Edelman

UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands

Creative
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 reaping the benefits of its four-year transformation strategy—led by AJ Hesselink, president and chief executive officer, EMEA—to enhance organizational design and foster greater integration across offices. This shift has moved the firm away from a market-specific focus toward a more connected, horizontal approach, reinforcing collaboration and efficiency across the region.

Last year saw the continental operations—including offices in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brussels and the Netherlands—grow by about 5%, with Europe as a whole worth about $235 million (half of which is generated by the flagship UK office). The biggest contributions came from the tech, health and food and beverage sectors, while the firm’s commitment to integrated work continues to pay off and its leadership in AI is another significant factor. Major clients include big names like AstraZeneca, DP World, HP, Johnson & Johnson, Mars, Microsoft, Samsung Shell, Starbucks, and Unilever.

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: having launched its specialist Gen Z Lab in 2022, it followed up last year with its Longevity Lab, focused on the 55+ generation, which controls half of the world’s wealth. The agency published a Connected Crisis study, which resulted in the launch of a new Counter Disinformation Unit, and AI Creators You Need to Know, a definitive guide to brand-safe AI creators. But the most impressive initiative 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 region, and the creation of more than 350 AI models for clients.

Across the continent, the firm followed up on a successful year of awards, including a Titanium Lion in Cannes for its DP World work—with high-profile campaigns. In Italy, Nestlé Italiana leveraged research from its own Nestlé Observatory and Edelman’s Longevity Lab—revealing that half of Italians perceive themselves as younger than their actual age—to reframe ageing in terms of milestones rather than limitations. In Spain, the firm drew om insights from the Gen Z Lab for a campaign with Tinder, emphasising the generation’s trust in brands aligned with authentic values and practices. In France, the firm worked with Decathlon on corporate and executive positioning during the Paris Olympics. And in Germany, it helped increase brand love and purchase consideration for mayonnaise brand Hellmann’s in a ketchup loving nation by asking Germans to change their names from Heinz to Hellmann’s.—PH