Trust is crucial for NGOs, religious institutions, politics and business; on Monday at The Imagination Gallery, London, Stuart Smith Edelman London CEO, welcomed a record turnout of representatives from these sectors to the launch of Edelman’s 8th annual Trust Barometer.

Business is more trusted than either government or media in every region of the globe, according to this year’s Trust Barometer survey of 3,100 opinion leaders. Business is more credible than government or media in 13 of the 18 countries surveyed in 2007.

“Business is seeing a rebound in trust because of strong economic growth, visible consequence for executive malfeasance and success in solving problems facing society”, said the Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman.

Richard also commented on the growing importance of engaging in both axes of communication: the vertical and horizontal. The growing trust in average employees means that companies must focus their communications strategies on the peer-to-peer (horizontal) axis, as well as the traditional top down (vertical) approach. Consumers and employees are the key audiences involved in peer-to-peer discussion.

The Edelman Annual Trust Barometer tracks the views of 3,100 opinion leaders globally in institutions such as government, media, business, NGOs and religious institutions. The participants this year came from 18 countries: the United States, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Poland, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, India, Mexico and Brazil.

The Trust Barometer presentation was followed by discussion led by this year’s panelists:

Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International
Robert Davies, CEO, The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum
Reverend Nims Obunge, Chief Executive, Peace Alliance
Iain Dale, political commentator

The debate was then opened to the floor for a lively Q&A session.

Over the course of this week my colleague Charmaine and I will cover the key comments raised by the panelists representing: NGOs, business, religion and politics here on the Edelman graduate blog.

The Eighth Annual Trust Barometer was launched by Edelman London in January 2007. Download the press release here.

Edelman Trust Barometer presentation

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

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