WhoSay has hired former Newsweek Daily Beast president Rob Gregory as its chief revenue officer, the company will announce on Wednesday.
Gregory will be tasked with convincing advertisers to support the celebrity-driven social platform in its efforts to become People magazine for the next generation.
WhoSay, whose investors include CAA, Amazon and Comcast, began as a social media dashboard for celebrities, enabling Eva Longoria and Tom Hanks to post on social networks like Twitter and Facebook while retaining control over what they post.
Yet it recently launched an app that enables fans to create their own digital magazine from content posted by celebrities.
Gregory will now try to bring advertisers on board for the endeavor.
“We have spent the last two years building a groundbreaking media company in partnership with more than 1,500 celebrity Members. Following the successful launch of our new fan experience, it is time to focus on developing our premium advertising platform for brand and agency partners,” Steve Ellis, CEO and co-founder of WhoSay, said in a statement. “Rob has a tremendous amount of experience in entertainment and media across premium print, digital and mobile products, and is the right person to lead these efforts.”
Gregory has helped media companies generate revenue for more than 25 years, working at Newsweek Daily Beast, serving as group publisher of Maxim and publisher of Rolling Stone and Men’s Journal.
“WhoSay has built a platform that combines all the elements required for any premium media company of the future,” Gregory said in a statement. “The company reaches a highly social and mobile audience in a premium and brand-safe environment, and then combines that with very valuable and unique first-party data targeting.”
