edelman public engagement essays

8/14/2019 Edelman Public Engagement Essays

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EDELMAN

IN THE CONVERSATION AGE

PUBLICENGAGEMENTVOL.2


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EDELMAN

CONTENT

2

FOREWORD/FUTURE ECOLOGY: A NEW ERA OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT 3

IN AN ENGAGED WORLD, LISTENING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER 4

THE SEVEN BEHAVIOURS OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT 5

THE POWER OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT. THE AGE OF PERSONAL SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 6

WHY ITS TIME FOR THE AD AGENCIES TO ADMIT DEFEAT 8

EMBEDDING SUSTAINABILITY INTO BUSINESS AND BRAND: MAKING SENSE OF THE UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS 10

PUTTING CREATIVITY FIRST 12

ITS POLITICS, JIM, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT 14

SOUND BITE OR SOUND INSIGHT 16

DEMAND DRIVEN DIALOGUE: DESIGNING DEMAND IN THE IT WORLD 18

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT IN A REGULATED ENVIRONMENT 20

LISTENING FOR RESULTS 22

EDELMAN TRUST BAROMETER 2010 23

ONE WORLD, ONE AGENCY: PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT MAKES YOU THINK 24

CONVICTION OR CONVENIENCE: IS NOW THE TIME FOR BUSINESS TO LEAD? 27

PR CONSULTANCY OF THE YEAR 2009

ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION

This is the second volume of Edelmans annual publication, Public Engagement in the

Conversation Age. It is a collection of thought pieces written by the UK team about the

communications challenges facing brands, corporates, politics and NGOs as well as our

own industry, as we evolve from Public Relations to Public Engagement.


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active citizenship, as calls or transparency intensiy and as

transparency itsel is urther empowered by the digital world.

Citizen politics now demands that governments and business

Act and Tell. Storytelling alone is just not good enough and

an evolved orm o communications is the obvious result.

Public Engagement is the codication o where we are today

a recognition o the new order that is emerging rom the

continued chaos. Public Engagement embraces the current

reality and aces the uture, sae in the knowledge that waves

o change will inevitably come again. The PR agency which

sits back and watches the chaos unold is the one which will

play no part in the uture ecology o communications. Which

is why we, at Edelman, continue to think, write and debate

these new truths and why we are re-shaping ourselves to

deliver in a world o cross-infuence. We do not have all the

answers. Nobody does. But, as these Public Engagementessays demonstrate, we will both stimulate and participate in

the conversation.

Robert Phillips

UK [email protected]

FUTURE ECOLOGY:

A NEW ERA OFPUBLICENGAGEMENT

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT VOL.2

This all has proound implications or the communications

world. In a parallel trend, corporate reputation and brand

marketing are converging at speed; we, the people, have

become media in our own right; and everyone rom citizen

to brand to corporation now has the ability to participate

in the conversation, anywhere and at any moment in time.

Opinion is becoming increasingly democratised and media

increasingly socialized. None o this should surprise us it is

the reality o the everyday.

Immediacy is everywhere. We no longer wait more than

minutes or our news, in a world where the story o an

earthquake breaks on Twitter beore it reaches the newswires.

Newspapers have become Viewspapers. The old rules o

audience cannot apply and the conventions o advertising are

understandably crumbling. The 30-second spot has become

the short-orm lm and it is all content or the conversationanyway.

This is not merely a tale o technology, however, nor is it

just about the internet. Technology has begat behavioural

change and introduced the new norms. Reorm is unlikely

to stop here. This is an unolding story o society and people

how we interact, what we prioritise and where we come

together in active coalitions. Recent Edelman Trust data (July

2009) ranked the interests o the employee and the customer

alongside those o the shareholder, while supply chain ethics,

Directors pay and responsible governance have suddenly

become genuine infuencing actors in purchasing decisions.Governments are increasingly held to account by a digitally-

PR is changing. Driven at pace by the democratizing power o digital and the

continued shit rom a shareholder to a stakeholder society, we are witnessing the

emergence o a new model o Public Engagement. Networks have replaced channels;

inuence has supplanted audience; shared interests are moving us beyond dogma;

and multilateral connection is the new dialogue. We are aced daily with a chaos o

news and views. The golden age o broadcast is fnally over.


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By listening with new intelligence, we can identiy the key

idea starters and ampliers. Idea Starters are the ones who

will spark the conversation. Ampliers can be anyone. They

are the ones who will continue the discussion and advance it

through their networks.

Listening can also impact a business beyond communications.

Starbucks (an Edelman client), or example, has created My

Starbucks Idea, a platorm or listening to, and co-creating

with, its customers that has yielded important suggestions

or improving the companys business. Ranging rom product

ideas to operational improvements, Starbucks commitment to

listening has driven results straight to its bottom line.

Similarly, by listening to its customers wherever they were

talking in this case, Twitter U.S. cable giant Comcast

improved its customer service and, according to its CEO,

changed the culture o the company, making it more

responsive and engaged.

The risks o ailing to listen are massive. In a world where

everyone is a publisher and compelling content always

manages to nd an audience, a crisis can appear rom

anywhere. Failing to listen can leave us ignorant and

impotent.

So i we commit ourselves to listening, how should we do it?

To be sure, some people will listen or a ew moments, then

make their excuses and drit away. But many will be (at best)

annoyed and the outcome will be unsatisactory or everyone.

Brilliant grandmothers the world over have made a clich out

o the notion that we were given two ears and one mouth or

a reason. But those who practice ham-handed attempts at

engagement behave as i they have a very large mouth and no

ears at all.

Successul engagement must begin with a realization that

might at rst be uncomortable: as communicators and

marketers, we no longer control the terms o engagement.

The decision to interact is necessarily one o mutual consent.

So beore we can engage, we need to take the time tounderstand the answers to several key questions:

Whomightbeinterestedintalkingwithus?

Whataretheyinterestedintalkingabout?

Whereandonwhattermswouldtheyliketoconnect?

Answering these questions ensures that when we do engage,

we will approach the conversation with content that is

relevant, timely and interesting.

Eective listening also provides a roadmap or deploying our

resources and ensuring that whatever approach we adopt is

practical and realistic by helping us prioritize the infuencers

we might want to engage.

Consider a moment we have all experienced. Standing at a party, chatting amiably

with a riend, an interloper arrives, interrupts our conversation, seizes control and

turns it in an unexpected and perhaps unwelcome direction. Too oten, this is the

approach that communicators and marketers label engagement.

EDELMAN

IN AN ENGAGED WORLD

LISTENING ISMOREIMPORTANT

THAN EVER


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Listening with new intelligence is a uniquely human skill.

Discerning sincerity, subtlety and emotion are all instinctive

human abilities that no machine or articial intelligence has

yet mastered in spite o the countless over-marketed claims

to the contrary.

Technology can and must provide assistance, but at its core,

listening is more art than science more a personal exercise

than a computational one.

The countless platorms or listening are useul or gathering

together elements o the conversation that are relevant. But

once gathered, real understanding only comes rom immersion

in the content and an in-depth understanding o the context.

