Edelman appoints Michael Berland for global research role

Berland will now head up Edelman Berland, having been poached from Penn Schoen Berland, where he was president.

StrategyOne, Edelman’s market research firm, will now fully integrate and become part of the Edelman Berland arm.

Berland, who will lead the agency’s approach to reputation, branding and communications research, said:

‘Leveraging the global Trust Barometer, I look forward to building real-time research tools at Edelman Berland that capture and share insights from social media, instant connections, and online communities to help our clients develop the most effective campaigns.’

Edelman Berland will partner with the more than 65 Edelman offices around the globe and assist clients where consulting and research are required before the development of a communications campaign.

Berland will report to Matthew J. Harrington, Edelman’s global chief operating officer.

As president of Penn Schoen Berland he led studies and campaigns for clients including Pepsico and Shell in more than 80 countries on six continents.

Previously, he was strategic adviser to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in his 2001 and 2005 mayoral campaigns.

Berland also worked on Hillary Clinton's 2006 Senate and 2008 presidential primary campaigns.

Laurence Evans, head of StrategyOne, EMEA, said:

‘Mike is not only a good researcher but a good consultant too, and knows how to take a company’s branding and comms challenges and frame that into solutions.'

Of StrategyOne's move into Edelman Berland, he added: ‘Being a more integrated part of Edelman gives us better scale and brand recognition than we could ever achieve on our own as a standalone research brand. We now have a new leader and a new direction.’

This article was first published on prweek.com