To my friends and colleagues:
To continue my Purposeful Journey, I am very excited to share with you, that today, I joined Edelman, the world’s leading independent public relations firm. Why Edelman? Many reasons.
A lot of it has to do with their values and spirit. They’re family owned, have a rich entrepreneurial ethos, attract really smart people who strive to deliver innovative, creative and roi delivering services to a broad mix of world class clients. They have a collaborative approach to client challenges, with strong delivery capabilities from local communities to countries around the world (54 offices with more than 3200 associates).
They’ve been a top agency for years, and like fine wine, get better with age. Their accolades could make any CEO really blush: Advertising Age "PR firm of the Decade"; Adweek’s 2009 “PR Agency of the Year”; PRWEEK’s “ 20009 Agency of the Year” (for the 3rd time in the last 4 years) and the Holmes Report’s “Large Agency of the Decade” and “2009 Best Agency to Work For.” CEO Richard Edelman has been named annually to PRWEEK’s top 25 professionals list and his blog, 6 A.M. is ranked the 4th most read CEO blog.
To leave my own firm after 29 years, to give up autonomy and my namesake, the opportunity had to be aligned with my personal passion, values, drive, love of innovation and thirst for continuous learning and collaboration.
Over the years, I’ve kept my eye on them. I grew to know Richard Edelman from our mutual membership in the Arthur Page Society. Edelman’s intellectual property, especially their Trust and now Health Barometers, and their goodpurpose research are thoughtful, insightful and generously shared throughout the world. Their focus on the movement from a shareholder to stakeholder society is spot on.
“Companies will need to listen to and engage a wider range of stakeholders than in the past,” said the 2010 Trust Barometer. “Business must be ready to change its policies. This is the time for business to demonstrate its ability to deliver both profit and purpose, to prove that capitalism is a force for change and for the common good. “
Simply put, they were aligned with my vision: past, present and future.
This is a new position with a new title: Carol Cone@edelman. It will provide me with a platform to work across their organization in all industries, with current and new clients, with a great depth of resources.
My role will be to continue my “Purpose Journey”, working with clients and teams to help them continue to authentically infuse social issues into companies and brands, to build relevant and deep bridges with stakeholders, whether consumers, communities, partners, employees, ngo’s and governments.
I will also continue to create and share insightful research, especially on a global scale, and innovative new products to help companies and ngo’s more effectively partner to serve society and their organizations.
Over the coming weeks and months, I have A LOT to learn and so look forward to it. I was born with an intellectual curiosity gene. It gets more voracious with age.
I guess it is not surprising that the New Yorker (I was born in Lennox Hill Hospital, grew up in the NYC suburbs and then lived part time in the City when my parents moved to Greenwich Village) would return to New York. It was just a matter of time and opportunity.
Please stay in touch and tell me what you are up to in your purposeful journey. I promise to do the same.
And if you are planning on visiting the City, let me know and let’s try to get together.
Best –
C
