The dispersion of authority, audience and experience is the important trend shaping the communications sector, said Richard Edelman in his June 14 commencement address to graduates from DePaul University's College of Communication and College of Computing and Digital Media.

"The democratization of production means that older mainstream media have lost their monopoly on opinion," said Edelman.

richard edelmanHe noted that aggressive new platforms such as Business Insider -- where reporters are expected to write eight stories a day with search-friendly headlines and eye-popping graphics -- have more unique visitors than the Wall Street Journal.

As audiences disperse, the traditional broadcast model favored by the advertising sector will become "more subject-specific and targeted based on data, programmatic buying and the ability to test several hundred ad executions by niche before going to market," the chief of the No. 1 independent firm told his hometown Chicago school.

Edelman, who received an honorary degree, said influence has moved from the few opinion leaders to the many. "Impressions are fleeting and not trusted until five or more exposures to the message," he said.

DePaul graduates enter a communications world that is vastly different from the one that Edelman faced when he graduated.

"The key to success will be powerful ideas. Your ideas will be based not on creative alone, but on tangible actions that bring real change. It is what you do, not what you say," according to Edelman.

He urged the audience to take their dreams and find a way to deliver commercial and societal benefits.

richard edelman"You must catalyze change by becoming the initiator of movements, creating a connection within communities that stimulate action. You must morph from agent to partners, from muckraker to actor, from generator of sales to builder of relationships based on trust," said Edelman.

A re-invention of marketing communications is in order. Edelman said dominance of advertising in the marcomm sector, representing two-thirds of client spending vs. 25 percent for digital and under 10 percent for PR, is coming to an end: "I predict that in the next decade, those percentages may well be reversed, as earned and social media take precedence over paid."

The DePaul graduates will help PR clients move business in new ways, not to just manage perceptions or images alone. They will "see around the corner to predict what will happen, make alliances with partners such as non-governmental organizations, listen to community feedback online and then help clients adapt to meet the needs of the marketplace," said Edelman at the Allstate Arena.

As communicators, the DePaul grads "will have one foot in the world of the company and the other in the outside world of media, NGOs and consumers," according to Edelman, who called them "the essential bridge, the ones who balance the often-competing needs of shareholders and stakeholders."