Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Jason
Speaker 1: Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. We've mentioned this before when he
Speaker 1: has joined us. Richard Edelman is in constant communication with
Speaker 1: corporate leaders really all leaders at organizations, government and of
Speaker 1: course the business world and elsewhere. He is the founder
Speaker 1: and c of the global communications firm Edelman, and he
Speaker 1: joins us on the phone in New York. And Richard,
Speaker 1: it's great to have you back with us. UM, we're
Speaker 1: really delighted to have you here. And it's on a
Speaker 1: day when you guys, you do this annually, and I
Speaker 1: think you recently did an adjustment to I think the
Speaker 1: most recent one or last year's. UM. But we're talking
Speaker 1: about the Edelman Trust Barometer Report and you take a
Speaker 1: look at brand trust specifically. Tell us remind our our
Speaker 1: listeners a little bit about this report and what you
Speaker 1: guys found. So UM, we found something quite remarkable, Carol,
Speaker 1: which is that, in fact, trust has emerged as the
Speaker 1: second most powerful means um to stimulate somebody to buy
Speaker 1: a brand, right after price comes trust. Do I trust
Speaker 1: the brand ahead of ingredients, customer service? UM? Where I
Speaker 1: can buy it? UM, It's amazing and it's actually because
Speaker 1: of UM COVID nineteen and the protests around systemic racism,
Speaker 1: it's caused people to completely re evaluate how they buy brands,
Speaker 1: and so tell us about how that manifests. I mean,
Speaker 1: what does that mean? You know brands so well, Richard?
Speaker 1: How will that ultimately influenced behavior? And how soon it's
Speaker 1: happening right now? UM, I'm a brand belief buyer, meaning
Speaker 1: if I see that a brand stands up for things
Speaker 1: that I believe in, then I'm going to buy it.
Speaker 1: And if I don't, I'll boycotted say bad things. UM. Switch.
Speaker 1: So people told us that they have switched brands in
Speaker 1: the last three months since COVID started as to whether
Speaker 1: they feel a company UM has did appropriately. That's amazing.
Speaker 1: Also tried new brands and switched on that basis. So
Speaker 1: almost half the people. That's remarkable, And I was just thinking,
Speaker 1: you know, Richard, it comes on a day you heard
Speaker 1: Charlie Pellet talk about UNI lever halting US ads on
Speaker 1: Facebook and Twitter. Through you had we talked earlier about
Speaker 1: JP Morgan ditching customers who use its workers with racism.
Speaker 1: They're talking about customers who call into their call centers
Speaker 1: they've already gotten rid of some customers. I mean, we're
Speaker 1: seeing companies really take action pretty pretty swiftly and rightfully. So,
Speaker 1: if I may add, I think I think this is
Speaker 1: a big moment for brands. I think that brands in
Speaker 1: a certain way are the new corporation, meaning that there's
Speaker 1: this new expectation also Carol, that they're going to take
Speaker 1: care of workers, that the employees of KFC or whoever
Speaker 1: have to be protected with ppe with uh, you know,
Speaker 1: new ways of laying out the restaurants, making sure that
Speaker 1: the workers are good. Um, that's a big new responsibility
Speaker 1: for brands, and I think profound. Yeah. You know what's interesting, Richard,
Speaker 1: and poor Carroll has been enduring this with me. All
Speaker 1: we get in my interview with Maverick Carter and Lebron
Speaker 1: James this week. You know, one of the things that
Speaker 1: Maverick Carter said was one of the ways this transcends
Speaker 1: this moment is if companies get beyond statements and get
Speaker 1: to action and you know, you just outline some things
Speaker 1: just there. Uh, but that does feel important and different.
Speaker 1: And I wonder what you make of that, because you
Speaker 1: talked to CEOs all the time, and I'm sure, you
Speaker 1: advise them on what to say, but I'm guessing they're
Speaker 1: often more often turning to you to say, all right,
Speaker 1: I've said this, Now what do I do? Well? Interestingly,
Speaker 1: it falls in a bunch of buckets. The first is,
Speaker 1: let's fix history, so Antemima, cream of Weed, Uncle Ben's
Speaker 1: those are images that are dated, they have to change.
Speaker 1: Then there is where we do at the present. Um
Speaker 1: you know Walmart's decision this week to stop selling um
Speaker 1: flags of the state of Mississippi because they have the
Speaker 1: Confederate Battle Battle flag within. That's amazing. Uh. And similarly, um,
Speaker 1: you know a brand like Dove deciding to run at
Speaker 1: last Sunday on the SPS saying that, um, you know,
Speaker 1: it's no Father's Day because too many black um fathers
Speaker 1: have been put in jail. That's a brand standing up
Speaker 1: and speaking up. And when that happens, a brand gets
Speaker 1: four times more trust than standing aside. And race has
Speaker 1: always been the third rail of the American conversation. And
Speaker 1: when brands go into race, you know that it's a
Speaker 1: big moment because go ahead, no, no, you finished? Please please? No.