And real success only comes rom a commitment to act on

what is learned.

Over the last ew years, social media and similar technological

changes have made the world more connected, interactive

and dynamic. In short, the world is a conversation.

So at its core, the imperative to become better listeners rests

on a simple, human truth: We cannot join a conversation

without listening to it rst.

Are you listening?


Marshall Manson

Director

Marshall is Edelmans EMEA Director o Digital

Strategy. He has a diverse background in

communications and lives in London.

[email protected]

The SevenBehaviours

o PublicEngagement1. LISTEN WITH NEW INTELLIGENCE

2. PARTICIPATE IN CONVERSATION:

REAL TIME/ALL THE TIME

3. SOCIALISE MEDIA RELATIONS

4. CREATE AND CO-CREATE CONTENT

5. CHAMPION OPEN ADVOCACY

6. BUILD ACTIVE PARTNERSHIPS FOR

COMMON GOOD

7. EMBRACE THE CHAOS

PublicEngagement:ADVANCING SHARED INTERESTS IN

A WORLD OF CROSS-INFLUENCE

LISTEN


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work they do. It is about establishing mutual respect in theworkplace or what people do and can be. But it goes beyond

this: to engender pride to work or a company not only drives

motivation and productivity but creates ambassadors or your

business who in turn help attract the best and the brightest to

your organisation.

The recently released MacLeod report Engaging or Success:

enhancing perormance through employee engagement,

commissioned by the UK Government, states that employee

engagement practices can actually help a company deal

with the impacts o recession and emerge stronger. It reveals

that employees are oten a source o knowledge and ideaswhich lead to operational eciencies and, by providing

employees with a platorm or sharing these ideas, a company

will establish trust and loyalty. These are two qualities

that it is critical or a company to oster, particularly when

there are dicult decisions to be made that impact the

workorce. Recent Trust Barometer data show that employees

and customers should rank as the CEOs most important

stakeholders when making business decisions (July 2009).

Yet employers still have work to do when it comes to meeting

these engagement requirements. The Trades Union Congress

surveyed 3,000 workers in 2008 and ound that almost one in

three (30%) elt that their organisation does not ully engage

We can hardly question the deep rooted eect that eventso recent times have had on us all and one thing is clear: i

business is to rebuild trust, this must begin with employees.

As employees, we want our employers to communicate

and engage us with greater transparency and authenticity.

Moreover, the licence to operate or business has changed,

our perspectives as individuals have changed, and, as a result,

we expect business to recognise its role in driving greater

socioeconomic development in a new era o what we call

mutual social responsibility.

So, i we expect a higher level o social and environmental

engagement rom employers as well as rom ourselves asindividuals, is there any merit in bringing these two things

together? And can business genuinely improve employee

perormance and motivation by harnessing a shared

responsibility or doing good?

In order to try to answer these questions we must rst look at

the evidence or prioritising eective employee engagement,

and then the case or creating eective engagement to drive

perormance what engages and motivates employees today?

Employee engagement strives to create an emotional

connection that an employee eels about the organisation

which infuences him or her to exert a greater eort in the

I dont like Mondays may have been a hit single or The Boomtown Rats in 1979, but

one cant help wonder i the sentiment reects the eelings o much o todays workorce

ollowing months o challenging business conditions and continued uncertainty.

EDELMAN

THE POWER OFEMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

THE AGE OFPERSONAL

SOCIALRESPONSIBILITY


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continuing education. Todays workorce, and particularly the

younger generation o workers, look or personal relevance

in the abric and meaning o their jobs. A sense o personal

responsibility or the state o the environment, the state o our

nances and retirement options, the state o our health and

education systems is increasing.

Business must move beyond these traditional models o

corporate responsibility to a more strategic and integrated

approach based on sustainability across social, economic

and environmental parameters. It must be driven rom the

core o the business and commitment must come rom the

top o the organisation. It must transorm the values o the

organisation into programmes that employees will be inspired

to participate and engage in and ultimately engender a sense

o pride and purpose in working or that organisation beyond

simply taking home a salary every day, week or month.

Perhaps in understanding our own personal role we can learnrom Sir Winston Churchill who said We Make a Living By

What We Get, We Make a Lie By What We Give.

them and less than hal (46%) o those questioned elt that

their employer deserves their loyalty.

Perhaps part o the reluctance to address this situation is due

to the act that meeting these aspirations seems so daunting.

It cant be ignored that, with ast changing technologies,the immediacy o communications, and the rise o Citizen

Journalism, many employers are cautious o committing to

open channels o communication and true dialogue with

employees. But, or those that do, the benets can be seen

well beyond loyalty and employee retention.

So, what should we be engaging employees with and how do

we motivate them? The result o the recent crisis has meant

that conventional rewards such as pay rises and bonuses are

either simply not there or perhaps, more importantly, as we

return to the point o our individual and collective need or

business to drive mutual responsibility, do not go ar enoughto drive loyalty. Sylvia Ann Hewitt, economist and member

o the World Economic Forum Council on the Gender Gap

and ounding president o the Center or Work-Lie Policy,

has published research which shows that high potential

employees are motivated by a desire to give back to their

communities and these employees are seeking out employers

that allow them to do so on the job.

Traditionally, companies have viewed employee engagement

in terms o corporate social / environmental responsibility

programmes, such as allowing employees time o work in

order to get involved in community initiatives, or encouraging

Pamela Fieldhouse

Managing Director

Pamela leads Edelmans corporate reputation team.

She has been passionate about understanding

how to infuence behaviour change since studying

psychology at university.

[email protected]



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and uelling discussion, driving participation and enjoying the

momentum o sharing, while nailing publicity, ame and sales.

This is what PRs have always done, being agnostic in our

choices o channel but greedy in our desire to deliver.

The XFactor phenomenon shows how entertainment

and content can work beyond broadcast. It is all about

participation and even lack o control, as the productioncompany themselves load excerpts onto YouTube,

understanding that they need to play reely in the digital

space in order to command the control (and money) with

the phone voting when they do broadcast. They will make

20million on this series (Broadcast, 30/10/09) and are nailing

over 20 million viewers.

But Xactor aside, the entertainment industry is in trouble.

The loss o audience gures means advertising revenues are

smashed, so production budgets get slashed and the content

is diluted or programming gets cut completely. In September

2009, the government announced it would review legislation

around product placement allowing brands to become inte

This is an age where appointment to view is dead, where

viewers are in control and someone broadcasting rom their

ront room can reach a global audience. In the world o public

engagement, a brand, product or service can and must be a

media channel in its own right, in order to have ownership

and to start and keep the dialogue. This means authoring

content, embedding the message and/or the ethos within theactual content and not in the zappable space around it (and

that includes bumpers and sponsorships).

Exclusive content is the uel or engagement and the

opportunity to gain audience participation and traction. But

to get that engagement, you need experts. And they are

not 30 second ad creatives. And they are not media buyers.

