannel success depends on:

  • Understanding your audience needs and pain points across the customer journey
  • Aligning messaging with behavioural shift
  • Optimising channels based on real-time engagement data

But if omnichannel is this complex, who should lead it?

The Case for Omnichannel as a Standalone Function

  1. Strategic Business Driver, Not Just Digital Execution: Omnichannel isn’t just about technology — it’s about relationships. It requires deep integration across brand, medical, commercial, and market access teams. A dedicated omnichannel function ensures these connections happen effectively.
  2. Cross-Functional Leadership is Essential: Unlike traditional digital marketing, omnichannel spans multiple departments. Having a centralised omnichannel team can break silos and drive a cohesive engagement strategy.
  3. Global vs. Local Execution Requires a Governance Structure: Many pharma companies operate globally but execute locally. A standalone omnichannel function can set a strategic framework while allowing for market-specific adaptations.
  4. Proven Success in Industry Leaders: Consider the omnichannel campaign for Lundbeck, which integrated live-action VR, social content, and digital assets to enhance HCP engagement at AAN 2019. This level of execution required a dedicated strategy team, not just a digital execution arm.

The Case for Omnichannel Sitting Within Digital

  1. Technology is the Engine of Omnichannel: Omnichannel relies on AI, automation, and data analytics — all of which sit within the digital team’s expertise. Digital teams already manage platforms that enable omnichannel experiences, making them a natural home.
  2. Efficiency & Scalability: Digital teams are structured for rapid execution at scale. Embedding omnichannel here ensures seamless integration with digital transformation initiatives.
  3. Cost & Resource Optimization: A separate omnichannel function could lead to duplication of roles and budget inefficiencies. Keeping it within digital leverages existing infrastructure.

Where the Industry is Headed

The most successful pharma companies treat omnichannel as a business strategy rather than a digital function. A hybrid model — where omnichannel is a dedicated function that collaborates closely with digital, brand, medical, and commercial teams — is emerging as best practice.

Future omnichannel success will depend on:

  • A clear governance model
  • AI-driven personalization and engagement analytics
  • Integration across customer touchpoints beyond digital

Should omnichannel have its own seat at the table, or should it be an extension of digital? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer — but the decision will shape how effectively pharma companies engage with their audiences.


Have questions? Get in touch here.

Pharma marketers love data. We track email open rates, website clicks, rep visits, and webinar attendance. But the real question is: do any of these metrics tell us if we’re actually changing behavior?

Omnichannel strategy isn’t about delivering more content, it’s about driving meaningful engagement that shifts HCP mindsets and actions. And that means redefining how we measure success.

Vanity Metrics vs. Real Impact

Today, many omnichannel KPIs focus on activity rather than impact:

  • Email open rates ≠ engagement
  • Webinar attendance ≠ knowledge shift
  • Rep interactions ≠ prescribing intent

The challenge? These numbers look good on reports, but they don’t tell us whether we’re influencing HCP decisions or improving patient outcomes.

The Real Goal: Measuring Behavior Change

A true omnichannel strategy isn’t just about delivering the right message at the right time, it’s about influencing decisions over time. That’s why we need to track:

  • Engagement depth: Are HCPs actively engaging with multiple content types, not just passively consuming?
  • Knowledge progression: Are HCPs moving from awareness to deeper understanding across touchpoints?
  • Channel preference evolution: Are HCPs engaging with more personalized, self-directed interactions?
  • Prescribing behavior shifts: Are we seeing intent signals translate into actual prescribing patterns?

How Do We Get There?

To make behavior change the core metric, pharma must evolve how we collect and analyse data:

  • AI-driven insights: Predictive analytics can track engagement trends and identify subtle shifts in behavior.
  • Customer journey mapping: Instead of isolated interactions, we need to visualise how HCPs move through an omnichannel ecosystem.
  • Attribution modeling: Connecting digital and in-person engagement to actual prescribing or clinical decision-making.

The Future of Omnichannel Measurement

Omnichannel isn’t just about being present everywhere, it’s about guiding HCPs through a journey that leads to action. If we measure what truly matters, we can stop chasing clicks and start driving real change.


Have questions? Get in touch here.

In a world of constant change, one thing remains the currency of connection: trust. Whether you're launching a life-saving therapy, promoting a wellness product, or shaping policy perception, trust is no longer just a reputation issue. It’s a business driver.

The Trust Shift

According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, healthcare is at a tipping point. While it remains one of the most trusted sectors globally, this trust is fragile. Patients, professionals, and policymakers alike are growing more skeptical, more informed, and more vocal.

