Hires key executive from Lagardere to build the new division, based in London to deliver global advertising solutions for brand advertisers worldwide
LONDON – Glam Media, the leading vertical media company with the #1 global reach for women online, announced it is opening a premium brand sales team based out of its international headquarters in London.
The new sales team has been set up to develop and manage online advertising campaigns for international-based brands across Glam Media’s portfolio of websites which attract more than 197 million unique users worldwide (comScore September 2010). Isabelle Sommet and Candace Droz, who will serve as Co-Directors of International Sales, will head the division.
The launch of the new sales team follows the opening of Glam Media’s International Headquarters in London in January 2010 to help drive the company’s worldwide business expansion. The company currently has international offices in the UK, France, Germany and Japan with additional sales operations in Australia, Brazil, and South Korea. Glam Media Labs, based in Pune, India, supports Glam Media global ad operations and R&D.
The formation of the international sales team follows increased demand from multinational advertisers, particularly premium brands, for integrated, global advertising solutions. The international sales team will be responsible for leveraging existing advertiser relationships or establishing new ones where required.
“Our goal is to focus on building solutions for brands wherever they do business and help those brands target audiences in all the markets they want to reach,” said Ernie Cicogna, General Manager, International, Glam Media. “Spearheaded by top industry professionals Sommet and Droz, the team will meet the increased demand, especially from premium advertisers, for innovative multinational solutions, connecting brands with our global audience that is approaching 200m monthly unique users.”
Glam Media already works with many premium beauty, fashion and FMCG brands across multiple countries such as Chanel, Burberry, L’Oreal, Dior, Unilever and Proctor and Gamble; and have executed multi-national campaigns for companies such as HP and Swarovski.
“Where we work with premium brands in local markets, for instance Dior and Chanel in Japan, our focus will be to grow these relationships internationally by developing global, integrated advertising solutions”, said Sommet. “Global, yet local is where the future is for many multinational brands. With our strong international footprint, the global sales group will fill a gap in the market to create quality brand experiences for our passionate, online female audience,” added Droz.
The new international offering will also enable advertisers to use the latest in advertising products and technology including new rich media ad formats exclusive to Glam Media that are delivered through GlamAdapt, its unique ad serving platform. Glam Media also provides unrivalled audience targeting and insights that helps its partners identify where, when and how audiences respond to their brand messages.
Sommet has over 20 years of media sales experience including 15 years at Lagardere Media where she was a key member of the team that launched the international versions of Elle magazine. Later, based in London, Sommet worked on the launch of Hachette UK, a subsidiary of Lagardere. She brings invaluable knowledge of premium fashion and beauty brands and will focus on nurturing these sectors.
Droz joins the international sales team from Glam Media, North America where she spent the last three years selling to powerhouse brands including General Mills, Target and NBC Universal. Prior to that she spent ten years as a regional sales manager for CBS/CNET selling their premium consumer brands. Droz will focus on premium, mass retail and FMCG accounts.
Earlier this year in London, Glam Media appointed Jane Loring as MD for Glam Media UK, who joined from Microsoft UK where she was Director of Specialist Sales.
About Glam Media
Having launched in the UK in June 2008, Glam Media is the fastest growing vertical media company increasing over 77 per cent since launch. It reaches over 18 million unique users in the UK making it a comScore Media Metrix top 10 web property (comScore, September 2010). Connecting brand advertisers with engaged online audiences, the Glam Media vertical content network now operates more than 1,400 sites from professional independent publishers, traditional media and bloggers.
Glam Media has more than 180 million unique visitors per month worldwide (comScore, September 2010) and is headquartered in New York City, New York and Silicon Valley, California, with international headquarters in London and offices in Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Tokyo and Paris.