They are the proessionals o the entertainment industry

production experts together with those (yes, people like

us!) that understand that the campaign does not live only by

the content itsel. Expertise that works on the distribution,

the conversation, amplication and exploitation online, in

media, on networks pulling eyeballs back to the content

When ad agencies are rebranding themselves as short orm content agencies and

media agencies are suddenly sprouting production arms, you know the jig is up.

You cant rename a 30 second spot a viral, or seed an ad online, pretending its pure

content and then bump it onto TV and expect no one to notice. The very ethos o a

piece o entertainment that audiences sel select is that it is MADE to engage, to be

relevant, to provoke conversation not to sell, not to shout. It has to be entertaining

frst and commercial second to court and invite participation that way lies proper

loyalty rom the audience.

EDELMAN

WHY ITS

TIME FORTHE AD

AGENCIES TOADMIT DEFEAT


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that is priceless. The time or commercial selling and dubious

product claims are over audiences expect companies to

interact with authenticity and transparency. Companies

need engagement. Both will only achieve these i driven

by compelling content that courts, plays and engages with

credibility and proessionalism. As Peter Whitehead wrote in

the FT ...Web 2.0 is a world in which anyone can have a go

at generating content; Web 3.0 is where proessionals take

the lead in shaping that content. And those proessionals are

the production experts and the multichannel, multimedia

engagement experts. A new world, needing a new marketing

oer. Its all or the taking...

grated into existing TV shows. But we know rom the US

experience that this is a weak alternative, accepted rom a

position o nancial stress and where creative delivery is oten

compromised by commercial pressure, leaving neither partner

satised.

However, what the production company really wants is

brand relevant partnerships that can take their content and

build it online, instore, in media, via downloads and on new

infuencer platorms with new consumer experiences beyond

the TV screen and the money they will accept or access

and exploiting exclusive content is not that expensive. This

approach is way beyond product placement, bumpers or name

checks more intelligent, more integrated, more shared. And

it builds audience, loyalty and revenue or the brand and the

networks, and is a new model or working that can replace the

ad agency relationship.

A consumer brand recently paid 500k to sponsor a TVbroadcast lm but the deal allowed the lm to be released

in weekly 10 minute segments or 9 weeks, airing the entire

lm at 10 weeks. Ater only 2 weeks, the lm was nailing

an audience o 5 million. The online power o garnering

audiences beore a programme airs traditionally (or instead

o) is immense. Networks will kill or this. And brands enjoy

audiences that positively replace the centre breaks o old, and

add value to the consumer experience. The time has come

or corporations and brands to have the belie and vision to

make the leap and break out o the marketing silos o old

and embrace an opportunity that allows them to play on the

screens o their target infuencers in a way that is multi

platorm, multiexperience, driving loyalty and participation


Jackie Cooper

UK Creative Director

Jackie is Creative Director & Vice Chair and has

spent nearly 30 years in brand marketing. She

established the (already award winning) EdelmanContent oer to deliver a unique combination

o contacts and expertise in the entertainment,

production and digital space. Her passionate

belie is that stellar clients deserve world class

production and exploitation collateral.

[email protected]

David Fine

Director, Content

David Fine, Director o Content joined Jackie on

her quest to identiy and realize new opportunities

or brands to reach and motivate audiences in the

non-zappable space ater 15 years in consumer,

entertainment and endorsement PR.

[email protected]


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whatacompanysells

howitoperates

whoitis.

At its heart, sustainability is about meeting the needs o

the present without compromising the ability o uture

generations to meet their own needs.

Can a company really have a green product line i it doesnt

have a grip on employment practices in its supply chain? Is a

CEO a climate change hero because he tells the world his rm

osets its carbon emissions but does nothing at all to quantiythe impact and actually reduce them? Is a rm really ethical

i it donates millions to charity every year but continues to

develop products whose raw materials deplete the rainorests

at ever increasing rates?

Does that mean a CEO should abandon any attempt to

conduct his business in a more transparent, accountable and

responsible manner? Not at all. But it does mean that we

need to be very clear on what we mean when we talk about

sustainability, corporate social responsibility, or sustainable

development and their limitations and genuine opportunities

or systemic change.

Most laughed out loud at the time, but somehow the words

still resonate. And perhaps none more so than in an age when

we hear endless warnings o climate change and we try to

comprehend the abstract consequences o what action (or

inaction) today will mean over the next 40 years.

As businesss and brands grapple with their commitments to

sustainability, a survey by PwC o 140 chie executives o US-

based multinationals ound that 85% believed that sustainable

development would become increasingly important to their

business models. Despite this, a recent MIT Sloan Review and

Boston Consulting Group study highlighted a lack o under-standing o what sustainability is and a growing disconnect

between corporate sustainability concerns and actions. As a

result, many organisations perpetuate a supercial model o

corporate responsibility as some kind o salve to those they

think are paying attention. Increasingly, it backres. And a

new activist is born.

So what are we talking about when we say sustainability?

Sustainability, in so ar as it can be universally dened,

is measurable and eective strategy in execution at the

intersection o three domains:

I never thought I would fnd mysel recalling Donald Rumselds inamous words:

There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known

unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we dont know. But there

are also unknown unknowns. These are things we do not know we dont know.

EDELMAN

EMBEDDING SUSTAINABILITYINTO BUSINESS AND BRAND

MAKING SENSEOF THE

UNKNOWNUNKNOWNS


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ii. Measurable outcomes or business, policy and

public that incorporate social, economic, environmental

and ethical equity and justice at local, domestic and

international levels or enterprises o all sizes and

ownership structures.

iv. Innovation: Thinking the unthinkable. Sustainability

is about deep, long term transormation. Let us notaccept anything less as corporate reputation becomes the

democratised brand.

v. Public Engagement as role model Systems cause

their own behaviour. The very substance and unction o

communication must evolve to make engagement more

sustainable and meaningul.

PwC says responsible leadership means integrating

ethical considerations into company decision-making, and

managing on the basis o personal integrity and widely-held

organisational values. And heres the crux the rules o the

game have changed since Milton Friedman wrote about thesocial responsibility o business. Social, environmental and

ethical issues are not so much tangential to the business

o business as undamental to it. This years Edelman

goodpurpose study ound that more than hal o consumers

(56%) believe the interests o society and the interests o

businesses should have equal weight in business decisions.

We dont quite know what governance models will shape

business o the uture, how convergence will shape

conversation and debate, what consumer habits and

expectations will drive product innovation or what the leaders

o tomorrow will learn in the hallowed halls o our greatlearning establishments. But engagement will be responsible

or the success or ailure o conversation and debate.

We must all develop what, author and psychologist, Daniel

Goleman, calls ecological intelligence. It is about our ability

to accept that we live in an innitely connected world with

nite resources. I we knew the hidden impacts o what we

buy, sell, or market, we could become shapers o a more

positive uture by making our decisions better align with

our values. We as communicators must make sense o and

mainstream this nascent ecological transparency or our

collective uture.

And that would make those unknown unknowns just that

little bit more amiliar.