Key findings from the Barometer reveal:

  • 63% of people say they will only buy from brands they trust, even if alternatives are cheaper or more convenient.
  • 74% expect healthcare companies to play a proactive role in solving societal issues, not just selling products.
  • Trust in science remains high, but trust in how it's communicated is declining. Audiences want clarity, not jargon. Empathy, not ego.
  • Most crucially: trusted brands are more likely to drive behavior change — whether it’s starting a new treatment, signing up for a service, or recommending to peers.

So, What Does This Mean for Marketers?

  • Trust is a purchase trigger, not a nice-to-have: Building trust means ensuring that every claim, channel, and interaction reflects your brand’s values, and lives up to them. Transactional tactics may deliver short-term wins, but trust builds long-term loyalty.
  • Brands must stand for more than products: This doesn’t mean becoming political. It means becoming purposeful. The brands that lead with integrity, and back it up with measurable impact — will earn deeper relevance and advocacy.
  • Transparency is the new trust frontier: The gap is widening between what experts say and what audiences hear. Scientific credibility is not enough. Healthcare marketers must reframe complex information into clear, human-centered narratives. The tone must move from ego to empathy, from authority to accessibility. Because in the absence of clarity, confusion and mistrust take root.
  • Trust drives behaviour change: Whether it's adopting a new treatment, enrolling in a program, or sharing with others, behaviour change begins with belief. And belief is built on trust. This is the ultimate ROI of trust: it fuels not just perception, but participation. If your strategy isn’t actively building credibility, it's leaving value on the table. Trust-based marketing doesn’t just inform — it activates. It empowers people to take the next step, because they feel safe, understood, and supported.

The healthcare brands that embrace trust as their true north will be the ones who lead, not just in market share, but in meaningful impact.


Have questions? Get in touch here.

In today’s hyper-connected world, customers expect seamless, personalised experiences across multiple touchpoints. Whether they are patients seeking healthcare guidance, providers looking for medical insights, or consumers engaging with health-related content, their journey is no longer linear. If your strategy isn’t omnichannel, it’s failing to meet their expectations, and ultimately, it’s not truly customer-centric.

What Does It Mean to Be Customer-Centric?

A customer-centric strategy is one that prioritises the needs, behaviors, and preferences of your audience at every stage of their journey. This means understanding how they interact with different channels, whether it’s email, social media, SMS, chatbots, telehealth platforms, or in-person visits, and ensuring a frictionless experience across them all.

A multichannel approach, which simply means being present on multiple platforms, is no longer enough. True customer centricity demands an omnichannel strategy, where each interaction informs the next, creating a cohesive and personalised journey. For example, a patient researching symptoms on your website should receive relevant follow-ups via email or SMS, and a provider engaging with educational content on a professional network should see related insights in their next touchpoint, whether through a webinar invitation or an interactive chatbot.

Why Omnichannel Matters in Healthcare

The healthcare industry is complex, with diverse stakeholders including patients, healthcare professionals (HCPs), payers, and caregivers. Each group has unique needs, and their engagement preferences vary widely. Here’s how an omnichannel approach improves their experience:

  1. Patients Expect Seamless Care Journeys: Patients today move between AI research, telehealth consultations, in-person visits, and digital health apps. They expect their data and experience to follow them seamlessly across these touchpoints. An omnichannel strategy ensures that when a patient engages with a chatbot about medication side effects, their physician is notified and can follow up proactively.
  2. HCPs Demand Relevant, Convenient Engagement: Healthcare professionals are overwhelmed with information and prefer tailored, on-demand content. Some prefer webinars, others engage with peer-reviewed articles, and many rely on social media for industry updates. A well-designed omnichannel strategy ensures that HCPs receive the right content at the right time through their preferred channels, enhancing engagement and education.
  3. Caregivers and Family Members Need Integrated Support: Family caregivers often manage appointments, prescriptions, and patient education on behalf of their loved ones. Providing them with integrated access to patient information via a unified experience across apps, portals, and SMS reminders enhances their ability to provide care.

