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Written By
Ally Dunne

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The Edelman Trust Barometer
A case study that looks into how Edelman Public Relations
uses the Trust Barometer in strategic communication
practices for the company and its clients.
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Edelman
The Worlds Largest PR firm
Since its start in 1952, Edelman
has grown into one of worlds top
public relations firms. Currently,
Our major goal is client service,
Edelman has over 5,000 employees in
and not service to Wall Street. Our
65 different cities (1). The current
independence allows us to be
president and CEO is Richard
feisty, hard-hitting, creative and
Edelman, who is pictured above.
According to its website, their main courageous. And honest. Were

goal is to help clients communicate, the only ones in the position to

engage and build relationships with tell our clients the truth.
their stakeholders. Edelmans clients
-Daniel Edelman, Founder
come from a wide range of industries,
including education, food &
beverage, health, retail, and
technology.
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Trust Barometer
An inside look into consumer trust
The Edelman Trust Barometer is an
annual report that tracks current
consumer trust levels in different
industries, such as business, media,
and non-governmental organizations.
Edelman does this research because
year after year, they have found a
direct correlation between the trust
level in a country and its willingness to
accept these innovations. (2)
Theme of the
2015 Trust
Barometer
Because Edelman is an
international PR agency, knowing
consumer behavior and the current
amount of trust the citizens have in
different segments of business is
extremely important when developing
strategic campaigns. The research
done in the Trust Barometer is
extremely valuable to strategic
communications professionals around
the world and provides key insight
into consumer thinking.
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Applying the Results

An inside look into how Edelman uses the results of the Trust Barometer to
better serve their clients

Norton By Symantec

Since Edelman began publishing Trust Barometer results

in 2000, there has been a clear indication of consumers having
lower levels of trust in technology. In the last five years,
consumers have voiced concerns over their Internet safety,
mainly concerning viruses and hacking. For many consumers,
Internet safety is confusing and many remain unaware of how to
truly protect themselves online. Edelman recognized this and
created an insightful campaign with their client Norton to help
inform consumers about Internet safety.

Edelman teamed up with CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker

to create the film Cybergeddon, which was launched on
Yahoo! (3). The films success is noted in the fact it has
garnered 500 million earned impressions and over 900 unique
stories. (4) The film also won Digidays award for Best Video
Destination in 2012. (4)

This campaign was effective because they used an

institution that had just seen an increase in trust: the media. 2012
was the first year that global trust in media was above 50%, so
by using a trusted medium to inform the public, it was easier to
alleviate their fears and promote a product that could help with
Internet safety. Another reason why using a movie was such a
great idea is because trust in company CEOs had fallen 12%
that year. If Nortons CEO had tried to promote the product
himself, it would not have been nearly as successful as the film
was.
Business Roundtable

According to its website, Business Roundtable is an

association of chief executive officers of leading U.S.
companies working to promote sound public policy and a
thriving U.S. economy. (5) One of the companys most
recent goals was to have congress ratify three trade
agreements that would open free trade with South Korea,
Colombia, and Panama to influence job growth (6). Business
Roundtable partnered with Edelman to find a target market
of influencers and find a way to present the agreements in a
way that congress would find favorable. Through Edelmans
strategic planning, the trade agreements quickly received
Obamas approval as well as approval from the Southern
Governors Association and the South Korean ambassador.

The Trust Barometer played a vital role in this tricky

strategic communications opportunity. The Trust Barometer
reveals that the majority of Americans arent in favor of free
trade, especially when it comes to countries like South Korea
(6). In fact, support of free trade was at an eight-year low
when Edelman began to work with Business Roundtable (6).
Edelman recognized this negative perception and decided
to change the conversation about free trade by educating
Americans about the benefits tied to free trade. Informing
powerful decision makers and assuring them of the benefits
of this deal pushed the three agreements to be approved by
congress, ending in a win for Edelman. This campaign
exhibits the extreme importance of research in strategic
communications, especially when such key decision makers
are involved.

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Conclusion

Restoring Trust in Society

The Edelman Trust Barometer has campaigns. Their clients can be sure that any
been an essential publication in the world strategic communication efforts will be
of public relations since 2000. It has reaching the right people in a way they can
created a wide range of knowledge about believe in to help cut through the marketing
consumer trust and has influenced clutter consumers absorb every day.
countless strategic communications
In a time where the news is filled with
campaigns. The Trust Barometer is not only
distrust in government, law enforcement,
great for the strategic communications as a
terrorist groups, and nuclear deals, its
whole, but also as a marketing tool for
important to make consumers feel they can
Edelman. By publishing such a
trust the brands and the companies they are
comprehensive and well-regarded study
interacting with. By giving the consumer with
year after year, Edelman is reaffirming
purchasing power a feeling of trust, you are
their prowess and top position in the world
linking your brand with positive recognition
of Public Relations. Companies know that
and will be much more likely to sell your
when they hire Edelman, their target
products. Consumerism has been associated
markets are already incredibly well
with greed and money, which is mainly why
researched and that the ideas used will be
trust in CEOs is so low. Edelman has found a
cutting edge, reflecting current societal
powerful and truthful way to restore trust in
trends in trust.
brands and has the power to better society
The Trust Barometer also shows its because of it.
value in the wide-reaching global
parameters to the research. In 2014, 33,000
people were surveyed in 27 different
countries (7). Edelman can identify key
traits in what consumers trust to create
powerful and wide-reaching global
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Sources
Used
1) About Us. Edelman. Web. 07 Apr. 2015. http://www.edelman.com/who-we-are/about-
edelman/.

2) Edelman, Richard. "Earning the Right to Innovate." Edelman Conversations. N.p., 19 Jan. 2015.
Web. 07 Apr. 2015. <http://www.edelman.com/p/6-a-m/earning-the-right-to-innovate/>.

3) "Cybergeddon by Anthony Zuiker, A Film on Cybercrime | Norton." Norton by Symantec.

N.p., 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2015. <http://us.norton.com/cybergeddon>.

4) "Norton by Symantec: Protecting Consumers From Cybergeddon." Edelman. N.p., n.d. Web.

5) "About Us." Business Roundtable. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.

<http://businessroundtable.org/about>.
6) "Business Roundtable: Using Social Tools to Change Public Opinion."Edelman. Web. 8 Apr.
2015. <http://www.edelman.com/work/business-roundtable-leveraging-social-tools-to-
change-public-opinion/>.

7) Keating, Katherine. "ONE ON ONE: Richard Edelman on the Evaporation of Public

Trust." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 21 Jan. 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.

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