PR Masters Series Podcast, Episode #8 – Bob Pearson

 The Stevens Group is pleased to present a new podcast series that salutes the masters of public relations and revels in their observations, insights and advice to PR professionals.  This new series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.

About Our Guest

Bob Pearson, Strategic Advisor, W2O Group

Bob played a key role in building the 800-person firm, W2O Group, which is centered on algorithms, machine-learning and innovative media models that lead to insights-driven marketing communications campaigns.  He has served as Chief Technology Officer, President, Vice-Chairman and now Strategic Advisor. Prior to W2O Group, Bob worked as VP of Communities and Conversations at Dell to develop the Fortune 500’s first global social media function—an industry-leading approach to the use of social media, as highlighted in the best seller, GroundSwell. Before Dell, Bob was Head of Global Corporate Communications and Head of Global Pharma Communications at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Basel, Switzerland, where he served on the Pharma Executive Committee and he held the role of Vice President of Media and Public Affairs for Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi). He is an author, frequent speaker and blogger on digital marketing, as well as an adjunct professor at Syracuse University and The University of Texas McCombs School, where he is teaching a new course on digital media models.  He is a Visiting Scholar at The University of Southern California, where he will teach in the Fall of 2019.  Bob is also a guest lecturer at the U.S. State Department’s Marketing College with a focus on digital media and how to counter disinformation and extremism.  He works in a digital media capacity as a contractor for OTI/USAID and the U.S. Agency for Global Media.   He has written two digital media books (PreCommerce and Storytizing) based on key learning’s from the firm’s work with innovative companies and individuals. Bob’s third book, Countering Hate, co-authored with Haroon K. Ullah, explores how bias, hate and extremism forms, how we can counter it and what we can learn from extremist groups.  His fourth book with Kip Knight & Ed Tazzia, Crafting Persuasion, became available July 1, 2019.  Bob is now working on his first novel. Bob currently serves on the boards of Vetted.org (vice-chair), The Advertising Research Foundation, Genprex, Inc., and as CEO of the MedicAlert Foundation.  He is on the KPMG digital advisory board and is a member of the Defense Science Board for the Department of Defense.  Bob resides in Austin, Texas.