Echo Research
Echo Research engages in reputational analysis and measurement, with offices in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, Echo works for a quarter of the FTSE and Fortune 100 companies (together with Government Departments such as The Home Office, the DTI and Surrey Police, and non-governmental organisations such as UNICEF and WWF) on: Consumer, Financial Services, Health, IT, Professional Service, Telecoms & Media, Utilities, Public Sector and NGOs. Echo Research is on the Register of Expert Witnesses.[1]
Spin world
Echo's web site gives us a glimpse of the process of PR. Its section called 'What the Critics Say' includes no criticism. Only three articles are cited, one states Echo was "providing communications research and reputation analysis for [..] Government Departments such as The Home Office."[2]
Here is Echo's own statement on another big client, the Ministry of Defence:
- "The Ministry of Defence has the role of defending the United Kingdom and its interests, and strengthening international peace and stability. Like many government departments, it is continuously under scrutiny by the public and in the news media and responds to many calls for information and explanation. Echo Research analyzed the profile of the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces across all their operations, including Operation Telic (Iraq), assessing in particular the media debate around the case for Allied action in Iraq."[3]
Echo also work for The Environment Agency. Echo Research tracked media coverage to see how the Agency's actions to "name and shame" organizations violating environmental regulations had penetrated the public consciousness. The Agency also has a public information responsibility to help people deal with environmental hazards. Echo Research evaluated the extent to which people had access to safety information in times of flooding — a hazard likely to increase in tandem with the effects of global warming."[4]
- "For a further consecutive year, Echo presented an analysis of how the British press portrays PR at PR Week's PR The Media conference. Has the image of PR changed since tracking began in 1999? What conclusions can be drawn from the interdependence between the media and PR? Is PR's image spinning out of control? Or is greater advocacy by the PR industry on its value and role good for PR?" [5]
People
Echo Directors
Global Directors
- Clay Brendish CBE, Non Executive Chairman: The former Deputy Chairman of CMG plc and founder and Executive Chairman of the International IT consultancy firm Admiral plc, Brendish is Non-Executive Director of British Telecommunications plc and Herald Investment Trust plc, Non Executive Chairman of Anite Group plc and Close Beacon Investment Fund. He is also External Chairman of the Meteorological Office Board, a trustee of Economist Newspapers Limited and Chair of City University's IS Group.
- Roger Hayes, Non Executive Director: Hayes is Executive Director of the International Institute of Communications representing over 1,000 companies in seventy countries in the broadcastng, telecommunications, and new media industry. With a career that includes senior positions with the British Nuclear Industry Forum, Ford of Europe, Thorn EMI, PA Management Consultants and Burson-Marsteller, Hayes is recognised world-wide for his leading-edge thinking on the changing role of the private sector.
- Simon Summers, Non Executive Director: Senior Bursar St Catherine's College, Cambridge. Previously Co-Head of the Global Technologies Group in Barclays Capital's Investment Banking Division and Corporate Director for Barclays in North London.
- Michael Morley, Non Executive Chairman: International Chairman of Edelman Public Relations Worldwide. Morley started up the agency's first overseas office in London in 1967. He went on to be named President International, and opened offices in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America, supported by an affiliate network in key centers around the world. Michael has managed multi-national PR programs for companies that include United Parcel Service, AMADEUS Global Travel Distribution, NCR, VISA International, British Airways, Ernst & Young, Hoffman-La Roche, Schering Plough, Warner Lambert, S.C. Johnson and Hertz Corporation. Chairman of the jury of the IPR Golden World Awards, Morley is the author of the book "How to Manage your Global Reputation."
- Susan Restler, Non Executive Director: Co-Founder with Diana Woolis and President of Knowledge in the Public Interest, has had a 25 year career in financial services with JP Morgan. She was a Managing Director and head of Marketing for JP Morgan Private Banking and JP Morgan Investment Management. Prior to joining Woolis in forming KPI, she developed the marketing strategy for an Internet-based personal financial management service. Susan has served on the Board of the Brooklyn Kindergarten Society, a network of five publicly funded day care centers and is now a trustee of the Connelly Center, a middle school for at risk girls. She also chaired the Board of Trustees of the Packer Collegiate Institute, an independent school in Brooklyn, New York.
- Sylvie Testard-Ramirez, Managing Director, Echo Research, France: Specialist in International External and Internal Communication, a member of the International Committee of the French Association for Internal Communication (Afci) [1]
