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 »

My Week with Richard Edelman: A Crash Course in Inspiration

Last week, I had the privilege of acting as Richard Edelman’s chief of staff, based in New York.  With his permanent chief of staff currently on maternity leave, Richard has chosen to have one senior representative from each of the “BRICC” countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China…and Canada – act in this capacity, on a rotating basis.  While I’ve worked for Edelman for almost 10 years, and over the years, have had several opportunities to interact with Richard directly, I’ve never literally worked by his side – until now.  Read more »

Edelman ACEs 2011 Canadian Public Relations Society Awards

Edelman Canada was dealt a full house at this year’s Canadian Public Relations Society ACE (Achieving Communications Excellence) Awards, which are judged by industry peers and recognize creativity and excellence in public relations.  Our team took home a number of awards, including the trophy captured by Red Bull Crashed Ice for Most Creative PR Campaign of the Year – a first for Edelman Canada!

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A Day Spent In Good Company

This post also appeared on the Good Purpose Blog.

I recently had the opportunity to present Edelman Canada’s Little Give program at ORENDA’s In Good Company CSR conference, which took place in Toronto last week.  The conference brought together thought leaders in the corporate, not-for-profit and academic sectors to explore the evolution of community investment and to share strategies for creating meaningful corporate community partnerships.   I was thrilled to be able to showcase our program as a best-case example of a truly meaningful initiative in the company of other impressive CSR programs from Microsoft Canada, Corel Corporation, L’Oreal Canada and others.

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And Then What Happened? Social Purpose: The Value of the End Result

Canadians continue to place high value in companies and brands that integrate purpose into the marketing mix, as echoed by this year’s goodpurpose™ study.  In fact, the survey found that 67 per cent of Canadians are more likely to buy products and services from a company if they know it has brands that support good causes – up from 60 per cent last year.  That said, while we happily participate in calls-to-action to support a great cause, we seldom see the end results of our efforts.

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