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Public relations giant Edelman is launching a new unit that will focus exclusively on providing marketing services to clients in B2B verticals.

The move represents a significant industry development. The reason is that Edelman is the world’s largest public relations firm by revenue, which means any move on its part to double down on a certain market is bound to be closely watched by competitors.

The new B2B marketing unit will bring together about 100 employees who were previously assigned to separate teams. Those employees are scattered across the U.S., Canada and other locations worldwide.

The unit will be led by a dedicated executive team that includes some of Edelman’s most senior managers. That’s a sign the firm is taking its new foray into B2B marketing quite seriously.

Edelman is hardly starting its market expansion from scratch. The roughly 100 Edelman staffers who will join the new B2B marketing unit already have a long list of clients including Microsoft, HSBC and Mitsubishi to name a few.

The unit will provide B2B clients with access to public relations services, Edelman’s main forte. The division will also assist companies with other marketing activities including ad campaign management.

”We blend the art and science of creative communications and digital marketing to generate ROI through personalized content, targeted thought leadership strategies and marketing technology,” remarked Joe Kingsbury, Edelman’s top business marketing executive. “This global launch accelerates our ability to deliver on this value proposition for B2B clients.”

Edelman didn’t explain why it has suddenly decided to change the way it offers B2B marketing services. However, it’s possible to speculate.

One potential reason is that Edelman plans to hire a significant number of B2B marketers in the next few years. Onboarding new hires is easier if they’ll all be working at the same unit under the same leadership team.

Another reason Edelman may have set up the unit is to make its sales pitch more compelling. The next time the firm competes for a B2B brand’s marketing budget, it can point out that it has a large and well-organized B2B unit with its own dedicated leadership team. 

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