Saatchi wins $20m Monster brief to raise profile of European sites

Saatchi & Saatchi has scooped the $20m (&£12.5m) pan-European advertising account for global online recruitment network Monster.com.

The agency is understood to have beaten Lowe Lintas, Euro RSCG and BDH to secure the account.

Monster.com, which is owned by TMP Worldwide, has briefed Saatchi to devise an ad push to raise awareness of the network and boost traffic to its European sites. The main thrust of the strategy will be TV ads, backed by radio, print and poster executions.

The company has six local sites – situated in the UK, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, and Ireland – and is planning to add an extra 12 during the year. The service is already well established in the US.

The review was spearheaded by European marketing director Rikke Rasmussen, who joined the company in January after overseeing the launch of BT’s low-cost Internet service BT Click. She was also responsible for BT’s Webzone at the Millennium Dome.

Rasmussen says: “This appointment demonstrates our commitment to developing Monster.com as Europe’s dominant career network. Saatchi’s European experience will be invaluable as we move into new markets.”

Media is being handled by local agencies across Europe but this may be reviewed at a later stage. RCL Communications runs the UK account.