Natwest Group seeks brand chief

NatWest Group is seeking a new head of brand strategy to replace Carol Griffiths who moves across to a management consultancy role.

NatWest Group is looking for a new head of brand strategy to work across its 14 business divisions, after Carol Griffiths left the position to work for the company as a management consultant.

The group has yet to find a replacement for Griffiths, who reported to NatWest Group development director Norman Blackwell.

NatWest Group’s business units include retail banking, corporate banking, card services, mortgages and insurance. They also include Lombard’s finance house, Gartmore asset managers and Coutts Group, the investment bank.

The group head of brand strategy role is integral to NatWest’s drive to centralise decision-making on its brand strategy. However, an insider says there is no obvious candidate – internal or external – to replace Griffiths.

Last year, the group dropped its roster of eight advertising, direct marketing and design agencies and appointed TBWA GGT Simons Palmer as lead consultancy.

A new television campaign has yet to emerge and the marketing department is understood to be frustrated by the bureaucratic hurdles that have hampered the project’s progress.

Meanwhile, Stephen Lowe, head of marketing at NatWest Mortgage Services, has resigned his position to set up a new bank with an overseas partner.

The departures follow the appointment of Frazer Smith to head NatWest Group’s marketing department.