Edelman - Public Engagement in the Conversation Age

Public EngagEmEntin thE convErsation agE

Don’t Lose the Thoght 3

Foreword

Condence and Trst 4

The Currency or Recovery

Trst Me, I’m a Banker 5

The State o Financial Services

The Fall and Rise o the C Word 6

The Future o PR

Citizen Smith 8

The Rise o Consumer Politics

A Clody Ftre 9

Cloud Computing and the Future o Technology

Re-Hmanising Bsiness 10

Next Generation Digital Communications

Crowd Srng 12

Thriving in the Age o Consumer Empowerment

Thinking Or Way Ot o the Crnch 14

Could the Creative Industries Hold the Solution?

Think Bravery Beore Bdgets 15

Creativity and Brand Bravery

Engaging with Health Citizens 16

Health in the Conversation Age

Medical Commnications inthe Conversation Age 18

Where Next with Health Care Proessionals?

Alive and Kicking 19

Trust and the Beating Heart o Media

Withot Content There is No Conversation 20

Content, Conversation and Collaboration

Sot Power to the People 22

Into 2009 and Beyond

Coming soon... 23

Trust Barometer 2009

CONTENT

Edelman is the world’s largest independently-owned PR agency, employing over 3,200people in 54 oces arond the world – 260o whom are in London. We work acrossall areas o the Commnications spectrm,delivering award-winning campaigns inmedia old and new.We are retained by some o the world’slargest mlti-national companies and leadingbrands, some o which are mentioned in thispblication – inclding, bt not exclsivelythe Department or Cltre, Media andSport; Microsot; AstraZeneca.For more inormation abot Edelman,please visit:www.edelman.com / www.edelman.co.kwww.goodprposecommnity.comwww.edelman.co.k/trstbarometer

ABOuTEDELMAN

page 2Public Engagement in the Conversation Age

and the unexpected emergence o anew ashion or regulation; the rise o Consumer Politics and a parallel, globalresurgence o interest in politics, per se;an Olympic Games that was mired rst incontroversy and then in tragedy – withhuman rights and human triumphs asoccasional, i odd, bedellows; more talkabout The Cloud o Technology and allthat it will bring; and, nally, a growingunderstanding o what it really means(and needs) to be Green – only to seethis threatened by those who will use theeconomy to escape their environmentalresponsibilities.This series o essays, each written by asenior member o the Edelman team, setsout to capture what our Communicationsworld looks like today and what it mightlook like tomorrow. These are not essayson the theme o Recession – yet they areeach, in their own way, contextualised bytoday’s harsher economic reality. They aredesigned to provoke thought, stimulatedebate and provide content. They sit withinthe exciting and compelling rameworko multi-lateral, multi-stakeholderengagement. They speak directly to TheConversation Economy. They hopeullyillustrate that PR can – and should – be atthe vanguard o change.December 2008Robert PhillipsUK CEO Edelmanrobert.phillips@edelman.comWe live in remarkable times. We havereached a crossroads in our economichistory and stand at the threshold o potentially momentous change in theglobal political landscape. Trust in Businessand Government (o which Edelmanhas been an avid student or the bestpart o a decade) has oscillated withrandom ury, while the inexorable marchtowards universal Digital Democracy andempowerment continues apace.Communications has reached a tippingpoint. Increasingly conronted by calls oran Economics o Less, we are witnessing anoticeable shit away rom ‘consumption’and towards active citizenship and goodpurpose instead. PR now nds itsel in anaccelerated state o evolution – movingtowards a hyper-connected model o Public Engagement that converges andtranscends all existing marketing andcommunications disciplines.Too many organisations retreatand retrench in recessionary times.Entrepreneurial spirit and thoughtleadership are oten sadly and alselysacriced on the altar o commercialimperative. Our contention is that Thinkingcosts nothing and yet remains a keypoint o competitive advantage or rms,whether they are selling ‘stu’ or stories.None o us can aord to lose the Thoughti we take our businesses (and those o ourcustomers and clients) seriously.2008 has been a year in which we haveseen the collapse o ree market models

Don’tlosE thEthought

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