Edelman

Exclusive: A source tells PRNewser that Linden Lab, creators of 3D virtual world Second Life, has selected Edelman as the company's agency of record. Reached for comment, Catherine Smith, Director of Marketing and Communications at Linden Lab, said the company "has worked with LEWIS PR in the US and several international markets since 2006. We've recently completed an agency review, but are not ready to announce any changes to our agency of record at this point."

The source said the contract is worth $1 million. Linden Lab declined to comment on the figure. Edelman could not immediately be reached for comment.

On November 4th, Linden Lab launched Second Life Enterprise, "a version of its virtual-world software," which sells for $55,000, reported PC Magazine. The company has approximately 250 employees worldwide, is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in Singapore, Virginia, Brighton (UK), Boston, Seattle, Mountain View and Davis, CA. CEO Mark Kingdon joined the company in May 2008. He was previously CEO of digital marketing agency Organic, Inc.

Edelman launched Tweetlevel today, a Twitter measurement tool to find out who the most influential people on Twitter are. In other words, now when @comcastcares sees someone complaining about their cable service being out, they know whether or not they have to respond. We kid.

The tool is in beta, but the initial results are revealing: Hollywood blogger Perez Hilton is the most influential person on Twitter. PRNewser scored a 42.

To be fair, on the site's "About" page reads the following statement: "Even though we believe that it goes a great way to understand and quantify the varying importance of different people's usage of Twitter, by no means whatsoever do we believe we have fully solved the 'influence' problem."

Edelman acquired "bi-partisan digital grassroots advocacy firm" Grassroots Enterprise, the company announced today, after the release leaked yesterday to PRWeek and Politico. What attracted Edelman to make the buy? One factor is the agency's proprietary tech platform, Grassroots Multiplier, which "combines functions like Web hosting, content management, mass-emailing, fundraising and a powerful database to connect constituents directly with policymakers..."

Rob Rehg, president of Edelman's Washington office, said in a release, "Edelman is thrilled to add the talents of the best digital grassroots advocacy firm in the U.S. This is a great marriage of strengths: Edelman's industry-leading digital communications and public affairs practices along with Grassroots Enterprise's award winning team of digital grassroots experts."

Edelman CEO Richard Edelman said that CEO's need to be "private sector diplomats" along the lines of GE's Jeff Immelt and Walmart's Lee Scott and not "just come out for quarterly earnings."

The remarks came during the opening of an event at Edelman's new offices in downtown Manhattan last night, "The CEO and Corporate Communications in the Recovering Economy," hosted by the M.S. in Public Relations and Corporate Communication program at NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies (NYU-SCPS).

In a lighthearted remark about the agency's new offices, Edelman said he was "dragged kicking and screaming" below 42nd St. - Edelman's last offices were in Times Square - but the real estate deal was too enticing to pass up.

Edelman released their third annual goodpurpose study findings today. The study involved more than 6000 people in 10 countries and revealed consumers' "rising expectations of brands and companies in the social purpose space." The highlights:

61% of people have purchased a brand that supports a good cause even if it wasn't the cheapest brand (56% for U.S.)

83% are willing to change consumption habits if it can help make the world a better place to live (85% for U.S.)

63% are looking to brands and companies to make it easier for them to make a difference (65% for U.S.)

Two out of three people would prefer a hybrid car (67%) to a luxury car (33%)

70% would prefer an eco-friendly house to merely a big house (30%)

Mitch Markson, Chief Creative Officer and President of Brand Consulting at Edelman founded the survey. When asked about its implications, he told PRNewser, "I see it as a real cultural shift, probably somewhat based on everyone being fed up with both the economy and a little bit of the rage people have with big bonuses which certain sectors are being given."

"People are readjusting what happiness and success really means," he said. "It may sound 'Kumbaya,' but based on three years of this data, there really is a consistency that says something is happening out there."

Edelman officially announced today the agency's move to a new office and global co-headquarters in New York. The new office is located at 250 Hudson Street in Lower Manhattan. 500 Edelman employees have been moved to this location from previous Edelman offices in Times Square and Park Avenue South.

"Over the past decade, Edelman's New York operation has grown significantly. The time had come for new space that reflected the full-service communications consultancy we are today," said Matthew Harrington, U.S. President & CEO in a statement.

Going with the new and popular "open layout" trend, the new office doesn't have "offices," per se. However there are "numerous private areas to provide staff members with a place to go for more focused, solitary work," said the company in a release. Click continued to view pictures of the new office layout and its rooftop space.

continued...

Matthew Harrington, a 20-year Edelman veteran, oversees the firm's U.S. business, which includes more than 1,600 employees and 2008 revenue of $294M, representing approximately 65% of the firm's worldwide revenue. He currently provides counsel to a variety of Edelman clients including General Electric, Charles Schwab & Company, Getty Images, Samsung and Starbucks.

PRNewser caught up with Harrington to discuss his first year leading Edelman U.S. ("there was considerable uncertainty"), what he thinks Q4 will bring for the PR industry ("overall I think we have seen the worst"), and how the recently announced 2009 Mid-Year Trust Barometer revealed significant changes from Edelman's previous Trust Barometer released just six months ago.

It's been a year since you were named President & CEO of Edelman, U.S. What are some of the biggest shifts you've noticed in the agency business during that time?

continued...

Edelman has laid off at least four senior executives, including Bill Keegan, EVP & director of US crisis and issues management. "This was not financially driven...but in this environment, we have been doing an ongoing analysis of our staffing needs," said Matthew Harrington, president/CEO of Edelman US to PRWeek's Aarti Shah, who first confirmed the news.

According to PRWeek's Aarti Shah, Edelman made some executive team changes this week. Bob Angus, "will step down as president at A&R Edelman in May, giving up day-to-day management of the tech firm he cofounded and sold to Edelman in 2006," Shah reports. He will be replaced Todd Irwin, GM and EVP, who will pick up day to day duties.

Matt McGinnis, Commercial Product Communications at Dell, posted on Twitter in response to the news, "Looks like Bob Angus has lived through his earn-out period after Edelman bought A&R in '06."

Edelman Chief of Staff Derek Creevey says the statement is not accurate. "Bob has stepped down from the global tech practice role, but Bob is very much continuing in his role as chairman of A&R and absolutely that is going to continue. He's not leaving the company," Creevey told PRNewser.

[Image: Bob Angus, Courtesy PRWeek]

Richard Edelman, CEO of independent megashop Edelman Worldwide has advice for slugging your way through the recession in his latest 6 A.M. blog post.

There's some good stuff in it that addresses the fuzzier lines drawn between PR, advertising, marketing, and grassroots influence--anyone in any of these businesses is fighting for the same pool of dollars. The examples cited are ones of influence, not necessarily what many people think of as tradition PR work--the secret ingredient is pairing clients (or disparate media) together in interesting ways.

The full quote about the runway is "We uniquely create the runway of credibility for the advertising and digital plane to take off."

A source in a major ad firm told me this is why Crispin Porter + Bogusky is so successful, apparently known for their motto: "Don't show me a script. Show me the press release."

More after the jump:

continued...