Edelman

UAE, Saudi Arabia

Edelman turned 70 three years ago but—despite becoming the PR industry’s first billion-dollar business—shows no sign of losing its restless, entrepreneurial spirit, which has seen the firm keep its independence even as its peers have sold to publicly-traded holding companies. Having expanded far beyond its consumer roots, the firm has deep domain expertise in healthcare and technology, corporate and financial communications and public affairs, digital content creation, social media—and a leading position in the development of AI tools for PR. Across EMEA, the agency has been enjoying the fruits of its four-year drive—started by Ed Williams, now international president and new EMEA chief executive AJ Hesselink—to emphasize organizational design and become more integrated across offices, moving away from a focus on individual market teams to a more connected, horizontal approach. 

Under the leadership of CEO Omar Qirem, supported by new UAE MD David Kingsmill-Moore and head of Abu Dhabi Nidaa Lone, the Middle East region was Edelman’s top performer last year, with fee income up by 29% (the UAE alone was up by 50%). It now represents 13% of EMEA revenue, making it the second largest market after the UK. One major factor has been the growth of the Edelman Smithfield financial communications operation, led in the region by Simon Hailes, which has quadrupled in size over the past three years. The top performing sectors have been energy, tech, and healthcare—the latter including the region’s largest mandate in M42, the Abu Dhabi based health tech company.

Other significant client work includes 16 years advising Mubadala Investment Company, the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund; leading Abu Dhabi’s economic narrative, advising top government bodies including the Department of Finance, Department of Economic Development, Abu Dhabi Global Market, and Abu Dhabi Investment Office; positioning ADNOC at the forefront of the UAE’s energy transition; and international communications and public policy work for the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. In Saudi, the firm serves as global agency of record for the Ministry of Culture and is working with the Royal Commission for Riyadh City to position Riyadh as a global cultural hub. And of course, Edelman’s work for DP World has garnered global recognition, including a Titanium Lion in Cannes.

While Edelman’s most significant contribution to the industry’s thought leadership remains its Trust Barometer, now in its 25th year and generating as much attention as ever, the firm continues to innovate in terms of tools and services: the most impressive initiative, much of it lead from the Middle East, is probably the firm’s investment in AI—from research to brainstorming to analysis—which has seen 98% of staff undergo AI training, resulting in 300 AI ambassadors across the EMEA region, and the creation of more than 350 AI models for clients.

Finally, the “One Edelman” initiative has had an impact on the firm’s culture, with team building focused on four pillars: developing and strengthening core skills, improving manager effectiveness and building strong leaders; ensuring that our team members have the knowledge, tools and environment to do their best work; promoting transparency and strong connections between performance and reward; and translating the employee value proposition to reality in order to attract, onboard and effectively mobilise key talent. The firm also continues its commitment to diversity and inclusion with a new Inclusive Hiring Playbook.—PH