We must exhibit what Lord Browne o Madingley called clear-

eyed realism at what can be achieved in the ace o the known

unknowns o climate change and world poverty. Coherence in

our areas will drive strategic change towards sustainability

domestic regulation, industry standards, capital markets

and consumer behaviour. Navigating this journey will requirecourageous leadership, clear measurement and the continuous

engagement o all stakeholders.

And this will have a transormational impact on the role and

responsibility o communications.

Robert Phillips has said elsewhere that the PR industry stands

at the threshold o achieving what it has always aspired

to. Through the elevation o strategic insight and content

expertise, we need to adopt a systems thinking approach to

communication that starts with a undamental re-evaluation

o the structures and behaviours inherent in the discipline.

The new model o Public Engagement (PE) can clariy and

ampliy the most important and ar reaching conversations

that business, government and citizenship need to engage

in to make sustainability mainstream. This model o PE or

Sustainability has ve dimensions:

i. Mutual responsibility & accountability a better

alignment with business, civil and national objectives and

values, communicated with integrity and honesty.

ii. Platorms or shared conversations they are

happening everywhere, all o the time. PE can become the

network in a world o abundant cross infuence.

Anne Augustine

Head o Sustainability

Anne joined Edelman in November 2009 to

spearhead its Sustainability practice. She was

previously EMEA director o corporate sustainability

or a global IT services business. Anne thinks John

Peel Day should be a national holiday.

[email protected]



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including The Science o Sexy, an online lm eaturing Dita

Von Teese discovering the ormula or sexy. This was then

seeded online via partnerships with various sites and bloggers

such as Perez Hilton. The on-going social media outreach,

print, radio, TV editorial coverage and experiential campaign

saw brand collateral disseminated to infuencers online

and ofine to drive real brand awareness and engagement.

Dita appeared on TV and radio as well as print and

magazine interviews and the viral became the most viewed

entertainment lm on YouTube in the UK. The results spoke or

themselves. With no traditional advertising, the product had

sold out as it hit the shelves.

Look at the Bring Back Wispa campaign that relied on

Facebook, Bebo, MySpace and You Tube and a social media

outreach campaign to galvanise support. The activity wasbacked by a heavy-weight press, TV and radio editorial

campaign to encourage infuencers including journalists, DJs

and TV presenters to back the campaign. 14,000 Facebook

ans and a photocall with Rula Lenska sparked a two year

campaign culminating in the recent, and more traditional, TV

advertising campaign For The Love o Wispa eaturing a cast

o hundreds o real people. The re-launch via social media and

editorial activity boosted Cadburys sales by 5%.

Measuring these sorts o campaigns is getting more

sophisticated. Edelman is already creating a series

o sophisticated algorithms, such as TweetLevel, and

So, based on where we are now, whether agency or client,

imagine the next integrated agency planning meeting. The

brand challenge or 2010 is set rom above: nd the next

creative idea thats going to propel the brand to No 1 in the

category... see sales rises o 25% and make it the nations

avourite. However, here lies the dichotomy. With the channels

oten already selected, the constraints to creating that big idea

are already in place. A case o tail wagging dog that restricts

creativity and the opportunity to capitalise on what is now a

complex network o cross infuencers much o this through

social media. But thats what were trying to do... around

that table, come up with the killer idea and get the target

demographic to buy.

Some o the most recent marketing successes started online

through social media, in partnership with print, radio andTV editorial coverage, and then called on advertising at

the tail end o the campaign simply as a refection o the

views o those who started the conversations. In other cases,

advertising has been ignored all together and the brand still

managed sell-out activities. So why do brands still insist on

shouting at people via the old model when were now in an

age o conversation and engagement?

The award-winning Wonderbra campaign to launch Dita

Von Teeses limited edition range is an excellent example

o breaking traditional boundaries in a world o public

engagement. JCPR created a unique integrated campaign,

Its a tough job as a brand or marketing manager. The ast pace o change in the

communications world is clearly outstripping the marketing model o years gone

by the one that maniests in a prescriptive, traditional ATL and BTL split. Yet thereis little room or manoeuvre or marketing teams. Where online conversations shape

brands, and with communication as much rom the bottom up as it is top down, new

approaches, strategies and skills are required. However, as long as brand managers

are still accountable to the old ROI marketing measures and channel planning models,

the reedom to create genuinely innovative solutions that drive positive brand

engagement via the new world order are a long way o.

EDELMAN

PUTTING

CREATIVITYFIRST


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ideas... ree yourselves rom the shackles o prescriptive

marketing models and media buying agency channel plans.

Let your creative agencies (and not just the ad team) lead the

way here and throw the gauntlet down to them. You might be

surprised.

Forget the money at the idea stage much creativity

and idea development is constrained by talk o money at the

brainstorm stage, and also the ght between the agencies or

their slice o the pie. Start with the position o the skys the

limit it will pay dividends and will enable you to assess true

value or money when youve developed the concept.

Marketing is not an exact science predicting a success

is virtually impossible. Whatever happened to gut eeling and

risk? Who would have thought that the meerkats or conused.

com would build a brand prole and position the comparison

site at the top o the nations mind? Ater all, we are all

consumers. The best marketers instinctively know when

something will work. And its based on their instinct. The new

world order o public engagement requires marketers to be

brave, so take the leap o aith it might just work!

measurement tools to go head-to-head with the traditional

advertising measurement models used by media buying

agencies. With a ast-moving communication climate and this

complex network o cross-infuence, the challenge is now to

keep up with these rapid changes and measure accordingly.

And ast they are. According to new insights, teenagersapparently reject advertising, particularly digital, as well

as sites such as Twitter (Morgan Stanleys How Teenagers

Consume Media Report). Research rom AdWeekMedia and

Harris Interactive back this up and show that 46% o US net

users ignore banner ads. Its clear thereore that resh thinking

is required to reach the brands key demographic especially

when it comes to creating online momentum.

Furthermore, with AVE alling rapidly, marketing budgets

being cut and consumer behaviour changing when it comes

to how they receive inormation, the time is right or the bold

and adventurous marketing teams to harness the opportunity.

So or all those brand and marketing managers wanting to

make a real dierence, and be known or creating that one

memorable campaign... whats the advice or the advent o

Brand Bravery?

Talk about channels in a dierent way the new era

o public engagement relies on a complex web o infuencers.

Challenge agencies to see i they truly understand how to

layer a campaign eectively to create bottom up dialogue and

conversation.

Explore and encourage creativity use your agencies

eectively and eciently and regularly develop creative


Emma Nicholson

Director

Emma heads up the Leisure & Liestyle team in

Edelmans consumer division, JCPR. She has been

creating consumer campaigns or leading UK and

international mcg, retail and service brands or the

past 15 years.

[email protected]


14/28

14

John Prescott tweeted at the time: It will be the son,

daughter, uncle, mother and riend wot will win it in 2010.

Endorsements rom ordinary people NOT media barons.

