Channel 4 CMO Zaid Al-Qassab to join M&C Saatchi as CEO

Zaid Al-Qassab is set to join ad agency M&C Saatchi as its new CEO. His appointment comes following news of his departure from Channel 4, where he has been chief marketing officer since 2019, last month.

He will depart Channel 4 next month, before joining M&C Saatchi in May.

Al-Qassab’s move agency side comes following a career in brand marketing. He spent 20 years at P&G across various roles culminating in managing director of its health and beauty division for the UK and Ireland, before joining BT as chief brand and marketing officer in 2015.

He moved to Channel 4 in 2019 as CMO and took on the additional responsibility of inclusion and diversity director in 2020. Al-Qassab is also a director and council member of the Advertising Standards Authority and a board trustee of WaterAid.

Channel 4 CMO Zaid Al-Qassab to departAl-Qassab says: “I have long admired M&C Saatchi’s creativity and industry-leading work and I am delighted to be joining one of the most recognised advertising brands in the world.”

The agency has a “unique growth opportunity,” he says, noting the agency’s “unrelenting focus on creative solutions built on client understanding, with an agile, global, integrated offer.”

Zillah Byng-Thorne, executive chair at M&C Saatchi, adds: “We are delighted to have attracted someone of Zaid’s calibre to lead M&C Saatchi into its next phase of growth. Zaid has proven leadership qualities, has managed global teams, and his client-centric focus, dynamism and commercial acumen will be highly valuable as we look to accelerate our growth trajectory.”