24/7 Media Europe to Beef Up Benelux Operations

24/7 Media Europe announced plans to strengthen its operations in Benelux, including expanding its operating base in Brussels, establishing a new regional headquarters in Amsterdam and adding staff.

Govert van Eerde, head of advertising sales at Dutch portal World Online, has been appointed Benelux Regional Director for 24/7 Media Europe. He will be based in the region’s Amsterdam head office.

The Benelux subsidiaries will trade as 24/7 Media Belgium and 24/7 Media Nederlands. They will operate in tandem with 24/7 Media Europe’s other international operations, offering banner campaigns, online sponsorships, e- commerce and direct marketing opportunities on European and international Web sites.

“Until now 24/7 Media Europe has operated at a fairly low key in Belgium and Holland,” Van Eerde said. “Our aggressive expansion schedule, enabling us to provide comprehensive services tailored for the Benelux markets, aims to rapidly position 24/7 Media Europe as the leading international sales company for the region.”

There is, of course, competition. A week or so earlier, New York City-based DoubleClick Inc. formally launched DoubleClick Benelux, based in Amsterdam and providing advertising solutions for Web publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

DoubleClick Benelux reps for a local network of 20 Web sites in the Benelux countries at launch.

24/7 Media Europe has a network of 13 offices in 12, predominantly European, countries and a network of top Web sites including Fortune City, Scandinavia Online, Voila and Belgium-based WOQATS.