Overseas marketing challenges posed by the Island's changing political landscape could be the most significant issue facing Edelman Public Relations during this year's campaign, the firm's executive vice president Elliot Sloane, said yesterday.

Edelman, one of the world's leading public relations firms, was retained three years ago by the Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA) to market the Island overseas as a premier financial services centre.

With Premier David Saul's announcement that he is quitting politics, a new leader in the wings, and an election within 18 months, Edelman's aim will be to present Bermuda as a "unified'' jurisdiction, he said.

"Both (political) parties have announced support for international business.

"Our plan is to convey that any change, or return of existing Government, will been done in a politically mature context.'' Edelman's Bermuda marketing campaign includes business and trade media relations, conference support, special events development and operation of the Bermuda Information Bureau.

The firm also handles issues management, most notably, the Independence debate.

Edelman's 1997/98 budget from BIBA is $385,000 compared to $300,000 for the prior year.

"The Independence debate presented an interesting challenge, in that while it is not our job to be involved in the politics of a particular issue, we need to assess how an issue might affect the reputation and image of Bermuda's international business industry,'' Mr. Sloan said.

"The challenge with the Independence debate was to provide journalists with information about the international business industry that underscores the inherent stability of Bermuda's economy and the ongoing commitment Bermuda has made to the continued success of the industry, without entering into a debate about the pros and cons of independence,'' he said.

"In the end, we were able to garner a significant amount of positive coverage in the financial media.'' In the coming months, Edelman will not only provide media abroad with information on Bermuda's changing political landscape, but continue to promote the Island's competitive advantages, Mr. Sloane added.

"The competition has done a huge amount of spending to try and catch up (to Bermuda),'' he said.

"We feel it's important to keep our focus and pressure on what separates Bermuda from other jurisdictions.'' Mr. Sloane said that Bermuda's major advantage over competitors is partnership between Government and business.

On how the firm has performed, Edelman said it has been successful in raising awareness and enhancing Bermuda's image as world leader in international business.

And a recent award for Edelman's Bermuda campaign is one verification, Mr.

Sloane said.

Edelman has won top honours -- the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) golden world award -- for its Bermuda media relations campaign.

Edelman's submission outlined promotion of Bermuda's international business industry to target audiences overseas.

Judges from 12 countries reviewed 167 entries from 23 countries. Edelman won nine of the 31 IPRA awards.

"Before we started the programme in 1994, we conducted an audit of financial media in the US, UK, Canada and Hong Kong.

"It was disturbing that, not only was there a dearth of knowledge about Bermuda as a financial services centre, but many journalists didn't know where Bermuda was or confused it with the Caribbean,'' he said.

"The good news was that Bermuda's general image and reputation, while uninformed, was positive. However, it was clear that in many cases we were starting from ground zero.'' In 1995, follow-up research by independent firm Lieberman Research showed some success in raising awareness about Bermuda among UK and US executives.

This summer, Lieberman will compile information for BIBA to again measure the effect of the media relations programme.

The benchmark study was done in 1994 with initial follow-up in 1995.

Results of the second follow-up are anticipated at the end of August.

PR FIRM PUBLIC RELATIONS