Wieden+Kennedy (W+K) has pegged Iain Tait to be its global interactive executive creative director, effective April 1. Accomplished in the digital advertising space, he will join executive creative directors Dan Wieden and John Jay, and COO Dave Luhr on the global management team that oversees all seven W+K network offices. Tait is the first addition to the global team since its formation in 2006.
Tait spent the past eight years as creative director and head of strategy for independent agency Poke in London, where he was a founding partner and driving force behind lauded work for clients such as American Express, Orange, Topshop, Yahoo! and Zopa.
Among the awards his endeavors have won over the years are Webbys, One Show Pencils, ADC Cubes and Cannes Lion recognition. He is the author of a well read industry blog, crackunit.com, and has been named jury chairman for this year’s One Show Interactive Awards.
“Iain is one of the industry’s most influential and respected digital leaders,” said Wieden, co-founder/exec creative director of W+K. “He understands the remarkable relationship between people, culture and business, and his background as a strategic, creative business leader complements our global management team’s abilities.”
Prior to his work at Poke, Tait was a part of the management team for Oven Digital, a global digital agency in London, and director of product development for First Tuesday in London, where he worked in the startup space responsible for developing and delivering new online business models.
Tait will relocate to W+K’s Portland office.
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