It will be the endorsement o these ordinary people (peers

with a small p), who are shaping and infuencing the

debate through niche networks, that political parties will

increasingly seek. Party leaders are already beginning to

recognise the infuence o sites such as Mumsnet (http://www.mumsnet.com), a parenting orum that attracts over

800,000 unique users. Both David Cameron and Gordon

Brown elded questions on the site in 2009.

3. The continuing decline o two Party Politics. The

new world o public engagement will see yet another

nail hammered into the con o the traditional two party

system. While back in the 1950s, 95% o votes cast went

to one o the two main political parties, by the last general

election in 2005, they were only receiving 69% o the vote

today that number is only in the mid 60s. This decline is

set to continue with the demoncratising power o the weband the rise o single issue groups. People no longer see

themselves as a lone voice protesting about a particular

issue but rather part o a group who are no longer catered

or by the traditional two-party model and whose shared

interests can be advanced through the power o the web.

The rise o resident associations, o extreme groups at

local government level or UKIP at a European level, are

maniestations o the changing nature o the Party system.

4. A Maniesto or the people by the people. While Tony

Blairs Big Conversation initiative was widely criticised as

Here are our trends or what this new era o communications

means or political parties and, as we look ahead to 2010,

uture general election campaigns:

1. The rise o the ultra micro-group. All three main

political parties employ the Mosiac marketing system

which divides Britain into 155 types o individual, 67

dierent households and 15 other groups as a way o

targeting dierent voter types (remember Mondeo Man

and Worcester Woman). However, the rise o social

media, which creates both small and large online activist

communities - usually based around just one single issue,

that dont conorm to traditional demographics - means

that political parties will have to rethink how they target

the voter.

Brockley Central (http://brockleycentral.blogspot.com/)

run by an Edelman colleague is one example o an online

network that demonstrates these shits. The site appeals

to a wide cross-section o voters who are not necessarily

connected by demographics, but by local communityissues. Parties who oer a one size ts all model, and dont

take account o these networks o infuence, will simply not

survive in the new world o public engagement.

2. It wont be the Sun wot won it. While people will

debate whether it was The Suns endorsement that won

the 1992 General Election or the Conservative Party,

the continuing decline o traditional media and the

rise o online networks and infuencers mean that print

newspapers endorsement will no longer be the holy

grail or any political party. As that sage o the internet

The new world o public engagement in which we have witnessed an explosion in

new networks o inuence; the emergence o new inuencers and niche online

orums (such as ConservativeHome, Guido Fawkes); the continuing decline o

traditional media; and a move away rom a top down approach to communication

to a world where anybody can be an inuencer via their blog, Facebook or Twitter

account, has proound implications or the main UK political parties and our political

system as a whole.

EDELMAN

ITS POLITICS, JIM

BUT NOTASWE KNOW IT


15/28

15

The MPs expenses were a painul example o this new era o

transparency and accountability but this is just the beginning.

Soon, the public sector will be orced to reveal the detail and

value o its contracts and another bout o soul searching will

begin and questions will be asked about how the body politic

can regain trust.

The new Speaker and some enlightened thinkers rom

both sides o the House o Commons have begun to talk

about how Parliament and the wider political system needs

to change. However, none has yet grasped, or perhaps

even ully understood, the magnitude o how society is

changing, brought on by the rise o new technology, the

empowerment o the citizen and the thirst or transparency

and accountability.

Alex Bigg

Managing Director

Alex is Managing Director o Edelmans award

winning Public Aairs practice.

[email protected]


nothing more than an election gimmick, the collapse o top

down communications, the ragmentation o the media, the

empowerment o the voter via the web (digital democracy)

and the rise o consumer politics mean that any Party that

adopts a strategy that sees an election maniesto emerge

rom on high and expects it to excite and engage the

voter is surely a strategy doomed to ailure. Empowered

citizens will expect, i not demand, an ability to help shape

and infuence the content o any maniesto. While political

parties will no longer be able to count on the reach o

traditional media to communicate their policies, they will

need to use the principles o public engagement to reach

out and engage the voter.

So there you have it. Four trends or what the changing

communications landscape means or political parties and any

uture General Election campaigns. However, its not just the

parties who will have to adapt, change and embrace this new

reality i they are to survive and prosper. The political systemitsel will also need to change or ace a crisis o condence

more traumatic than the recent expenses scandal.

Its a new world in which transparency and accountability

are central. The democratising power o digital means that

citizens will no longer tolerate advice being kept secret or

decisions being taken behind closed doors. Indeed, one only

needs to look at the increasing demands or independent

inquiries across a broad range o issues and incidents to

gauge the mood o an increasingly sceptical public when it

comes to believing what they are told by Government.


16/28

16

welltrainedtheyknowhowtousesmallgestures,voice

intonation and pauses or maximum eect

wellrehearsedtheyneverleaveanythingtochanceand

have well prepared answers or dicult questions

charismaticonthewholetheyprojectpersonality

engagingtheydeliveraspeechthataudiencesfeel

drawn to listen to

speakingwithfewnotesveryfewaredistractedby

shufing o their notes

usingfew,ifany,visualaidsyoullseeveryfew

PowerPoint slides!

In a controlled proession like ours, the basic rules o

presentation and communication still apply. However, the

industry oten alls into the trap o relying on presenting large

volumes o data and slides without thinking about audience

engagement this can do a disservice to the doctors that we

work with and become a barrier to open debate. As impressive

as it might be, the data will not always speak or itsel it

must be supported by clear messages, suitable platorms and

compelling delivery to meet the companys objectives.

It is incumbent upon us, as medical education proessionals

and communicators, to develop more engaging programmesand think more insightully about how we truly engage with

our audiences. Should it be a traditional passive style or

In the world o medical communications, we are constantly

on our guard to ensure that we work within strict guidelines,

do not make unsubstantiated statements, ensure that the data

support our arguments and operate with ull transparency with

our clients and the doctors and other health-care proessionals

that we work with. It seems unair at times that we cannot spe-

culate on the data too ar, we cannot criticise competing drugs

because they havent delivered on all o their endpoints when

ours have ater all i our politicians can, why shouldnt we?

Well, obviously, there are big dierences between political

rhetoric and scientic accuracy. Medical communicationsproessionals aim to prove their points through evidence;

politicians, more oten than not (particularly on the Today

programme!), tend to beat down an opposing view based

on who can shout the loudest and or the longest without

giving in to anothers perspective. In medical communications

this should not happen; sure, there are disagreements about

study design, data interpretation and statistical validity but

the majority o scientists and clinicians generally have an

appreciation or what the data reveal and o their limitations.

Nonetheless, can we learn anything rom the political speech

meisters? On the whole, the notable speech makers haveseveral attributes that can be applied more thoroughly in

medical communications; more oten than not they are:

I am oten struck by just how close to the wind some high-profle political speakers can

sometimes sail. It seems rather unair that our political masters or those who would aspire

to be so can make what appear to be rash statements and claims based on little more than

the ailure o another group o politicians to deliver on a maniesto promise and the act that

the speakers party would somehow do it better with little substantiation o how.

