Hayward will join GroupM to replace James Chadwick who is set to leave his current role in September to move back to the UK.
On his appointment, Hayward said, "These are challenging days for the media business. The options and techniques for engaging the consumer continue to multiply and the pressure from clients to deliver imaginative strategies and cost-effective results are ever-present."
He added, "GroupM and their agencies are uniquely positioned to interpret the trends, direction and effectiveness of this new media world and ensure that their clients get the best advice and real-world, actionable solutions."
Hayward, a veteran in the industry, has nearly 30 years of media buying and selling experience under his belt. Prior to working for Star TV as the vice president of client services and as the executive vice president of advertising sales, Hayward worked in various media buying roles over 15 years.
At McCann Erickson Advertising, he was the regional media coordinator based in Hong Kong, and worked as the broadcast director for Leo Burnett Advertising in London for over six years.
One of the challenges which faces Hayward is to manage the status quo of GroupM's agencies which includes Mindshare and MEC with regards to their market dominance and the regional-local balance and establish a spirit of cohesiveness among them.
Said Mark Patterson, the CEO of GroupM AsiaPacific, "Toby brings respected, seasoned , networked Singapore and region wide savvy commercial media acumen and leadership to GroupM. Just what we want and need to pick up from James and to change the game for us and our clients in Singapore. As with our announcement earlier in the week of Tim Scott Hunter in Vietnam Toby will add to the overall GroupM team in the region in other ways too "
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