NatWest blocks staff from using WhatsApp: November 15th, 2024
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NatWest has blocked staff from using WhatsApp. Elsewhere, 99% of brands plan martech overhaul in the year ahead, OpenAI faces slowing GPT progress, the IBM UK boss and digital inclusion charity chief have joined the DSIT board, a growing number of advertisers plan to shift focus to performance marketing in 2025, Asda has appointed a new online boss and Christmas advertising spend is to hit ￡10.5bn.
NatWest blocks staff from using WhatsApp
NatWest Group has blocked messaging services WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Skype on company devices in the UK to stop staff using them to communicate with each other. The bank had already told employees to stick to "approved channels" for conversations about business matters. But now it has gone further and made the platforms inaccessible on work phones and computers.
"Like many organisations, we only permit the use of approved channels for communicating about business matters, whether internally or externally," NatWest said in a statement.
99% of brands plan martech overhaul in the year ahead
According to a new Acxiom study which quizzed 200 marketing chiefs in the UK and US, 99% of marketing chiefs are planning to make changes to their stack next year, with over a third (35%) ditching their existing tools, and the rest planning to either boost or consolidate their stack. The study revealed that developing a martech strategy is the top priority across the board, with 34% of respondents including it in their top three.
OpenAI faces slowing GPT progress
According to a report by The Information, OpenAI is adjusting its strategy as it sees slower performance gains in the large language models that power ChatGPT. The upcoming model codenamed Orion, the successor to GPT-4, represents a smaller improvement than the leap in quality from GPT-3 to GPT-4. This could make Orion more expensive to run for certain tasks, and has led to concerns about the scalability of AI models.
IBM UK boss and digital inclusion charity chief join DSIT board
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has appointed four new non-executive directors to its board. Dominic Field, who has sat on the board since April, has been appointed lead non-executive director. Field, a former managing director and partner at the Boston Consulting Group, replaces former lead NED Shonnel Malani, managing partner of Advent International, who has stepped down from the board.
Interview: Jason Cao on Huawei’s fintech frontier and digital transformation innovation
In conversation with FinTech Futures at GITEX Global 2024, one of the largest technology events in the Middle East held annually in Dubai, Jason Cao, CEO of Huawei Digital Finance BU, details the rise of new-age security threats, how consumer preferences are rapidly shifting worldwide, and how these challenges have sparked a renewed push towards more agile, resilient and consumer-first platforms among the industry.
Speaking on modernising legacy systems, Jason said: “We are currently in a highly challenging time. “Discussing customer experience is simple, but meeting these expectations is far from easy. Today’s generations, educated by the internet and fintech, expect all financial organisations to provide the same level of service.”
Growing number of advertisers plan to shift focus to performance marketing in 2025
According to a new report from Ebiquity and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), 50% of global advertisers plan to increase their 2025 media budgets. The 2025 Media Budgets Survey from Ebiquity and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) shows 42% of respondents plan to increase their share of performance marketing next year, while only 24% intend to increase their share of branding. In 2024, these numbers sat at 21% and 35%, respectively.
Asda names ex-Tesco director as interim online boss
Asda has appointed former Tesco director Barney Burgess as interim vice president of online while it waits for David Devany to join the business next year. Burgess will lead Asda.com , George.com and online operations teams with immediate effect, reporting into chief digital officer Matt Kelleher.
Christmas ad spend to hit ￡10.5bn
British advertisers are expected to spend ￡10.5bn over the Christmas season, an increase of 7.8% on last year, the Advertising Association and data provider WARC have found. Companies have shifted their focus from television to online advertising. Search engine ad spending is up 8% to ￡4bn, and online display ad spending rose by 15.8% to around ￡4bn as well.
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1 周??, enjoyed my first read!