Speaker 1: I just think it's it tells you everything that belief
Speaker 1: driven buyers want brands to speak up that the new
Speaker 1: expectation is don't be a chicken, don't put your head down.
Speaker 1: You know, you need to stand for me. You need
Speaker 1: to be out there for me. I love change what
Speaker 1: I wanted to, you know, jump in And I feel like, Jason,
Speaker 1: this kind of piggybacks off of something you said. But
Speaker 1: we had a guest on um linnair Irvin, she's president
Speaker 1: of the Center for Talent Innovation, and she said, you know,
Speaker 1: these these folks, these leaders who make external statements, They've
Speaker 1: got to first fix their home, their their houses internally
Speaker 1: and earn the right to make those statements externally about
Speaker 1: getting rid of racism and being a diverse organization. So
Speaker 1: tell me, I'm curious in the conversation to having Richard
Speaker 1: that these companies that are making these great moves and statements,
Speaker 1: you know, publicly, how much are how much of the
Speaker 1: conversation is changing internally and not just the conversation but
Speaker 1: actions internally, so that what they say externally represents what
Speaker 1: they do internally in their organization, in other words, making
Speaker 1: it diverse and getting rid of racism. So I think
Speaker 1: there are the first step obviously is fix your own house.
Speaker 1: Such that you have a diverse board, that you have
Speaker 1: a broader array of both black and Hispanic executives in
Speaker 1: your firm, and then educate and advocate so you know,
Speaker 1: then you have to pick up on the issues. And
Speaker 1: then the third is actually get involved in fixing things.
Speaker 1: So Ben and Jerry's ice Cream actually hires people who
Speaker 1: have had misdemeanors, felony misdemeanors, and they say, we don't care.
Speaker 1: That changes the game because it enables someone who has
Speaker 1: been imprisoned to get a job and not be unemployed
Speaker 1: for the rest of his or her life. Yeah, it's faction, right,
Speaker 1: and we know ultimately so much of what's going on
Speaker 1: is a financial poverty issue, and it's economic and that's
Speaker 1: what it comes down to. Um, We're going to continue
Speaker 1: our conversation with Richard Edelman. He's the founder and CEO
Speaker 1: of the global communications firm Edelman joining us on the
Speaker 1: phone in New York City talking about their Trust Barometer
Speaker 1: Special Report or Brand Trust. I. You know, we talked
Speaker 1: about it a lot, Jason, but I do feel like
Speaker 1: it's taking on a whole new meaning against the backdrop
Speaker 1: of the virus from the last four months, and also
Speaker 1: of course, of what happened in Minneapolis, what happened to
Speaker 1: George Floyd. And you know we're talking about racism and
Speaker 1: diversity once again, right And and I think that Richard
Speaker 1: makes such an interesting point that for so long people
Speaker 1: wouldn't talk about companies. I'm not going near that, and
Speaker 1: now they are rightly getting dinged for not going. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's amazing how much that has flipped. UM and it
Speaker 1: slipped very fast. Can hit the snooze button anymore, that's right.
Speaker 1: Heard that. Somewhere still with us is Richard Edelman, the
Speaker 1: founder and CEO of Edelman, joining us on the phone
Speaker 1: in New York City. We've been talking about Edelman Trust
Speaker 1: Barometer special report and looking really at brand trust. But Richard,
Speaker 1: I feel really bad. How are you doing? I meant
Speaker 1: to ask you that at the top. So, UM, it's
Speaker 1: a challenging time for the marketing services field because you know,
Speaker 1: everything from hospitality to travel to um the energy business,
Speaker 1: car businesses is off. So you know, clients have been
Speaker 1: cutting budgets. But I've never felt more um inspired by
Speaker 1: what I do. So, you know, working with clients on
Speaker 1: how they can keep their employees working effectively from home,
Speaker 1: or this incredible movement of brands to want to speak
Speaker 1: up on behalf of their customers is a great opportunity
Speaker 1: for us relative to ad agencies UM and and so
Speaker 1: literally we worked with Unilever UM in a week come
Speaker 1: up with a piece of content for UM for Father's
Speaker 1: Day that was so compelling about African Americans and families
Speaker 1: and good African American fathers. And you know that that
Speaker 1: just excites me and makes me. And similarly, for Edge
Speaker 1: and Emoto, we came up with a campaign called take
Speaker 1: out Hate UM because Edge and Immoto makes MSG and
Speaker 1: supply Japanese and Chinese restaurants and people. As you know,
Speaker 1: we're blaming the Chinese and blaming those restaurants, you know,
Speaker 1: because of COVID, kung fluid or whatever. And we took
Speaker 1: out we did a campaign called take out Hate and
Speaker 1: we said, patronize those restaurants because these are good people.
Speaker 1: And by the way, the food is delicious and it's ridiculous.
