The dust has settled somewhat since last week's announcement that parkyoung (the consultancy I part own with David Park) has merged its business with the Melbourne office of Edelman, the world's biggest independent public relations agency.
(Check out the official announcement here).
The move came as a bit of a surprise to many in the broader PR industry as parkyoung was still quite new (having only been established mid-2009) and despite its relative youth had quickly carved out a solid profile in the marketplace thanks largely to a deep brand presence on the social web.
Those who know me personally, however, were probably doubly surprised because I'm a bit of a serial entrepreneur in the marketing communications space having run my own show more or less for 12 years.
(In addition to forming parkyoung in 2009 I co-founded Spark Communications in 1998 - later acquired by Mitchell Communication Group - and the experiential agency Ignition Marketing in 1999, eventually sold to a third-party equity holder).
On the surface Edelman was a very unlikely move for me.
I've worked for a number of large multi-national agencies in the past (including Porter Novelli and The Rowland Company) and I wasn't exactly busting a gut to get back into a big firm again (let's face it, large agencies tend not to be very nimble or entrepreneurial).
However, Edelman is different and that's what attracted me to the company.
Overseas particularly, Edelman is a public relations powerhouse and is leading the way in ‘new PR’ thinking. This is important to me because it's the space I (attempt to) play in.
I'm not just talking social media here but broader emerging thinking around the implications faced by companies and organisations operating in today's hyper-networked marketplace, not to mention the myriad communication challenges and opportunities experienced on a daily basis.
Brightest Talents
Edelman in North America has attracted some of the brightest talents in the social media space, including David Armano, Steve Rubel (who joined in 2006) and Dave Fleet. When guys of this calibre sign on with one of the ‘majors’, it says something.
Also joining the firm in recent times is Richard Sambrook, former BBC Director of News, who heads up global content creation - this in itself was an interesting high-profile appointment.
Locally, Edelman has recently appointed an Australian CEO in Michelle Hutton plus a raft of new senior executive hires across both its Melbourne and Sydney offices, including Sydney-based digital maestro Matthew Gain.
Needless to say, the company is doing some exciting things locally (including winning lots of interesting new accounts).
Core Philosophy
But the kicker for me is the fact Edelman's core philosophy is that "PR should lead the communications mix because we uniquely engage all stakeholders in dialogue in a way that is timely, consistent and credible".
This philosophy is 100 per cent in-sync with my own professional beliefs - it's a drum I have been banging for some time and it's great to see it so passionately promoted from upper management of a large firm.
However, there's no point trying to lead from the front unless you really do have the 'street cred' and capabilities to do so.
Edelman has been a strong leader in the digital PR space, firstly with its Me2Revolution 'skunkworks' experiment and then with the establishment of Edelman Digital in January, 2008.
Indeed, global President and CEO Richard Edelman is a true believer when it comes to the social web and real-time communications (he's been blogging personally since September, 2004).
The company is also active in the area of thought leadership.
Take for instance the Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual global leaders opinion study (I've written about the report previously).
Commitment to Digital Communications
From day one parkyoung was always about pushing the boundaries of PR. When Parky and I started the business mid-2009, we placed social media and ‘new PR’ thinking at the heart the company.
To be able to join a large global organisation that shares our thinking and our values - and has demonstrated its commitment to digital communications and the social web – is very exciting.
For more information on Edelman's PR philosophy and a run-down on how it goes about its business communicating in today's "era of mass personalization", click here.
