Bob Pearson is Senior Advisor for W2O Group, an independent network of digital communications and marketing companies known for their creation of algorithms and ability to evolve current models and create unique advantages for their clients worldwide.
He is an author, frequent speaker and blogger on digital marketing, as well as an adjunct professor at Syracuse University, The University of Texas McCombs School and a guest lecturer at the U.S. State Department’s Marketing College. He has written two 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. He is currently working on a fourth book with Haroon (Web War III: The Content Wars) and a fifth with Kip Knight & Ed Tazzia on marketing.
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).
Bob serves as an advisor and investor in many capacities. Highlights include: serving as an original member of the P&G digital advisory board; being appointed by the Governor of Texas to serve as chair and vice chair of the emerging technology fund for the State of Texas (more than $400MM invested); and currently serving on the boards of Vetted.org, The Advertising Research Foundation, Genprex, Inc. and as interim CEO of the MedicAlert Foundation, as well as acting as an advisor for the University of Texas Center for Global Business. Bob resides in Austin, Texas.
China
The Stunningly Successful Propaganda of “Chinawood”
It feels like we are living inside a movie with an unclear ending. Who will win and how will we know? Who are the good guys and the bad guys? What should we do? The gigantic issues of tension and conflict are many: Covid-19, communism vs. capitalism, censorship vs. freedom, disinformation vs. truth. This movie, […]
Coronavirus
Let’s Also Flatten the Curve on Another Virus
Even as the world fights Covid-19, another kind of virus is making that harder--willful disinformation, often planted by governments like Russia. Fake news about Covid is rampant.
5G
Who Will Unlock Technology’s Potential?
Tech transformations require education and imagination. If we don't focus on that, we may fail to benefit from a variety of promising but sometimes scary technologies.
Democracy
To Protect Net Freedom, We Have to Work Together
Governments in too many countries build fake websites to catch us, or jam satellite signals to prevent information from traveling over their borders. Journalists are often jailed and too often their lives are in danger. Our world is experiencing a steady decrease in freedom and that should concern all of us.
