Edelman Berland: an all new StrategyOne?

Edelman Berland launches next week as a new strategic research and analytics business which will subsume StrategyOne – Edelmen’s existing research shop.

Berland (pictured top) joined PSB as a founding partner in 1989. Over the last two decades he has become a sought-after strategic adviser and communications consultant. At PSB he led studies and campaigns for the world’s top brands, blue-chip companies, political candidates and entertainment clients in more than 80 countries on six continents.

His speciality has been applying the insights and tactics of the political campaign trail to the corporate arena, creating aggressive, focused image and marketing campaigns, and his former employer credits his expertise as including image analysis, message development, corporate and product positioning and targeting.

Berland may be a big name, but StrategyOne is no slouch in the size stakes. Launched in 1999, it was ranked the 46th largest US research company this year and has expanded into Europe with a UK office (now headed by former ICM director James Turner) and one in Brussels, and a presence in the Middle East and North Africa region.

For Laurence Evans (pictured bottom), international president of StrategyOne, the appointment of Berland means more than just the poaching of an industry heavyweight. He reckons it will bolster the corporate work that StrategyOne has been actively pursuing over the last few years.

“Having Mike on board not only means we have a high-profile CEO at the helm of our offering,” says Evans. “More importantly, it positions Edelman as a reliable global research business that can offer clients a rigid approach to garnering insights from traditional and digital methods, whilst also being able to understand the relevance of the information and be fit for presenting in the boardroom.

“There is a real strength that comes out of having Mike on hand to oversee the direction of our company and work towards earning the respect of both corporate clients and other research avenues such as political lobbying. We share a common goal of identifying what is profitable and can really work well to offer clients the best real-time research capabilities – which in essence, is what marketers want more than anything nowadays.”

Evans says it’s been a rapid few years of growth for StrategyOne, including its international expansions and the acquisition of market research community builder PluggedIN. Figures put the firm up 141.3% from 2006-2011 thanks to work for brands including Boeing, Chevron, GE, Kraft Foods, Microsoft and PepsiCo.

He says: “The future is certainly looking good for us right now and Mike’s background will help to ensure that Edelman Berland has the right peer credibility across both corporate and political bases. Our focus has always been on developing the most effective campaigns by integrating research with PR. This will be an exciting growth opportunity for us as we make headways into new research avenues.”