Speaker 1: So those kind of campaigns just excite me. Like hell
Speaker 1: and Richard, you know, I do wonder you know, given
Speaker 1: that you are so trusted by a lot of CEOs,
Speaker 1: I feel like you have the conversations that Carol and
Speaker 1: I as journalists, we always want to be in the
Speaker 1: room for because they're getting real with you. UM. You
Speaker 1: know you're always the guy that we want to talk
Speaker 1: to about those conversations. UM, and we know that you
Speaker 1: have confidences to keep in all that. But you know,
Speaker 1: when you think about the conversations you're having with CEOs
Speaker 1: and members of boards of directors and things like that,
Speaker 1: do they feel different Because you've managed through so many crises,
Speaker 1: You've helped companies do so many crises. And I wonder,
Speaker 1: we keep asking this question about whether this will be different,
Speaker 1: and I wonder what you make of it. It's different
Speaker 1: than O one and oh eight by far. This actually
Speaker 1: is UM, not just an economic change. It's a values change.
Speaker 1: And it's partly because we're in a very fraught political moment,
Speaker 1: but it's also because it feels as if COVID has
Speaker 1: scared the heck out of us, not just an economic sense,
Speaker 1: but in a personal in health sense, and so our
Speaker 1: values are different. And you know, people are spending more
Speaker 1: time at home and they're with their kids, and they're
Speaker 1: you know, they're not traveling, and and you know they're
Speaker 1: kind of figure out when do I have to go
Speaker 1: back to the office. Do I have to go back
Speaker 1: to the office? And um, So the conversations with the
Speaker 1: CEOs are profound because they are having to make a
Speaker 1: lot of change very quickly, and they're realizing also that
Speaker 1: they have to step into the shoes of government in
Speaker 1: many cases because you know, this return to work and
Speaker 1: are we going too fast? And do we require masks?
Speaker 1: And what's the safe way for our employees. That's the
Speaker 1: that's the cold face that we're at the front of
Speaker 1: right now. They can't hide behind government if I can,
Speaker 1: if I can piggyback on. I think what what Jason
Speaker 1: was also getting at was just you know, not just
Speaker 1: you know, the disparities that were revealed by the virus,
Speaker 1: but the last month in terms of racism, and you know,
Speaker 1: companies have been talking about setting up focus groups and
Speaker 1: taking steps to improve you know, diversity at their companies
Speaker 1: and yet Business Week kind of unbelievable cover last week,
Speaker 1: has amazing cover this week too with Lebron James. In
Speaker 1: case you missed it, Jason did that story in that interview,
Speaker 1: but last week it was showing visually the lack of
Speaker 1: diversity in corporate America when it comes to black CEOs. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's a handful, and it's here we are. The number
Speaker 1: is for right. So we've been talking about this and
Speaker 1: companies have supposedly been talking about it and taking steps
Speaker 1: not just this year, but for years, decades. We've been
Speaker 1: talking about it, and our guests have talked about you know, racism.
Speaker 1: It's been part of this country for four hundred years.
Speaker 1: So how do we how do we really move the needle,
Speaker 1: and how do we know it is different this time
Speaker 1: around that we actually get some action so that when
Speaker 1: we look around our companies it's diverse all the way
Speaker 1: up to the top. I think that we have to
Speaker 1: do what you know we're doing in fun, which is
Speaker 1: we're putting a person African American on our board within
Speaker 1: the next thirty days, and we are promoting a person
Speaker 1: who deserves it too to the operating committee on the
Speaker 1: executive side. And we are going to go to primarily
Speaker 1: black colleges and find people as opposed to waiting for
Speaker 1: them to come to us. And we're going to have
Speaker 1: very specific targets for how we change our company because
Speaker 1: we're not sufficiently you know, I think our diversity number
Speaker 1: is between black and hispanic, but within within senior management,
Speaker 1: it's you know, twelve percent, that's just not good enough.
Speaker 1: So we have to be intentional and we have to
Speaker 1: be rigorous, and it has to be measured. And I
Speaker 1: think every company has to follow that pattern, um and say,
Speaker 1: you know, this is the moment to wake up, Um,
Speaker 1: this this is this is in America where half the
Speaker 1: millennials are people of color. Yeah, and let's let's let's move. Yeah,
Speaker 1: why to stay on TikTok? Because they get it right? Absolutely? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that everything, everything has changed, and we just
Speaker 1: hope that it's not for the moment. A lot of
Speaker 1: conversations about extending that into something that is asking you
Speaker 1: in anyways, Richard Edelman, always thoughtful. We really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: We appreciate all the time you spend with us. You've
Speaker 1: really been one of our go to voices through this
Speaker 1: entire uh pandemic and then the more recent crisis. As
Speaker 1: we go through a real reckoning because we know, Carol,
Speaker 1: companies are ultimately going to have to lead this. We
Speaker 1: know it. It is this, This is an economic problem,
Speaker 1: it's a business problem, and ultimately, if companies don't, it
Speaker 1: won't get solved. Right, and they said, you know that
Speaker 1: right now consumers are looking at those brands, what they're doing,
Speaker 1: what changes they're making, and they are switching money talks