DEEP TALKS WITH GLOBAL PUBLIC RELATIONS LEADERS
RICHARD EDELMAN, CEO OF EDELMAN
“The profession must grow laterally”
Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman
By José Manuel Velasco
As part of Global PR & Communications Month, Deep Talks with Global Public Relations Leaders series is delighted to have as its first interviewee, Richard Edelman #PRCommsMonth
I met Richard Edelman for the first time in Madrid in February 2017. He had been precisely the inspiration for the first ethical summit of the profession organized by the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management. We were responding to his call for a moral rearming after the scandal involving the Bell Pottinger agency. His commitment to professional integrity is evident in many of the sentences he gives us along this interview, among others that “the essence of PR must be transparency on source of funding, on objective and on audience”.
Richard is a leader of the PR industry not only for managing the world's largest agency, but most of all for sharing his thoughts. It is a luxury to begin with him this series of interviews with global leaders of the public relations and communication industry, with the aim of nourishing ourselves with ideas that contribute to elevating this profession, which is more necessary than ever to handle the challenges faced by organizations in the century of digitization.
José Manuel Velasco (JMV): You have a strong family background in the PR business. But why did you become a PR professional?
Richard Edelman (RE): I grew up with the business. My father brought clients for dinner, from Charlie Lubin, the founder of Sara Lee Bakery to popcorn king Orville Redenbacher. But I was going to be a businessman or politician. I went into PR because my father did not want to sell the firm to DDB Advertising in 1978. Here I am 43 years later.
JMV: Could you share a short story or anecdote related to your vocation?
RE: We made a recommendation to Unilever US CEO Fabian Garcia in the darkest days of COVID-19. Could we have a Day of Service, where the people of Unilever donate all of the production from the factories to those who are hungry and in need. We got it organized in eight weeks, with retail partners and relief organizations. Dream big and get it done.
JMV: What does the PR profession give to you?
RE: PR enables the marriage of my two passions, business and public policy. We can make substantive changes in the world through the earning of public support.
JMV: Please, define the purpose of the PR profession.
RE: We must provide high quality information that enables people to make proper decisions. Truth is at the core of what we do.
JMV: In some countries we call the function as “communication”; in others, “public relations”. Do you see any differences or both are the same job?
RE: I consider communication to be part of the PR process. We need to be strategists and advisors first, then communicate.
JMV: How should we approach ethics in communication?
RE: The essence of PR must be transparency on source of funding, on objective and on audience.
JMV: How digitalization is impacting on the PR job?
RE: There is a drastic shrinkage in classic media. We are going direct to end user of information. We must enable two-way communications so that consumer also is producer. This is no longer time for single owner of truth; it is composite picture.
JMV: What do you think is our main challenge?
RE: We need to see our new muscles in action. Advertising cannot carry the day; people pay to avoid it. We cannot control messages; it diminishes the credibility of story. The challenge is to persuade clients to trust us, to let go in order to enable debate in a continuing discussion.
JMV: Is the PR function threatened by marketing?
RE: PR needs to be married to marketing. There is complete overlap of brand and reputation, of the CMO and CCO roles.
JMV: What do we need to elevate the profession? That means, for example, to be recognized as a C-Suite function.
RE: The profession must grow laterally, to incorporate aspects of supply chain advisory (Sustainability), of Diversity and Inclusion (HR), of ESG (Finance). We are the conductors of the symphony.
JMV: Your company has offices in many countries. Is the profession really globalized?
RE: We are globalized and at the same moment, we are increasingly pushed to be nationalistic as technology world divides between China and US. We are increasingly moving people around the world regardless of national origin.
JMV: How is affecting the profession the growth of Asia-Pacific?
RE: PR is well established in APAC for Western brands on brand and corporate assignments. It is becoming a more important part of the mandate for Asian companies, which recognize the power of influencers and trade media buzz.
JMV: How are evolving PR agencies?
RE: There are the independents such as Edelman and Ruder Finn, the PE owned firms such as Real Chemistry or Brunswick, and the holding company firms such as Weber Shandwick. The independents and PE owned firms are growing fastest.
JMV: What attitudes need a PR manager?
RE: A PR executive must be deeply involved in the community, connected to opinion formers/politicians/media. We need to be open to cultural influences and involved with NGOs.
JMV: And skills?
RE: Our skills must include incisive analysis, judgment, writing skill, negotiating ability.
JMV: Draw the ideal organization for a PR department.
RE: Best PR departments encompass employee engagement, corporate reputation, ESG, digital, financial reporting.
JMV: Which managerial skills should improve or develop a PR manager?
RE: Business skills are urgent; too many of us are communicators without deep subject knowledge or financial expertise.
JMV: What would you say to a trainee on his/her first day of work?
RE: Take the hardest assignment. Learn how to use data so that you can target your content.
JMV: And the same to a senior manager over 50 years old.
RE: Take an overseas assignment and, for example, become fluent in new platforms such as TikTok.
JMV: You are supporting as a sponsor the Global Alliance, the largest PR community. What message would you send to our members?
RE: This is our moment. Business is the most trusted institution for the first time in 20 years. There are big new expectations of the CEO to speak up on societal issues from diversity and inclusion to sustainability to vaccination. The consumer and the employee expect companies to fill the void left by government; the stakeholders are now belief driven. We have to push companies to act; communications is not enough.