Digital

By Marshall Manson – Edelman Director of Digitial Strategy

Technology is fundamentally altering societal dynamics in a way that profoundly affects how business, government and other institutions interact with their stakeholders.

Increasingly, impersonal monoliths will not be tolerated. People expect and demand more. They have grown weary of the broadcast model which puts them on the receiving end of a ceaseless stream of shouted messages.

Institutions must recover their humanity. The principles of this new paradigm are Authenticity, Transparency, Honesty, Genuineness, Relationship Building, and Conversation. Institutions will transform. Their customers, investors, and political leaders – indeed, all of their stakeholders – insist upon it.

Still, no one can ignore the practical reality that transformation will not happen instantly.

The digital world – consisting of the Internet, social networking, mobile devices, and any other technology that brings people together – offers a boundless opportunity to institutions that are willing to begin to embrace the transformation. It presents a chance to really listen, to have mutually beneficial conversations with stakeholders, to build real relationships, and to demonstrate human qualities.

At Edelman, we want to be famous for Digital because we want our clients to be famous for successfully grasping this opportunity. Sure, we understand the technology – but because the technology is rapidly evolving, our Digital efforts cannot only be about technology. So building on a clear understanding of the dynamics at work, we develop and implement every aspect of holistic strategies.

Edelman has a clear track record of leading the communications industry in the Digital arena. Of course, we make some mistakes. We learn from them; and we recognise that no quality is more human than imperfection. In that sense, we are proud to be living the principles that we believe in and have articulated here.

But most of all, we are proud of the successes we’ve helped bring about for our clients. We view the impact of those successes as two-fold:

  • First, we’re helping our clients achieve their objectives
  • Second, we’re helping them transform in a way that will yield even greater benefit in the future

Marshall Manson
Edelman Director of Digitial Strategy