Hecho Studios unveiled its leadership team with Briony McCarthy serving as president. McCarthy joins Hecho's ongoing chief content officer Tom Dunlap and executive creative director Gui Borchert, bringing more than 20 years of creative media expertise to the group. By combining their diverse capabilities, the leadership trio will work together to position Hecho as a creative studio breaking down the walls between creative, production and media. The creative studio is already working with brands spanning entertainment, sports, technology, retail and media. The team recently completed projects for CBS, Google, TOMS, Adobe, Pinterest, Syfy, and NBCUniversal. Alongside its brand work, the company is launching a division dedicated to the development and production of original entertainment with several feature films, TV and streaming projects already underway. Prior to joining Hecho Studios, McCarthy served as president of PHD New York where she delivered breakthrough media strategies for brands such as HBO, Delta Airlines, MailChimp, Ferrero and Old Navy. Dunlap and Borchert previously worked at 72andSunny, as chief production officer and group creative director, respectively. Dunlap has more than two decades of advertising and entertainment experience working with agencies and production companies such as the Ridley Scott Creative Group. Borchert also has nearly 20 years of experience in the industry, during which time he has worked on major campaigns for Starbucks, Google and Nike, among many others….
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More