LONDON--Blue State Digital (BSD), the digital firm best known for its work on Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, has poached Blue Rubicon head of digital Rob Blackie for the role of London MD.

Blackie joins BSD after five years at Blue Rubicon, including three years as its only head of digital. He will help oversee a client roster that includes American Express, Ford, Microsoft and numerous non-profit organisations, including the Tate, Hope Not Hate and the BPI.

BSD was acquired by WPP at the end of 2010, and has continued its work with political candidates and parties around the world.

“BSD-London does brilliant work with clients like the Tate, Hope Not Hate and the music matters campaign for the BPI, among many others,” said Blackie. “There’s great potential for BSD to gain recognition for this work, and to grow our client base across non-profits, government and corporates.”

“Rob will be an incredible asset for Blue State Digital,” said BSD managing partner Thomas Gensemer. “We’ve seen his proven ability to introduce online communications for a broad spectrum of clients, and we’re excited to bring his knowledge, and tremendous business intuition into the fold. We know his experience will be instrumental in BSD’s continued success in Europe.” 

Prior to joining Blue Rubicon, Blackie played a large role in advising the central government on the integration of digital into press office communications, and trained more than 500 government communicators on how best to implement these practices.