Edelman

Edelman is an American public relations and marketing consultancy firm based in New York City and Chicago. The company is a member organization of the World Economic Forum.¹⁾

Edelman was founded in 1952 by Daniel Edelman.²⁾ Edelman was part of the United States Army's Psychological Warfare Unit during World War II.³⁾ Dan Edelman was an expert in analyzing and utilizing propaganda to change the mindset of the general population. His ties to the US national-security state persisted after the war, particularly through his decades-long close friendship with Secretary of Defense and pharmaceutical executive Donald Rumsfeld.⁴⁾

Daniel's son Richard Edelman was named president and CEO in September 1996, a position he continues to hold.⁵⁾

Global President and Chief Operating Officer Matthew Harrington participated in Event 201, a pandemic preparedness exercise, in New York City in October 2019.⁶⁾

In 2020, as host of the Edelman Trust Barometer annual event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Richard Edelman explained to a small audience that in the first ten years of the new millennium, certain events during the proceeding decade negatively affected the level of trust people now have in institutions.⁷⁾ He identified the Iraq War, globalization, the Great Recession, and the rise of India and China as the leading factors in the loss of trust. Edelman contended that these events were the primary cause of the mass class divide, the battle for truth (due to social networks), and an “incredible concern for the future of work” because they led to the rise of the gig economy, automation, and outsourcing. Edelman went on to say, “The hypothesis I’m going to make today about the construct for trust is that it now relies not just on competence, but it also relies on ethical behavior.” Richard Edelman’s use of a technical description of truth is telling as to how he perceives the concept of “ethical behavior.”⁸⁾

Launched in 2000, the Edelman Trust Barometer is an annual survey of how much trust and credibility the world’s four major institutions—government, business, media, and nongovernmental organizations—have in the eyes of the public.⁹⁾ Each year is titled based on a theme.^{10) 11)}

Some of Edelmen's clients include:^{12) 13)}