NEW YORK—Edelman has launched Persicope, a global market-entry offering that provides research, communications and stakeholder engagement counsel and execution to companies expanding into foreign markets. Persicope will be led by Chris Hayes, executive vice president, international and market entry at Edelman.

According to the firm, “As the world continues to globalize, the need to provide market intelligence and strategic insights for clients looking to enter new markets and promote their products and services has significantly increased.”

The World Bank expects cross-border transactions and foreign direct investment to increase from 1,400 deals in 2011 to more than 4,500 per year by 2025 In emerging markets. Eight nations—the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) plus TIMP (Turkey, Indonesia, Mexico and the Philippines) countries—are expected to constitute nearly 50 percent of global GDP growth over the next 10 years, economists predict.

“This is clearly a huge growth area for Edelman, as we are seeing companies enter new markets at a blistering pace and foreign direct investment is skyrocketing,” says Hayes. “Yet we live in a globalizing, not globalized world. While it is easier than ever to do business globally, it is also more important than ever for companies to truly understand—and be understood by—the country and market they are entering, and to engage stakeholders in a meaningful way.”