Zaid Al-Qassab: Channel 4 has a new lease of life outside London
Just three months into his role as chief marketing officer of Channel 4, Zaid Al-Qassab is forging a digital-first identity for the broadcaster, assembling a new team of diverse talent and settling into new headquarters in Leeds.
Channel 4 has officially begun a new era. In October, the first wave of staff started to make themselves comfortable in temporary offices in Leeds city centre. They are awaiting the completion of a refit of the Grade II-listed former Majestic cinema and nightclub, where the broadcaster’s national headquarters will be based.
The much-heralded move out to the regions is the most visible of many changes at Channel 4, not least the appointment from September of Zaid Al-Qassab as the broadcaster’s new CMO.
Tempted away from BT by the lure of Channel 4’s digital acceleration programme, the brainchild of CEO Alex Mahon, Al-Qassab is already enjoying the excitement bubbling up around the broadcaster’s relocation outside the capital.
“There’s a great sense of energy,” he says. “It’s really given a new lease of life to a part of our mission, which is representing all of Britain. Being somewhere other than London is a good way of doing that.”
Al-Qassab, who will be divvying his time between the Leeds HQ and London offices, is keen to get cracking on a new marketing phase for the channel centred around the Digital Creative Unit (DCU), which is being introduced to produce content specifically for the broadcaster’s various social platforms.
Log in or subscribe to read the full article.