EDELMAN

SOUND

BITEORSOUNDINSIGHT


17/28

17

Now what I am not suggesting based on my comparison with

politicians is that we dumb down medical communications

to a ew sound bites clearly key messages need to be

communicated around the therapeutic value o a drug, but

sound bites should never replace real insight about the benets

o the drug, its place in clinical practice and the dierence

it could make to patients. Broadening our world view toengaging with audiences beyond our immediate community

o physicians also provides an opportunity or pharmaceutical

companies to demonstrate a responsible attitude towards

patient education and a commitment to engage.

We have to acknowledge that medical communications

is something o a conservative discipline, but perhaps the

time has come to move orward condently and invest in

opportunities that provide clients with the most important

return on their investment in a medical communications

programme a high prole or their brand through genuine

engagement with their target audiences and, importantly,with a broader audience than they might be used to. Now that

would be a real innovation or medical communications.

should we be looking or opportunities to open up discussion?

Perhaps we should even get perspectives rom other groups

that we might not normally reach. Our audiences might

traditionally be a closed group o proessionals, but the

principles o public engagement apply to them as much

as any other group something that can sometimes be

overlooked in order just to continue the churn o data.

At BioScience Communications Edelmans specialist

medical communications group we believe that the

principles o public engagement that we apply across the

Edelman business to audiences o all types do also apply

ully to doctors and scientists in health-care. The value o

true engagement with our audiences can be impactul or

pharmaceutical companies, such as:

prolingtheorganisationswillingnesstoopenup

ndings or discussion and critique

demonstratingopennessandtransparency

seedingdebatethatcanprovidevaluablecustomerinsights

potentiallyexposingthedatatoawideraudience

through ongoing debate

These might seem very obvious points to make, but in order

to increase the levels o transparency in the communication

o medical data, engaging with, and listening to, audiences

is critical. Ultimately this will begin to increase the levels o

trust in the pharmaceutical industry the reputation o which

has suered in the wake o a number o poorly managed drug

ailures and issues around clinical trials in recent years much

o which has been due to lack o debate and the apparent lacko willingness rom the industry to engage in discussion.

David Noble

Managing Director

David is Managing Director o BioScience

Communications Edelmans specialist medical

communications group. David has two children

who ensure that his debating and infuencing skills

are tested [email protected]



18/28

18

The growing impact that the internet and the current economic climate are having

on the attitudes and behaviours o all users o modern technology is not in doubt. In

maturing markets, where products are becoming more commoditised, customer groups

are ragmenting into communities which share common values and idea. For those o us

selling technology it means traditional sales techniques are insufcient, because these

groups are emboldened to demand more rom vendors.

priorities and interests. This can be conducted even beore a

product exists, or can be used to help a company entering a

new market to understand how it can marry its oering with

the needs o the market. This process should be seen as a wayto rene traditional marketing techniques. By giving greater

access to inormation, the internet enables companies to be

more precise in their assessment o and engagement with key

infuencers the individuals who crucially will help to make

marketing events more enticing to customers and prospects.

The Demand Driven Dialogue model ollows our stages,

which are split into two parts. Phase one (Stages One and

Two) is about designing demand or a product or service.

Phase two (Stages Three and Four) is about driving demand.

PHASE ONE DESIGNING DEMAND

Stage One Understand the Conversation and Identiy

the Inuencers: Others have written elsewhere about the

importance o listening with new intelligence in a world o

cross-infuence. Identiying the most important conversations

and who is having them, where, is a critical starting point or

companies because (even though some IT companies still

believe it) most customers do not spend their entire time

talking about their products.

Stage two Engage the Inuencers and Build the

Conversation: Infuencers range rom producers o content

to commentators and sharers, as well as watchers, who simply

want to understand what is being said. The key group at the

The ultimate goal or boardrooms across the IT sector does

not change the chie executive still has to prove two things

to shareholders. Firstly, how the company can sell more to

existing companies and secondly how the company cancredibly convince new customers to buy their products.

But given the landscape, there are two deeper questions that

the chie executive must answer:

1) How do I talk dierently to existing customers in mature

markets to sell more?

2) How do I talk credibly to a prospect who does not know me?

For the technology industry it means communicators can

act as powerul catalyst or change, because vendors must

nd new ways to engage and compelling storytelling is

the tool to achieve this goal. Edelman has developed theconcept o Public Engagement, which at its highest level,

advances shared interests in a world o cross-infuence. In

the enterprise IT market, this can be specically ocused on

helping companies to design a conversation that will appeal

to stakeholders and, more importantly, drive demand or

products/services.

This is what we call Demand Driven Dialogue.

At its heart, this process is about helping companies to

better understand the genuine interests o their audiences by

engaging with those people to build a clear picture o their

EDELMAN

DEMAND DRIVEN DIALOGUE:

DESIGNINGDEMAND INTHE IT WORLD


19/28

19

iv) Act: be seen to respond to eedback that is received, such

as adapting product roadmaps or adding unctionality

Stage our Go to Market and embrace the chaos:

Armed with the knowledge o the key infuencers and

condent o the demand in the market, all that is let is to

announce the product or service to the wider market. In acomplex world o multiple stakeholders and networks, this is

not always as simple as it sounds. Throughout the market roll

out, on-going interaction with the infuencers and constant

re-evaluation are needed but above all, a commitment to

participate in the conversation.

With a willingness to participate in dialogue, companies can

open doors to engage dierently more meaningully with

their customers and infuencers, resulting in excitement,

brand loyalty and resh demand rom unexpected quarters.

It reallyis good to talk.

heart o any debate are the curators and they perorm a vital

role. Oten they have no allegiance to one vendor, and are

prepared to manage content as an amateur pastime, purely

because they are passionate about a subject or product.

Companies must participate in the conversations in real

time and all the time. By engaging these individuals in

dialogue, and then working with them to have conversationswith a wider network o infuencers, it is easy to quickly

reach an understanding o the on-going debates and more

importantly how your company can t into these discussions.

PHASE TWO DRIVING DEMAND

Stage Three Test and Evaluate: Once a company is

condent o its story it needs to be tested in the market

place. Targeting a smaller sub-set o prospects and existing

customers, a company can engage these infuencers to co-

create products and services. This is a consultative process

and should be seen as an ideal opportunity to test proo-o-

concepts so that suppliers can create a strong picture o the

eatures and unctions their customers really need. Based on

our experience there are some key principles to remember:

i) Be brave: do not duck controversy and learn to embrace

the chaos

ii) Be rank (and transparent): transparency and open

dialogue must be the deault - eg a bank should be upront

about why it is handing out bonuses

iii) Listen and participate: but do not expect the discussion

to be all about you

Cairbre Sugrue

Managing Director

Cairbre is Managing Director o the UKs Technology

practice and is an unashamed champion o all

things IT. Particularly pleasing to him is the growing

acknowledgement (and some envy) among his

non-techie colleagues that there is nowhere more

exciting than the tech industry today.

