Search specialist Rogier Croes joins MEC media agency as Head of Search for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

MEC has appointed Rogier Croes to the position of Head of Search for Europe, Middle East and Africa, effective from May 1st. He will report to Jeff Hyams, Chief Strategic Officer for MEC, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Rogier was previously Managing Director of Outrider, GroupM's specialist search agency, and responsible for search marketing across all GroupM agencies. In his previous role, Rogier grew the profitable search offering of PPC, SEO and affiliate marketing with clients such as TomTom, Unilever, VW, Nike and Dell. In his new role as Head of Search, Rogier will continue to be based in the Netherlands.

Before joining Group M, Rogier held roles at Checkit, KCS and Promo Results, working with clients such as eBay, ING, iLocal and Nationale-Nederlanden.

In his new role, Rogier will apply his previous experience to boost MEC's paid and organic search offerings. This will further integrate search marketing into the agency proposition and the marketing strategies of the agency's clients.

Commenting on his appointment, Rogier said: "MEC already has some of the best technology and finest talent in the market. This has enabled the agency to deliver some fantastic and award-winning work and I'm delighted to be joining the team. My task is to continue to invest in leading edge platforms such as mobile and social search, thereby maximizing the search offering for our clients. I'm relishing the challenges ahead."

Jeff Hyams, Chief Strategic Officer, MEC adds: "Rogier comes with an impressive background; in the last two years he has built a formidable search operation for GroupM, proving his expertise in this field. At MEC we are committed to delivering a first class search product to our clients across the region and collaborating effectively with the GroupM search teams around the network. Rogier will play a leading role in making this happen."