Dan Edelman: The epitome of perseverance

Carly Petertyl
carlinpetertyl@gmail.com
@chicagoprepster

One question I like to ask during networking and professional panel events is, "What do you consider to be the greatest obstacle in your career and how did you overcome it?" I ask this question to see how different individuals in the PR industry respond to their professional crises in hopes I can apply that to my professional life in the event that I need to overcome some sort of obstacle. Most give a response about how they misspelled a clients name on some form of content and had to brave through mass amounts of humiliation from their colleagues. Other professionals talk about how their work life significantly interfered with their personal life and they had to mend broken relationships with friends and family members. If I could ask Dan this same question, I believe he would describe the following experience. 

Image source: Chicago Tribune

In Chapter 11 of Franz Wiser's biography, Edelman and the Rise of Public Relations, Dan tells the story of what he believes to be the greatest disappointment of his career. Dan knew his firm did not have the the proper resources to expand the company as he wanted. In the biography, Dan said, “We recognize we must be able to compete  internationally...but we recognize we don’t have the unlimited resources of, say, a large multinational ad agency with a P.R. arm or a Shandwick-style holding company. We don’t have all the money in the world, so we can’t just go out to Japan or even Scotland and buy the best and most expensive consultancy in that country" (Wiser 73). Despite Edelman's lack of resources, Dan still ventured to find an international partner.

In 1984 Dan teamed up with a Japanese advertising agency Hakuhodo in hopes to make Edelman the leading PR firm in Japan. Dan felt optimistic about this partnership, but the Japanese firm fell through on their end. The firm was only interested in working with Japanese clients, and Hakuhodo did not properly handle the U.S. business Dan brought to the firm. Feeling defeated, Dan dissolved the partnership with Hakuhodo.

Dan would stop at nothing to launch his Edelman empire overseas. Instead of packing up and heading back to the states, Dan and his team launched a start-up office in Tokyo. Due to the exorbitant rent costs and loss of staff, Dan was forced to close is office in Tokyo. While some would take this as an ultimate defeat, this was not the end for Edelman internationally. "'Though we put aside thoughts about Japan at that time, I wasn't going to be stalled in my commitment to put roots down all around Asia,' said Dan. 'I knew we'd go back to Japan later.' Asia, he believed, would soon drive the world economy and determine which PR firm would become the world's largest" (Wiser 74). 

While this discouraging moment in Dan's career would be a catastrophe for some, Dan was driven more than ever take the Edelman name abroad, and by the 1990s he was able to open offices in China, Spain, Belgium, and Scotland. In the coming years, Dan could officially claim Edelman as an international public relations superpower after opening several more offices worldwide. Overcoming this kind of setback is very inspirational to a young PR student like myself, and it shows that any obstacle, massive or minuscule, can be conquered with immense passion and conviction.

Thank you, Dan.

Carly Petertyl is in her third year at DePaul University majoring in public relations and advertising and minoring in history of art & architecture and media & cinema studies. She is the creative mind behind the lighthearted preppy blog Chicago Prepster. She also holds the titles of Media Intern for Starcom MediaVest, Executive Board Secretary for the DePaul chapter of the Chi Omega Fraternity, Director of Public Relations for DemonTHON 2014, and VP of Program Development for DePaul IABC.