Joy Howard has joined Back Market, a Paris-based global marketplace for “verified, refurbished consumer tech and appliances,” as chief marketing officer. The company’s mission is to fight back against tech waste by giving new life to old devices.
Prior to joining Back Market, Howard was CMO at Lyft and CMO at Sonos. She also led global marketing for Patagonia and has held leadership roles at Nike and Coca-Cola. In her new role, Howard is tasked with growing the brand globally and helping deliver on its mission to shift consumer consumption habits away from new purchases and towards circular purchases.
At Patagonia, she is credited with the launch of Worn Wear, the outdoor retailer’s program that lets customers buy, sell and repair used clothes. In 2021, she launched Early Majority, a membership-based outdoor brand designed to promote recycling and reducing waste through collaboration between production and sales. The company was acquired by Mason & Fifth earlier this year.
“The manufacturing of new consumer products is killing the planet,” said Howard, in a statement. “Buying second hand has already become standard in some categories – it’s time to bring this same transformation to technology, the fastest-growing and most toxic waste stream on the planet.”
“People have known for years that buying new cars makes no economic sense, and the recent explosive growth of circular fashion has uncovered that it makes no environmental sense to buy new clothes; our job is to educate the masses about the same economic and environmental realities in tech,” she continued. “I look forward to applying my experience in recommerce to a global brand that champions making the most of what we already have – and having fun while doing it.”
