Dazed Media’s chief commercial officer Will Hayward departs to join Joe Media as first CEO
Dazed Media’s chief commercial officer Will Hayward has left the company after 11 months to join Joe Media as its first ever chief executive, the company has confirmed.
Will Hayward
Joe Media is the UK’s new male-focused digital publisher. Hayward will be responsible for leading the company’s two UK offices, in London and Manchester, and will oversee all aspects of the business from editorial and commercial to business operations, as well as helping to grow the publisher’s in-house branded content division, MADE by Joe Media.
Dazed Media, then Dazed Group appointed Hayward as chief commercial officer in June 2015, a role newly created for Hayward. He formerly served as vice president of Europe at Buzzfeed in an 18-month stint. Prior to this he worked at a variety of other media businesses including The Economist and Dow Jones.
Speaking on his recent appointment Hayward said that he’s waited a long time to see the right player enter the UK market with a product that really adds something interesting to the male vertical.
"What the JOE brand has achieved in Ireland has been hugely admirable and now it is sky-rocketing in the UK with traffic just over 6M unique monthly users, a social following that exceeds 4.5M across the key social platforms and video engagement on original content that is just unbelievable to see.
"I’ve been convinced for a while that there is a considerable gap in the market for a smart media company catering for young UK males. I know that JOE is that company and I couldn’t be more excited to begin leading the ever growing team of journalists and creators, and using the platform for commercial partnerships in a new and innovative way."
Hayward will begin his new role with Joe Media based at their East London headquarters on 1 June.
Following Hayward's departure, Dazed Media has folded the chief commercial officer role. Hayward's former responsibilities will fall across senior management.