Ex-Hotwire man's agency will ape Obama tactics

Clare O'Connor 03-Apr-08

Ex-Hotwire head of digital and well-known blogger Daljit Bhurji this week launched his own agency, offering to replicate Barack Obama's shrewd web strategy for his own clients.

Bhurji's co-founders at new agency Diffusion are former Hotwire colleague Ivan Ristic and Google search expert Barney Jones.

The agency, which will specialise in social media and search-engine marketing, will look to adapt the sophisticated digital communications techniques employed by US presidential candidate Obama.

Bhurji said: 'Obama has an extremely shrewd way of using search to manage his reputation. There have been rumours that he is a Muslim, so he has been buying Google keywords. Whenever anyone types in "Barack Obama Muslim" to Google, the result that comes up is an article on his Christian faith.

'The Unite union is using a similar method to hit out against the Marks & Spencer brand as a protest against working conditions.

'This is a trend that will continue, and if you are not managing your reputation on the first page of Google, then you are making a mistake.'

Diffusion has established an office in central London, and has two launch clients, the Direct Marketing Association and email marketing provider e-Dialog.

Bhurji maintained that the new agency will provide traditional media relations alongside online communications, but will move beyond the 'glorified press release distribution'.

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