Blog & Research

All my latest blog posts and research publications can be found here.

Donald Trump’s comms

The text of my speech to the Business Insider Inside Trends conference in Warsaw can be found here:https://twitter.com/robblackie_oo/status/1179378135365750789 "Fascinating thread on the President’s personal marketing strategy"Zach Purser-Brown, Washington Post...

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Media coverage mid-late 2019

You can find my recent media coverage here: BBC World Service: The digital election, also written up here.Wired: The biggest election stories on Facebook are.... really weirdThe Drum: Top media trends that could shape the 2020s.Daily Telegraph: The digital tactics...

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Recent articles

I regularly write on digital strategy. Here are my latest articles: Facebook needs a white hat Cambridge Analytica - in TechcrunchSmart speakers are over-hyped - in The Drum2018's best US political adsFacebook's next scandal - underaged kids on social networksSeven...

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How to fight fake news – first thoughts

How to fight fake news – first thoughts

I am working on three projects fighting fake news. Here are some common challenges that we face. And some initial thoughts on solutions. The fake news challenge: Brain hacking Creating and spreading fake news has become easier in recent years. Virality is a good...

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Fight fake news in Russia

How do you fight fake news? There are lots of options. But taking real news into Russia is rarely mentioned. I've put here an updated blogpost that I originally wrote back in March 2014. It gives some simple ideas about how to use Facebook advertising against Putin....

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Why isn’t Apple Pay taking off?

Google, Apple, Facebook (GAF)* are all trying to crack mobile selling. Yet none of them have. And the signs are that they won’t crack it in Britain soon. Why is this? Well it’s not an impossible nut to crack. China has done it. Recently there have been reports of cash...

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Digital strategy resources

I'm often asked what I read to keep up to date. So here's a list of resources I regularly use and people I follow on Twitter. It goes alongside the best email lists that I subscribe to. Ofcom Communication Market Reports Ofcom's Communication Market Reports, out...

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Ofcom Communication Market Report 2017

The annual Ofcom Communications Market Report is a treasure trove of data on how the UK behaves. I find myself regularly referring to it through the year as I work to distinguish hype from real trends. Facebook-Google is dominant Among Android users 9 of the top 10...

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