Thinkbox CMO Andrew MacGillivray to Step Down After 21 Years
Andrew MacGillivray, the long-serving chief marketing officer of commercial-TV body Thinkbox, will leave at the end of 2026 after 21 years spent making the effectiveness case for television to advertisers.
The Departure
Andrew MacGillivray, CMO of Thinkbox, is stepping down at the end of 2026 after 21 years with the organisation, which he joined at its 2005 launch and whose marketing he has led since 2011. A successor will be named in due course.
He shaped much of Thinkbox's award-winning 'case for TV' work, including initiatives such as its TV Masters programme. Chief executive Lindsey Clay said MacGillivray had been 'Thinkbox's heart, its soul, and a fair part of its brain'.
Why It Matters
Thinkbox is commercial TV's biggest cheerleader, and it lands the effectiveness argument for the medium at a moment of genuine pressure - streaming fragmentation, measurement debates and a contested push toward an early Freeview switch-off. Who leads that argument next is not a trivial question.
The change is also a marker of how much the definition of 'TV' has shifted on MacGillivray's watch, from linear spots to a total-video world spanning broadcaster VOD, connected TV and social. Thinkbox's job now is to make the case for attention and effectiveness across all of it.
Marketing Minute's Take
For advertisers, the takeaway is less about one person and more about the argument he championed: broad-reach, high-attention video still does heavy lifting for brand building, even in a performance-obsessed market. Expect Thinkbox to keep pressing that case, and expect the effectiveness data to keep backing it.
It is also a reminder that trade bodies are marketers too. Two decades of consistent, evidence-led brand-building for 'TV' is exactly the kind of long-term positioning most brands admire and few sustain. There is a lesson there for anyone tempted to reinvent their message every year.
Quick FAQ
Who is stepping down as Thinkbox CMO?
Andrew MacGillivray, who has led Thinkbox's marketing since 2011, will leave at the end of 2026 after 21 years with the commercial-TV marketing body.
What does Thinkbox do?
Thinkbox is the marketing body for commercial television in the UK, making the effectiveness and brand-building case for TV and total video to advertisers and agencies.
Why does this matter for advertisers?
Thinkbox shapes how the industry thinks about TV effectiveness at a time of streaming fragmentation and measurement change, so its leadership and messaging influence media-planning debates.
Twenty-one years making the same evidence-led case is not repetition, it is discipline - and it is why 'the case for TV' actually lands. Most brands would kill for that kind of message consistency. The real lesson here is not about TV, it is the compounding power of staying on message. - Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Broad-reach, high-attention video still drives brand building - and Thinkbox's two decades of consistent messaging is a masterclass in the patience most brands lack.
Is your brand message consistent enough to compound over years, or does it reset every planning cycle?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Marketing Week, Campaign.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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