[email protected]



20/28

20

The pharmaceutical industry may wonder i this is necessarily

a problem; ater all, companies know their own treatments and

disease areas so surely they know what they need to

communicate? This no longer holds true; it is not acceptableto just tell the world what we think it wants to hear. I we

dont know what people want, we cannot respond to, or deliver

against it. Pharmaceutical companies can produce great

medicines that appeal through their unctional benets to expert

consultants and early adopters but without understanding and

engaging with the broader group o end-users, there is every

chance the brand wont ever reach its ull potential. And in an

industry with a limited window o opportunity to recoup the

substantial investment in getting brands to market and, more

importantly, maximise the number o patients reaping the

medical rewards, the stakes are considerable.

But how is the new world o democratised inormation

relevant to health audiences specically? There is a palpable

sentiment in the industry that doctors do not participate in the

new world o online communication. Not only is this not true,

it is no longer relevant; the key opinion leaders with whom

the industry is used to having contact are only one o many

infuencers which it now needs to engage with, including

rank and le physicians, regulators, governmental payers,

advocacy groups and, o course, patients.

These questions make it tempting to excuse heavily regulated

sectors rom the new world order. It doesnt apply to us

was the essence o the health industrys early response to

the ascent o bloggers, tweeters and other social networkersover the last ew years and, on rst glance, it seems easy

to agree. As well as the restrictions set by governments

and independent regulators to control communications

by healthcare companies about their treatments, external

communication is restricted even urther by the industry

itsel, both in terms o internal legal and regulatory experts

and competitor companies keen to use the stifing regulatory

environment to remove any advantage.

All o which can lead to the perception o an industry which

is out o touch and unwilling to listen to its end users. But

we would suggest that the problem is not so much that the

pharmaceutical industry is unwilling to listen, rather that due

to regulation it is wary o truly engaging. The pharmaceutical

industry has always been a big advocate o listening to the

marketplace; however, it can be over-reliant on listening to

sources, such as traditional market research, which relies

on one-way expressions o opinion in a highly controlled

environment. Market research can be valuable or providing

a snapshot o opinion at one moment in time, but it cannot

meaningully engage with stakeholders in a two way dialogue

and, without this, one is not really listening, but rather under-

taking a process designed to deliver what one wants to hear.

I we accept the hypothesis that we now live in a world o democratised cross

inuence where public engagement should be the mantra or meaningul

communications, where does this leave highly regulated environments? How can

companies meaningully engage with their publics without incurring the wrath o

industry watchdogs?

EDELMAN

PUBLIC

ENGAGEMENTIN A REGULATEDENVIRONMENT


21/28

21

pharmaceutical industry to truly engage with its stakeholders

in respectul ongoing relationships which will help companies

to tell a story that is heard, believed and has resonance with

the communities they want to reach. Public engagement in

a regulated industry isnt the challenge it rst appears to be;

i the industry is prepared to look orward and understand

this new environment, the opportunities ar outweigh the

disadvantages o engaging.

This brings us back to where we started. How can the

pharmaceutical industry realistically hope to engage with its

publics, such as patients, in the ace o the strict regulatory

landscape? The answer partially lies in a undamental

rethink o what constitutes successul messaging. In todays

environment, separate messages or separate audiences do

not work; peer-to-peer communication leaves companies that

continue to do this looking manipulative and untrustworthy.

All types o stakeholders have the potential to be opinion

ormers or brands and they will seek validation rom a

wide range o sources beore the inormation provided by

companies is validated.

In todays world, the role o public engagement is to be the

acilitator and creator o a central narrative, joining the pieces

together to ensure the company and stakeholder can engage

in a meaningul way which is mutually benecial and builds

trust and ultimately equity or the brands and company. This

can be done without broad communication about brands;

indeed, the days o being entirely reliant on careully worded

brand key messages are over.

It is o course ne or companies to convey their point o view,

but it should be aligned to what the market and individualstakeholders want, and should always be transparent. Brand

building still exists but the context in which it occurs has

changed; rst we must understand environments and then

interact with them to convey our point o view and orward a

mutually advantageous proposition to advance shared interests.

External communication will always be curtailed or the

pharmaceutical industry to a certain extent and this is

necessary, but it does not mean the industry cannot listen to,

and participate in, the conversation. It is our job to help the


Steven Spurr

Managing Director

Steve is Managing Director, Health. He read

economics at the LSE and it was here that he

became ascinated with the concept o perect

inormation and how it infuences every choice and

decision in our lives.

[email protected]

Ross Williams

Associate Director Editorial

Ross leads a new editorial oer in Health, created

to provide dedicated editorial counsel, guidance

and content development or Edelmans Health

clients.

[email protected]


22/28

22

what actions companies are taking to show they are good global

citizens or employers o choice.

Public engagement is about advancing shared interests. This

requires us to nd new ways o observing and measuring those

interests. It is imperative that, as an industry, we evolve the way

that we listen to conversations and measure the impact o our

communications so that they properly refect the new world

order. The age o top down, command and control messaging

is over and the decline o advertising overthrows AVE-centric

measurements. There is still space or activity tracking, media

coverage or direct response but we need to go urther to

understand with greater reach and nesse the outcomes

and impact that those programmes have on all stakeholders.

Results-based measurement requires asking hard questions.

Have we moved the needle on how people think, speak and

act about the company, brand or issue? In the age o public

engagement, no one person has all the answers.

Surrounded by this cacophony o sounds, voices and messages,

how we can properly tune into what is being said, where and

by whom? Listening with new intelligence means ocusing our

attention on three things:

whatpeoplethink

whatpeoplesay

whatpeopledo

Some o the tools we need to use are tried and tested, while

others are evolving to refect the ast-paced changes to the new

ecology o media and infuencers:

What Do They Think? Use primary research to understand

peoples awareness, interest, attitudes and ideas. We need to

engage infuencers and customers on topics o their interest

not just ours.

What Do They Say? Go to where the dialogue is happening

online and ofine. Be in the conversation to listen and

understand, as well as talk. Use media monitoring tools andRSS eeds to cost-eectively capture conversations across

channels and networks, rom print and trade press to social

media such as blogs, twitter and orums. Another route is to

tap into new research tools like hosted online communities.

These are recruited communities o brand acionados who

help companies like Procter & Gamble or Unilever to co-

create new products, or provide eedback on brand actions or

communications.

What Do They Do? Be a people watcher and a trend

watcher. Observe what consumers are spending their money

on, what their media or entertainment viewing habits are and

where they are going or inormation. For business, observe

As Marshall Manson wrote at the start o this publication, in an evolving world o

cross-inuence, listening is more important than ever. Genuine, compelling and

transparent engagement can drive brand awareness, customer loyalty and, ultimately,

sales. Our listening, however, can be easily subsumed by the constant barrage o

messages received. In todays world, we need to listen to more stakeholders more

oten than ever not just tune in to one voice. There is a whole echo chamber o

inuencers around our brands, businesses, issues and communications to consider,such as the media, NGOs, policy makers, opinion elites, employees and consumers,

all o whom have strong opinions.

