From a person like me to a person like you: a view of #EdelTrust2012

Okay, so the first thing you should know about me is that I’m relatively new here: it’s only my second month working at Edelman Toronto. It just so happened that within that timeframe, the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer was just getting underway and I, being the new girl, eagerly jumped on board to help out (#keener) with digital content. I have to say I’m glad I did: what I’ve seen so far has been fascinating, and I can feel the excitement is growing as we get closer to our Toronto launch event at the Windsor Arms. On a more personal level, it’s also been a great way to get to know the team, and to get some perspective on the people, culture and intellect around the world that make Edelman such a great place to work.

The Edelman Trust team has been impressive – we’re all working hard and wearing many hats, and as my particular area of interest has been digital content, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some fantastic people across the board on content strategy and logistics, as well as helping to curate, monitor and track the online conversation. I’ve been in the agency world for a number of years, but I have never been a part of a project that has truly felt so global in nature; the survey covers 25 countries. I’ve tracked comments going by on the #EdelTrust2012 twitter stream in German, Spanish, English and French, to name just a few of the languages – and seeing the impact this study has had on a global level across multiple sectors and industries has been humbling and rewarding. Read more »

Digital Digest: Failed Communities

Digital Digest: What Edelman Canada is reading in digital marketing, technology and strategy. Fresh links served up Fridays.

Nearly three years ago, Mark Hendrickson left his day job to found Plancast, a social network that helps friends share their plans and get together in real life. Unfortunately, user adoption was slow and it never achieved the needed critical mass. Mark’s detailed and loving post-mortem on Plancast (see last item) is a reminder that despite our best intentions communities sometimes fail.

Increasingly communicators and marketers are engaging directly with customers to create passionate communities around their products, services and a shared vision. But as Mark learned, the threat of community failure is never that far away. This week’s edition of Edelman Canada’s Digital Digest examines communities that failed to thrive, or that hurt the brand rather than help it. Read more »

Edelman’s 2012 Trust Barometer and the Licence to Lead

Earlier this week, Edelman released the global findings from the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer – the 12th year of the firm’s annual trust and credibility survey.  Next week, we’ll unveil Canada-specific findings at our launch event at Toronto’s Windsor Arms hotel.

I’m confident that it will be a great discussion – our global CEO Richard Edelman, will host a panel of industry-leading experts, including former Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant, Heart and Stroke Foundation CEO David Sculthorpe, Globe and Mail media reporter Steve Ladurantaye and Executive Director, Schulich Executive Education Centre, Alan Middleton.  John Clinton, our Canadian CEO, will act as moderator.

Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of shifts in trust around the world – from the rising influence of NGOs, to trust as an essential line of business, to the rise of authority figures.   Yet regardless of the results, one question tends to come up each year:  why does trust matter  – and what is the true connection between trust and reputation? Read more »

Digital Digest: Keeping up with the Evolving Consumer

Digital Digest: What Edelman Canada is reading in digital marketing, technology and strategy. Fresh links served up Fridays.

As digital marketers and communicators, we are diligent in keeping up with the latest tools and delivery systems for our messaging. In recent weeks, we have explored the changes on major social networks and we saw value in the popularity of niche networks.  Just as the tools we leverage on a regular basis evolve, so do the people who use them.

The way competing content sources have changed how attention is being paid is not news to our ears. However, before we build the next cool and flashy digital campaign to catch consumer attention, let’s pause to consider what they expect from us. Nien Liu thinks that we have overlooked the changing consumer’s potential for involvement with a brand. The “bold new consumer” has a unique voice and point of view, is aware of their influence and knows the value their data provides.  “Consumers aren’t content producers,” he argues, “they’re more like business partners because of the value they can potentially add.” Read more »

Introducing Edelman Calgary

This week, we moved into our new home in Calgary.  With a hint of fresh paint still in the air, we can already envision the future this space holds.

While the office is brand new to Edelman Canada, our presence in Calgary is not.  Edelman has worked with clients here since 2007, served by our Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal staff.  As our work in the city progressed, so did the idea of establishing a full-time presence here to better serve our growing client list. By 2011, with more than fifteen percent of Western Canada’s revenue stemming from Calgary, we knew the time was right to put down local roots.

For the past four months, I have been living in Calgary, overseeing the development of our office.  The city has exceeded my expectation at every turn.  There is a true energy in the market, a passion for business and an excitement for opportunity.  We have already built relationships with new clients who were eager to work with us before our doors officially opened.  I have met with many incredibly talented people and look forward to further building our team.

As we officially open our doors to our new space, we look forward to bringing fresh ideas, pioneer thinking and public engagement not only to Calgary, but also to a truly national offering for Edelman Canada.

Digital Digest: Pinterest and the Interest Graph

Digital Digest: What Edelman Canada is reading in digital marketing, technology and strategy. Fresh links served up Fridays.

A recent comScore report shines a light on the fastest growing social networks, and the breakout hits are smaller networks serving a niche audience. To take one example, Pinterest, a visual bookmarking site that encourages users to organize their “pins” into interest categories, increased time spent on site worldwide by 512%. Pinterest is part of a new wave of online networks that allow users to follow their interests as well as their friends. This poses a puzzling question: do we as users want to discover new content based on our interests or our social connections (or both)? And will niche sites and apps that leverage the Interest Graph, like Pinterest, LOOKBOOK, Quora, Instagram and Untappd, attract more users than sites that leverage the Social Graph, like Facebook, Google+ and Twitter? Read more »

Digital Digest: Do Something Different in 2012

Digital Digest: What Edelman Canada is reading in digital marketing, technology and strategy. Fresh links served up Fridays.

“The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement,” said IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad. “The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.” The reality is that it’s easy to keep doing the things that we know will work. But sometimes we want to do more than deliver the same old results – we want great ideas that enable us to exceed the expectations of our peers, competitors, bosses and clients.

Fortunately, these days there is no shortage of new ideas that are also great. To help you kick off the new calendar year, this week’s edition of Edelman Canada’s Digital Digest rounds up six articles that show off new strategies and tactics in public engagement for 2012. Read more »

Le party des fêtes inspiration Mad Men d’Edelman Montréal

Le 16 décembre dernier avait lieu la soirée festive des employés d’Edelman Montréal au Koko, le bar huppé de l’hôtel Opus. Notre comité social, organisateur de l’évènement, a eu l’idée de donner un  thème très tendance à la fête en lui conférant le titre d’EDELMEN. Read more »