Key Elements of an Effective Omnichannel Strategy

To build a successful omnichannel strategy in healthcare, consider these essential elements:

  1. Data-Driven Personalisation: Use AI and analytics to understand customer behaviors and preferences. Leverage these insights to deliver tailored messaging and content that meets individual needs.
  2. Channel Orchestration: Ensure all touchpoints are connected and synchronised. A patient shouldn’t receive a generic email after a telehealth visit; instead, they should get a follow-up message tailored to their specific condition.
  3. Compliance and Privacy: In healthcare, compliance with regulations like HIPAA and GDPR is crucial. Ensure all interactions respect patient privacy and data security standards while still delivering value.
  4. Seamless Integration of Digital and Human Touchpoints: While digital engagement is critical, human interaction remains essential in healthcare. Integrate AI-driven support with human touchpoints like physician follow-ups and live chat with healthcare professionals.
  5. Continuous Optimisation: Regularly analyse engagement data, feedback, and outcomes to refine and optimize your omnichannel strategy over time.

The Future of Customer-Centric Healthcare Engagement

As technology advances and customer expectations evolve, the need for an omnichannel approach will only grow. Organisations that invest in seamless, personalized, and data-driven engagement will build stronger relationships with patients and HCPs, improve health outcomes, and drive better business results.

If your strategy isn’t omnichannel, it’s time to rethink what customer-centricity truly means. The future of healthcare engagement is connected, continuous, and customer-first.


Have questions? Get in touch here.

Modern supply chains are sometimes built for efficiency, rather than ethics. With products passing through dozens of hands across multiple borders, the risk of human rights violations grows. In what some will see as a disappointing move, the EU recently has recently watered down its Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (“CS3D”), reducing the obligations on corporations to understand and prevent human rights issues in their supply chains. However, even without strict legal obligations, recent breaches involving high-profile brands show that the potential for reputational harm if companies don’t meet their stakeholders’ ethical expectations is as high as ever.

Let's be clear on the meaning of “human rights issues”: here, we are referring to forced or compulsory labour, unsafe conditions, and illegal child labour. While any company should work hard to avoid or stamp out these issues in its first tier suppliers, it may not have the insight into the operations of its contractors and suppliers higher up. Yet the public and stakeholders expect companies to maintain control throughout. Similarly, ESG investors will actively avoid companies who fail to meet that bar. In short, ignorance is no defence.

Regulations aren’t the be-all and end-all

This risk of public backlash and reputational harm is accompanied by teeth in the form of the EU’s CS3D, adopted in May 2024. Initially this imposed extensive obligations on companies to investigate and rectify human rights risks, but the European Commission’s latest Omnibus Simplification Package severely waters down those obligations, reducing its scope and limiting requirements to only first-tier suppliers. Still, reputational damage remains a major risk, even if legal obligations are eased. If anything, societal expectations will continue to grow.

"No Lawsuit, No Problem?" No longer...

We have all seen brands suffering severe harm solely because of public scrutiny, without any apparent legal liability. Over recent years groups like Human Rights Watch, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, and Stop Uyghur Genocide regularly issue reports into various industries and even specific companies, identifying alleged human rights abuses in a range of global supply chains. That scrutiny continues to make the news, regularly highlighting issues like cramped living conditions and miniscule pay for factory workers. In these cases, it is the headlines and social media storm which have caused the reputational – and inevitably, financial – harm to the companies involved, even in the absence of legal proceedings.

Plan for the Worst, Communicate at Your Best

Human rights risks are no longer just a legal and compliance concern, they’re a central business risk with reputational (and therefore financial) consequences. Those who ignore risks in their supply chain today may find themselves tomorrow’s headline for all the wrong reasons. On the other hand, the best-prepared companies will lead by embedding visibility and accountability – as well as compliance – across their supply chains. In a climate of rising expectations, control and communication aren’t optional. They’re essential to earning and maintaining trust.

 

When we first thought about hosting the first-ever Edelman AI Hackathon in the UK, we assumed the focus would be on exploring how AI tools can transform how we work. We were focusing on AI enablement, increasing AI fluency and how we could use AI to be more efficient and augment the craft of our comms work.   

Plot twist: Turns out our Hackathon really wasn’t just about AI, the tools or “enablement” and “fluency”. It was about how our colleagues collaborated, problem-solved and helped each other see challenges and opportunities from a different perspective.  

AI Was Just the Conduit.  

We know we have exceptional, creative people, with brilliant ideas and who care about our business, how we operate internally and how we consistently show up for our clients.    

AI was the catalyst to tap into that collective brilliance. The Hackathon was a safe place for our colleagues to experiment with AI, forget about fluency and expertise, and focus on brainstorming new ideas, rethinking the art of the possible. 

The result? Two days of brainstorming and building with 80 colleagues in 14 teams producing 14 amazing ideas, prototypes and concepts created across two days covering themes including AI adoption, unlocking growth, onboarding new staff, identifying skills, creativity and content creation. Every idea had elements that we will explore and develop further to integrate into our day-to-day work.   