EDELMAN

LISTENING FOR

RESULTS

Laurence Evans

President, StrategyOne

Originally rom New Zealand, Laurence has lived in

5 countries and worked in 23 countries in 27 years

while staying married to Rochelle. He has licenses

to drive on both let and right hand sides o the

road so now he drives down the middle.

[email protected]


23/28

EdelmanTrustBarometer

2010Anannualglobalreviewof

the state of trust in Business,

Government and Media.

Ananalysisoftheimplications

for leadership in addressing

the big issues of our time

10yearsoftrends,published

inJanuary2010

www.edelman.co.uk/

trustbarometer


24/28

24

o the peer, the employee and the customer has conrmed

the shit rom a shareholder to stakeholder society, there are

just certain parts that advertising and other old disciplines

cannot reach. The urgent need to Act andTell demands a

mix o policy and communications skills; digital outreach

and content development; a new kind o intelligence and

insight altogether. Communications rms today must be able

to embrace the regulatory, government, employee and NGO

agendas with equal and balanced aptitude. It is no longer a

simple issue o customers, consumers and consumption (i it

ever was). This, undamentally, is where the current ad agency

model alls woeully short.

Third, because the myths o advertising have been

exposed by this enorced new age o austerity. What

started as an inquisition over total cost has thankully evolved

into a more rigorous questioning o the role o advertising

itsel. Sure, this is not un-connected with Point 1 above

but some o the mythology around agency supremacy

has been properly laid bare. The One Agency Solution will

indeed emerge in the next ve years but it will be content,

conversation and infuence-led and not by those insistent on

producing a 30-second lm at any cost and simply calling

themselves the agency. Right must start with Insight,

Planning and Strategy and no one discipline or agency,

properly constructed, holds the monopoly here.

What started as a re-alignment o spend in dicult times has

inadvertently accompanied a undamental shit in the wider

agency landscape. The convergent agency is the necessary

reality now. It is, at heart, a maniestation o the one world

o cross-infuence which we all inhabit. As we emerge into a

post-crisis world, we would do well to heed our own advice to

clients and re-consider where we stand in our own industry

landscape.

Why?

First, because the digital revolution has drivenproound and permanent behavioural change. O course,

we all know this. The new ecology sees a hard re-alignment o

interests and a ar less stable (and less easily identiable) set

o infuencers. Old agency models (including advertising, DM,

Media and others) historically relied on this stability to both

target audiences and sell to clients. We can no longer be in

the audiencebusiness; we all have to learn instead to ride the

ripples, waves and occasional tsunami oinfuence.

Second, because only an evolved orm o PR can

deliver against corporate andbrand needs across

this new sphere o inuence. In a hyper-connected world

where citizen activists and/or NGOs can hold both businesses

and governments to account and where the continued rise

Twelve months ago, a number o us argued that this would be a good recession

or PR. Advertising monies seemed set to migrate towards the more engaging and

relevant o the two disciplines. Marketers began to realise that, to borrow rom Lord

Levers amous phrase, a lot more than hal their monies was simply being wasted

in a world o continuous partial attention, where social media had entered the

mainstream.

EDELMAN

ONE WORLD & ONE AGENCY

PUBLICENGAGEMENTMAKES YOU

THINK


25/28

25

mess. Too much was taken or granted; not enough questions

asked. We sleepwalked into disaster. Real reorm has to start

here and now i we are to evolve with the new ecology o

infuence and interests. PR rms have to re-consider their own

structure and purpose, to re-congure as vocierous leaders

and champions or what we are calling Public Engagement.

This will require adding new skills and changing working

practices, or sure. We must do this with speed and with relish.

The alternative is to sit tight, pretend the moment will pass

and behave like smug dinosaurs at the centre o a rapidly

changing ecology. And we all know what happened to them.

Fourth, no client should aord the luxury o multiple

agency partners. In one world o cross-infuence, why

on earth are clients paying or ve (advertising, PR, Media,

CRM, Digital) agencies, ve teams, ve programmes etc?

Holistic working is nothing more than a buzzword refection

o companies trying to stitch together their own silos and

inecient corporate structures. We should be giving clients

best advice. And the best advice is that reorm needs to startrom within the client organisation as well as rom within the

agency itsel. It is not merely a question o reducing spend;

it is about nding eciencies and building uture-acing

communications teams that are multi-skilled, not expensively

and silo/ discipline/ audience ocussed. Planners and

Creatives are available to all. Production is easily outsourced

and can be more competitively partnered and priced. The ad

industry has hidden behind a certain mythology or years. We

know we can all create and co-create content. So, the model

is already there in the making.

The symbolism o the global nancial crisis should not be lost

on the Communications sector. Living on the luxury o Wants

Not Needs was one o the reasons we all ended up in this


Robert Phillips

UK CEO

Robert is the UK CEO o Edelman. He is also the co-

author o Citizen Renaissance (2008) and a requent

contributor and columnist on issues acing the

communications, corporate and brand worlds.

[email protected]

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27/28

27

CONVICTION OR CONVENIENCE:

IS NOW THETIME FORBUSINESS

TO LEAD?

is how we interpret the data and work with clients to address

the most urgent issues o our times. Can PR really change its

traditional mandate and, wearing the new clothes o Public

Engagement, step into the historical domain o management

consultants and accountants engaging, modeling and

planning, rather than just broadcasting and storytelling?

In an evolved orm o Public Relations, my personal belie

is that we can step orward and lead. But we must acquire

new skills; and our own industry leaders must work with the

Mayelds and the Abberleys to conront change. Together,

we can shape a new business and communications ecology

which, to paraphrase Danones CEO Franck Riboud, should

serve as both a social and an economic project. Prot can be

maximized and used in active partnership or common good -

as we embrace Schamas monstrous moment and step into amore powerul and exciting uture.

Robert Phillips

[email protected]

As 2009 came to a close, Simon Schama described the year as

the most grisly, powerul, monstrous moment in the history

o capitalism. During the course o 2009, Charlie Mayeld,

Chairman o John Lewis, called or new models o business

ownership, while economist Noreena Hertz argued that

business can supplant government and enjoy a mandate to lead

in the post-crisis age. Aviva Investors UK CEO Paul Abberley,

speaking at the UN, urged Global Stock Exchanges to take real

action on Corporate Responsibility: his rallying cry to promote a

global listing environment that requires companies to consider

how responsible and sustainable their business model is, and

encourages them to put a orward-thinking sustainability

strategy to the vote at their AGMs. The FTs Stean Stern

meanwhile asked poignantly whether companies are speaking

such language out o conviction or convenience?

Almost orty years since Milton Friedman published that

article in the New York Times Magazine arguing that

the social responsibility o business is to maximize prot

communications industry leaders must today ask questions

o ourselves. Are we advising clients out o conviction or

convenience? Do we have a responsibility to lead, or should

we merely serve as collaborators in compliance culture? Are

there cynics among us who are monetizing this moment o

responsibility, or should we be transormative and uture-

shaping? Is this even our place?

Edelman Trust and goodpurposeTM surveys reinorce the

pre-eminence o the stakeholder society and the centrality o

Mutual Social Responsibility to business. The real challenge


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