Focus groups old hat?

I've just had another book review published by the ever excellent Lobster - see here. The book is about focus groups, considered more generally in the consumer market, but of specific interest to me in the political context. Remember how Tony Blair was described as a focus group driven politician? Focus groups were and to an extent still are demonised as an ingredient in the new era of conviction-free politicians. But then, remember G. Brown Esq? The greatest threat to focus groups now comes from algorithms in the hands of unscrupulous data harvesters on the internet. What fascinating times, eh?