campaigns

Reaching a

greener generation

of automotive enthusiasts

Challenge
 As Volkswagen transforms its portfolio to be EV-centric by 2030, my team was tasked with helping them reach and educate a new generation of EV adopters and engineering talent at the source: LinkedIn.

Strategy
Working in tandem with the client’s Newsroom site, I led the team in revamped VW’s LinkedIn approach to create shareable, engaging behind-the-scenes and educational content highlighting VW’s electric transformation.

Execution
 From February 2022 onward, we tested a variety of new formats—e.g. polls, quote cards, animated graphics—designed to help boost organic engagement of existing followers while reaching new audiences.

Impact
 In just eight months, we helped VW grow their LinkedIn following by 11.3% and increased organic LinkedIn engagement by 56.3% – all while growing net-new Newsroom site readership by 60%.

Showcasing FedEx’s eCommerce leadership

Challenge

In 2020, my team was tasked with setting up a Newsroom operation to help FedEx leverage 360-degree storytelling to extend earned media coverage, boost the company’s reputation, and ultimately grow its stock price. FedEx wanted to do this in part by demonstrating to investors and small businesses that it is a leader in e-commerce and innovation, and therefore a leading business partner. Within weeks of our team officially launching the operation, FedEx asked us to pivot all storytelling to address the emerging COVID-19 crisis. Specifically, we had to identify ways to highlight how FedEx was being relied on more than ever to care for its employees, deliver essential goods from suppliers around the world, and keep the global economy moving.

Strategy

In less than 24 hours, we pulled together a recommendation to help shift the brand narrative. Our advice was to build a COVID-19 microsite to provide live updates on how FedEx was providing mission-critical goods and supplies to the most vulnerable communities around the globe. A multi-disciplinary team of FedEx and Edelman experts then got to work identifying and creating stories FedEx could publish on the centralized site and promote across a variety of channels to key audiences.

Execution

FedEx launched the COVID microsite with two Edelman-produced articles I wrote that were promoted across social channels. The stories included one about how FedEx mobilized to ship thousands of COVID-19 test samples in less than 24 hours across the U.S., and another about FedEx’s partnership with the International Medical Corps to ship medical shelters from Tennessee to California for hospitals facing bed shortages.

Impact

  • The two stories quickly became the brand’s top-performing content for the year on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, generating thousands of views and interactions.

  • Both stories got recognition on Twitter from the White House (21.6 mln followers) and President Trump (76.9 mln followers), boosting Fedex’s visibility.

  • Within less than a week from launch, the COVID microsite was getting more than 1,200 views daily, outperforming all of the brand’s previous content landing pages.

  • These stories, along with a handful of others published in the following weeks, secured more than 290 traditional media placements with potential reach of 42 mln UVMs (unique monthly viewers).

  • The overall efforts were a key part of a broader COVID communications plan that drove a 26% boost in positive brand sentiment among investors and small businesses in 4Q FY20 from the year-earlier period, and that fueled an added $117 million in 4Q revenue from a year earlier. For FedEx, each point gained in reputation drives $452 million in market cap.

Humanizing the people behind the technology

Challenge

HP wanted to tap its bench of executives across product categories—David McQuarrie, Anneliese Olsen and Kobi Elbaz— to help advance its reputation as an innovation and technology thought leader.

Social strategy

Leveraging quarterly IDIs with executives, I lead a team in establishing a consistent cadence of publishing content (2 shortforms/week, 1 longform/quarter) on LinkedIn, focused on three categories: HP innovation within respective product lines, personal development as leaders, and industry insights.

Execution

Utilizing a variety of formats—GIFs, personal photos, audiograms and more—we helped the executives move beyond simply promoting the brand to highlighting the unique perspectives, hobbies, and experiences that shaped their leadership approaches in a rapidly evolving industry—from the books that inspired them to their Friday music pick-me-ups.

Impact

Within the first quarter of 2022: 

  • McQuarrie (whose program newly launched in Dec. 2021) increased his following by 15% and averaged 180 engagements per post. 

  • Olsen’s average post engagement grew by 16.7% compared with 2021 content performance. 

  • Elbaz increased his following by 12%, average post engagement grew by 89% compared with 2021 content performance, and his  average ER was 3.3% --1.3% above LinkedIn standards. 

Transforming a conglomerate into a house of brands

Challenge
For 40+ years, Danaher has operated as a life science conglomerate whose communications functions have been led by the individual operating companies (OpCos) within its portfolio. In 2023, however, Danaher underwent a transformation to operate for the first time as a corporate house of brands focused on applied life science solutions. 

Strategy

Edelman was tasked with helping Danaher transition from OpCo-driven storytelling to an integrated corporate communications organization, with its newly defined corporate brand launching in October 2023. To initiate this transformation, I led the team in conducting three core activities between May and December 2023: developing Danaher’s first corporate narrative, creating an integrated storytelling campaign to accompany the corporate launch, and building operations protocols for how the Danaher communications team would function in fall 2023 and beyond.

Execution

  • Narrative Building:  Edelman conducted white space analysis and message-testing to build a data-backed corporate narrative and storytelling framework. ​

  • Newsroom Infrastructure Building: Edelman conducted in-depth interviews and workshops to build Danaher’s corporate communications functions, establishing content KPIs, ways of working protocols, and an integrated editorial calendar, among other items.

  • Brand Launch Storytelling: Finally, Edelman developed a series of 101 content articulating “Who is Danaher?” that was disseminated across digital channels (Danaher.com, X and LinkedIn) October-December 2023, organically and with paid amplification. ​

Impact

  • Messaging: Danaher’s new corporate narrative received a 96% average favorability rate among the company’s key audience during message testing, while brand trust increased +3 points. ​

  • Web: Danaher’s web stories received more than 190k views, with a 58% engagement rate.

  • Social: Launch content on Danaher’s X channel saw 1.1m impressions, with a 3.6% engagement rate, while launch content on Danaher’s LinkedIn page received a 5.4% engagement rate. Danaher’s LinkedIn page gained 43k+ new followers.

  • Earned: Danaher secured 417 total national and trade media placements with a potential reach of 3.5B.