My daughters will succeed me as owners of the firm.
— Richard Edelman
Companies should take advantage of social media's power to connect, but honor the continued role of media in shaping opinion.
The inability or unwillingness of citizens to differentiate between fake and authentic news is undermining a fundamental assumption of democracy: the informed voter.
I take the subway to work. I fly coach back and forth to Chicago.
The dominant advertising advantage of Clinton, with spending of 10 to 1 over Trump, reinforced the perception that she was trying to buy, rather than earn, votes.
We have continued to advance our global ambition with acquisitions that fill in the global footprint, such as Dabo in Dubai on the marketing side, Smithfield in the U.K. for financial PR, Ergo in Germany for corporate reputation and public affairs, and Position in Colombia to add scale to our Latin America business.
We must be able to appeal to the CCO and CMO with programs that have purpose at the core, that start movements and solicit views of the core community of brand supporters.
Trump has moved campaigns into a post-advertising era with a total reversal of spend from paid to earned media.
I remember feeling proud as I cast my first vote in Chicago in the 1972 presidential election - President Richard Nixon versus Senator George McGovern. Finally, I could participate. There was so much at stake.
The problems of the world, from immigration to populism to income inequality to sustainability to peacekeeping, require a well-functioning supranational body.
I completely disagree with Arthur Brooks of the American Enterprise Institute on the need for dignity in the marketplace instead of the social safety net, but he is a very persuasive character.
CEOs who boldly lean into fulfilling the dual mandate of earning profits and providing societal benefits will find a receptive public.
We've learned that when a consumer moves from a relationship rooted in 'me' to one powered by 'we,' a new world of buying and advocacy opens up for a brand.
Our goal is to put news where it earns attention, where readers can access it on every device and interact with it. We're meeting our clients' audiences where they are instead of asking them to come to us. Increasingly, that means hosting the content on social blogging sites like Medium.
Mainstream media has been abandoned by many, for ideological reasons mostly, and brands need to directly engage with the end-user of information and offer opportunities for consumer- and employee-generated content.
I wake up every day, and the family fortune is on the line, and that's a good thing.
Companies need to be very active in formulating public policy - not as a substitute for government, but as a supplement.
Israeli ingenuity was never more evident than in the Ayalon bullet factory built during the British occupation of Palestine. It was constructed underneath an urban kibbutz. The workers had a bakery and laundry which provided constant clatter to disguise the work carried on below ground.
We have witnessed a stunning reversal of power between mainstream and social media: The ability to go direct to end users of information through social channels radically disrupted the mainstream news agenda.
I went to every sports contest for my kids. I turned off my cell phone at 8 P.M. I did have to travel relentlessly and had some nights at black tie events. But when I was home, I was home.
In our family business, the Edelman children must earn their way - there were and will be no promises without performance and leadership. That may lead to some skinned knees, but it is certainly the best way to learn life lessons.
The short form, speed, and consistency of communication by Trump beat Clinton's nuanced, detailed, and long-form communication. Trump came across as more genuine, Clinton as less than transparent. Trump engaged directly with his community; Clinton spoke through the media in a careful and less frequent manner.
The best creative no longer has to originate in Chicago or London; it will be coming from Stockholm, Tokyo, and Seoul as well.
We have to improve our ability to deliver tangible results, namely sales, not simply awareness or change of attitude among opinion formers.
We can't, nor should we try, to influence who our employees vote for, but facilitating their involvement in civic action is better for business, better for our people, and better for our government institutions.
I was 14 when the Democratic convention in my hometown of Chicago erupted into violence. It was a tough year.
Gender parity in management is a necessity.
Modern, effective leadership means moving beyond the 'grand illusion' to engage the mass population and to align business with societal goals.
The trust of the mass population can no longer be taken for granted, and any continuation of the 'grand illusion' is dangerous for leaders in today's world.
The pace of change in marketing and the marketplace continues to accelerate. Unicorn companies are challenging long-established brands, and categories are being re-imagined.
We have been pushing forward on a new way of storytelling we call 'collaborative journalism' on behalf of a number of our clients.
Engagement and integrity are the two most fundamental aspects of building trust; lead from the front by evolving your company strategy, then live your values every day.
Advertising has a problem. They're being squeezed because media buyers and digital firms are doing the creative. They're being squeezed because people aren't viewing their stuff.
Business has to stand up on behalf of its employees, on behalf of immigration, on behalf of its customers, and on behalf of supply chain-cum-globalization.
My hike up the Snake Path at Masada was mystical. The fog rolled in, enveloping the entire mountain.
The separation of audience into tribes preferring to reinforce their own views with media of similar ideological stripe makes true debate impossible.
Edelman maintains a very conservative balance sheet. We do small acquisitions. This helps me sleep well at night.
Institutions are better served by going direct to end users, establishing a channel for direct dialogue and feedback. It is a world of many to one, not one to many.
There was a near-universal set of editorial endorsements of Clinton. Trump used this disparity to his advantage, to claim media bias and unify his base of supporters.
The historic quarrels between Japan and Korea pale in importance to the bigger question of extent of U.S. commitment to the defense of the region.
The 'truthiness' of Trump's so-called facts, the questions he posed on President Obama's nationality or jobs destroyed by free trade, has the same effect as dueling scientists on issues such as obesity or climate change.
Even with flexible time off to vote, it's still difficult for our people to juggle work, polls, childcare, and other responsibilities.
The question for every Olympics is whether the giant investment will pay off in the future.
Walter Isaacson attracts the best and the brightest to Aspen. It is exhilarating to listen to the likes of David Rubenstein and constitutional scholar Jeffrey Rosen speak about George Washington and Newt Gingrich and the original intent of the Second Amendment.
In the wake of the Great Recession, most business leaders have tended to focus on their enterprise and short-term performance. The time for that narrow focus is over.
Instead of worrying about potential disruption, brands can be creative societal disruptors - because their consumers will be right there by their side as committed partners in a better life.
More and more readers are finding important and interesting content through platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and now Medium rather than traditional publishers.
We have seen an unprecedented dispersion of authority, such that 'a person like you' is now one of the most credible spokespersons on business, along with technical and academic experts.
We're not going into advertising. But we see the future battleground existing between ourselves, digital firms, and media-buying firms.
Most smart companies should make themselves media companies. That means they put out their own information.