It was more than ‘building cool things with AI’  

Innovation excellence doesn’t start with AI: It starts with people and a problem they really want to solve.   

Our colleagues weren’t asked to ‘build with AI’: They took an ‘IRL’ challenge or opportunity and hacked it, with a view to improving our employee and client experience using the Edelman suite of AI tools.  

We maximised the creativity of the output by building diverse and cross-functional and cross-experience teams, giving us a unique 360-degree view of the challenges, and  the solutions.   

The pain points that surfaced weren’t a surprise to anyone, so the real ‘a ha!’ moments came from using AI as a thought partner to push our thinking to new limits.   

Culture is the real unlock   

Our culture meant that colleagues were able to play with AI in a low-distraction space where there were no ‘stupid ideas’. The catalyst of AI quickly broke the ice as cross-functional teams started working together to uncover a new way of working outside of established teams and peer groups.   

The buzz was electric, energising and genuinely fun. This is important. If large-scale AI adoption is going to succeed, it must feel relevant, accessible, inclusive and exciting to all of us.   

Momentum Matters 

The great ideas from our Hackathon are only the first step. What comes next is as important as the Hackathon itself: Tracking the development of ideas and concepts reinforces the value of this new way of working. Our colleagues need to see and be a part of how the ideas develop and evolve.     

Momentum is key, so we’re taking the energy from 80 colleagues who gave us two days of their time and investing it in pushing forward the ideas and solutions.   

Transformation Done Differently   

The Hackathon showed us how accessible innovation can be when grounded in but not distracted by the daily work. It also shows that transformation doesn’t have to be painful. Transformation is gradual, and it’s something that over time, we build together.  

At the post-Hackathon drinks, the question everyone asked was when the next one was taking place. Other markets and regions are already running and planning their own Hackathons. We are also developing a ‘Hackathon in a box’, so individual teams across the network can host their own versions. 

And we are already developing how we can offer this to our clients, so they too can see how AI can be applied in practice, not just talking about the future, but building it.

Gavin Spicer is Chief AI Officer, UK & Managing Director EMEA at Assembly.

The best thought leadership doesn’t just inform. It makes people think differently. It changes minds. It sparks action. And in the years to come, high-quality thought leadership is going to make an even bigger business impact, helping companies rise above AI-generated noise. To deliver this kind of content, we’re going to have to be braver with our ideas. More generous with our insights. And sharper with our measurement.

Thought leadership is one of the most misaligned and misunderstood terms in business. It’s often mistaken for thinly veiled product promotion or executive vanity publishing. Yet, when done well, it’s a powerful tool for marketers to build trust with customers and drive growth through the funnel.

Political and economic uncertainty, and changes to established ways of working through AI are delaying business decision-making, refocusing priorities and extending sales cycles. A joint study by Edelman and LinkedIn surveying 3,500 business decision makers reveals that 64% have tightened their procurement processes, while 44% expect to be less receptive to sales calls and marketing outreach.

This means companies will have to work harder to earn the attention of busy business leaders. They’ll need to nurture conversations with prospects over longer periods and to really prove the value of the expertise they offer. These are all areas where thought leadership can make a bigger difference compared to other forms of marketing.

The Commercial Value of Thought Leadership

Our research found that:

  • Nearly three-quarters (75%) of decision-makers say thought leadership is a more trustworthy basis for assessing a company’s capabilities than traditional advertising or product marketing.
  • The same percentage (75%) say a strong piece of thought leadership prompted them to research a solution they weren’t previously considering.
  • Out of 10 business leaders, six will pay a premium to work with a company which clearly proves the quality of its thinking and expertise of its people.

The data shows that thought leadership can be decisive through the funnel, with 86% of respondents more likely to invite companies with high quality content to tender. It improves the ability to cross and upsell; boosts repeat business and can tip the balance when it comes to closing deals.

If buyer journeys are increasingly self-guided, with more people on the buying committee and longer sales cycles, then thought leadership is a valuable means of nurturing conversations, reaching a wider group of decision makers and ensuring companies are known for the right things.

(Re)defining Thought Leadership

Part of the challenge is in having a common definition of thought leadership. Perhaps, obviously, it is about ‘thought’, but that means genuinely fresh perspectives and new data from subject matter experts. ‘Leadership’ is about vision, unexpected angles and shaping the agenda. Some of this seems self-evident but content badged as thought leadership often ends up aggregating existing views. Too often, it’s based solely on opinion and doesn’t move a debate forward, nor drive action.

