Channel 4 promotes interim CMO to permanent role

Channel 4 has appointed Katie Jackson as its new chief marketing officer.

Jackson replaced Zaid Al-Qassab as interim CMO in March when he left the business after four years. She will report directly to CEO Alex Mahon and sit on the executive team.

In her newly permanent role, Jackson is leading marketing and brand strategy across Channel 4 and will play a key role in its five-year ‘Fast Forward’ plan to become a digital-first public service streamer by 2030.

This includes overseeing the channel’s marketing, 4Creative and content communications teams.  She will also be responsible for ensuring the channel’s “important, distinctive and disruptive” content and brands stand out in a crowded market.

Before taking on the interim CMO job, Jackson led 4Creative, the broadcaster’s creative arm, as its managing director since 2022.

Brands’ reasons for hiring an interim CMO vary. As Marketing Week explored last year, interim and contract roles have boomed amid a tricky financial backdrop, with some brands resistant to splurge on senior hires. However, Channel 4 set out plans in March to recruit a permanent CMO before appointing Jackson three months later.

“Katie is an outstanding and passionate creative leader who has already made an indelible mark at Channel 4. I am excited about the impact she will have across our business, our leadership, and with our audiences to elevate the Channel 4 brand,” says Mahon. 

“At such a pivotal moment for the organisation, it’s even more important to leverage our trademark creativity in new and innovative ways – I can’t wait to get stuck in,” says Jackson.

Earlier this year, Channel 4 outlined plans to cut 18% of its 1,500-strong workforce amid difficulties from a decline in its advertising revenue. In November, Mahon described the channel as facing “market shock territory” during the worst advertising market since the 2008 financial crash.