Barclays picks UK CMO as marketing revamp continues

Barclays UK has finally appointed a permanent chief marketing officer, handing the job to ‘lifer’ Inderjit Bassi, who has been with the bank for more than 20 years and interim CMO since February following the departure of Alisa Copeman to American Express.

The appointment is part of a wider restructure taking place across the business, which has seen a number of senior marketers depart including group head of brand, events, insights and sponsorship Richard French.

In the summer it was reported that Barclays had launched a review for customer marketing, B2B and social media accounts. The company currently uses a number of UK agencies, including BBH London, OMD UK, Iris and Oliver.

In his new role, Bassi will report to head of customer and digital Manuel Baldasano, who only joined in September from Santander, and work closely with group CMO Nina Bibby, who joined the same month from US telecoms business Verizon. She was previously global CMO for Barclaycard between 2010 and 2013.

Bassi (pictured) will be responsible for marketing strategy, brand advertising, digital acquisition and campaign execution across the Barclays and Barclaycard brands, targeting UK consumers and businesses with up to £6.5m turnover.

He joined Barclays in 2002 and has held numerous roles across the bank, including marketing director in corporate banking, international banking and retail banking as well as most recently managing director of Barclays UK product and propositions marketing.

Bassi said: “Barclays UK has a strong brand presence in the market and it is a privilege to lead this team. I’m excited about the opportunities we have to grow our brand and support UK consumers make money work for them – enabled by a continued focus on technology and data to drive more personalised communications.”

The finance firm first embarked on its data-driven strategy more than a decade ago with the launch of the Barclays Mobile App. A year later, it set up the Digital Eagles initiative to establish a stronger connection and boost engagement with existing customers in branches.

The scheme has trained thousands of staff to become digitally savvy, allowing other employees, older and younger, to become more comfortable with digital technology.

It also operates Barclays Eagle Labs, a network of incubator spaces to help entrepreneurs and ambitious businesses to innovate and scale.