The impact of AI on this definition is interesting. If everyone has access to the same AI tools and Large Language Models, responses are based on existing available web information and content based solely on this may become similar and derivative. If AI is used as a thought partner to stimulate new ideas and concepts, make unexpected connections between disparate sources of data, aid deeper research and free up thinking time for experts then this can really aid thought leadership. AI is a powerful tool but as with many things, originality, creativity and quality remain key.

Why Now?

Over half of CEOs (54%) spend over an hour a week consuming thought leadership content. If you’re leading a business, this makes sense. You need trusted external sources of information and new ideas to spot competitive advantage. During challenging times, people are hungrier for fresh insight. Business leaders are searching for new opportunities, key trends and ways to be more effective in their jobs. They want to understand how their organisation can succeed in tough conditions

The use of Generative AI is growing faster than the adoption of the computer or internet, with Gartner predicting that brands organic search traffic will decrease 50% by 2028 as B2B decision makers switch to LLMs to help them evaluate companies and potential service providers *. Companies need to evolve their marketing as traditional advertising and search optimisation will no longer be as effective. The emphasis will shift to trusted sources, quality content and distinctive creative, which earns attention – all of which means thought leadership will have more influence and impact for companies in the near future. To prepare for AI-driven search, companies need to act now.

To help companies adapt their marketing strategies, Edelman recently launched GEOsight, a new service that enables companies to benchmark where they are today across major AI search tools. Businesses can analyse content and use this to develop frameworks for marketing, communications and thought leadership.

Defining What Good Looks Like

When it comes to understanding, planning and evaluating content, Edelman has developed the Thought Leadership Flywheel. This useful lens defines the six core attributes of the most effective content:

  1. White Space: uncovering contrarian angles, which surprise the audience and enable bolder, more imaginative thinking.
  2. Relevance: grounding insights in primary customer and real-world data; avoiding the ‘everything to everyone’ trap of trying to cover too many topics, too broadly.
  3. Vision: providing a unique, forward-looking perspective, which drives action and behaviour change.
  4. Trust: focusing on topics your organisation has credibility talking about; bringing in diverse, trusted third-party experts.
  5. Brevity: clear, accessible human storytelling; with shorter, easy to digest formats and bite-sized options for busy professionals to consume.
  6. Attribution: our Thought Leadership Impact story has found that only 29% of organisations can link sales leads back to specific pieces of content. Quantifying this makes the case for further investment, which leads to better content and a virtuous circle for businesses.

Where Next for Thought Leadership?

Ask most companies and they’ll say they want to reach more senior decision makers, retain or grow their customer base, and be seen as the most trusted partner in their industry. Thought leadership is the foundation beneath any plans to achieve this. For B2B marketers, there are several key considerations:

  • Think through the funnel: thought leadership is often associated with awareness and reputation but can play a valuable role throughout sales, marketing and business development. Set KPIs, which quantify how your thought leadership helps you reach new decision-makers, move deals along, start new sales conversations (cross and upsell) and boost conversions
  • Maximise the value: If you’ve invested in quality thought leadership, the content can often be adapted, personalised and extended through account-based marketing, direct sales and partner engagements. It can also be brought to life through events and experiences. Also think about how you can use it across different channels like Reddit, Substack or Instagram.
  • The challenger advantage: 60% of decision makers say thought leadership builds credibility for companies looking to define or break into a new category and for newer players to punch above their weight.
  • Earned, not bought: In an age of ad blockers, algorithm fatigue and AI-driven search, quality thought leadership is how brands cut through with relevance.
  • Drive action: while thought leadership is about ‘thinking’, the most impactful campaigns drive tangible action and behaviour change. An example is the DP World ‘Move to -15’ campaign, which galvanised logistics companies, warehousers and supermarkets to reduce the temperature at which frozen food is shipped, stored and sold. The campaign drove an 11% increase in trust for DP World, as 60% of the world’s biggest food producer, retailers and transporters signed up to make a meaningful change.

In short, we are all going to have to think differently about the thinking we offer our industries. In a market full of noise, the companies that invest in showcasing their thought leadership will enjoy the strongest growth.

Andrew Mildren, Managing Director, Edelman Business Marketing EMEA.

Sources:
All figures from the Edelman Thought Leadership Impact reports from 2022 – 2025, based on interviews with 3,500 business decision makers and producers of content across seven markets and a range of sectors. To view the latest report, click here.
Gartner, ‘How Marketing Can Capitalise on AI Disruption’, February 2024.

 

Subscribe to United Kingdom