CHICAGO — Edelman has launched an innovation hub designed to improve business outcomes for B2B clients through technology.

The Chicago-based B2B Innovation Hub centers around a multi-disciplinary team tasked with leveraging Edelman’s marketing technology and B2B audience data to help companies expand their customer bases. Pooling team members’ expertise will bolster the firm’s ability to create integrated communications plans that lead to a cohesive customer journey,  Edelman said.

“Corporations of all kinds are increasingly seeking targeted programming that drives measurable reputation and business results,” said Lisa Osborne Ross (pictured), who was named US CEO in early April. “Edelman’s B2B Innovation Hub will bring the best of our heritage in reputation management, coupling it with the latest technology to build hyper-effective demand generation programs.”

The hub is being led by executive VP Jake Parrillo, who leads US account based marketing. It is part of Edelman’s business marketing division, which was launched in January 2020 to help drive demand and revenue for B2B clients.  The unit’s clients include Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shell Aviation and ViacomCBS.

“Increasingly, clients are coming to us for integrated assignments where they need a tight-knit team that can activate quickly in a test-and-learn fashion against their business strategy,” Parrillo said. “They want a business marketing SWAT team that can complement their in-house resources to design and execute new ideas, not an army that’s difficult to practically engage.”