E-mail marketing service providers Lyris and Silverpop are expanding into the European markets. Lyris is doing so by acquiring UK-based e-mail marketing agency Facultas, and Silverpop is expanding with a new office in Germany.
Lyris acquired its UK partner Facultas last week in a move to expand its global footprint. To support the expansion, Lyris will be opening a new office in London. Donna McNicholas, who was recently named the Lyris UK sales director, will lead the London sales team. Andrew Robinson, former managing director and owner of Facultas, will assume the position of Lyris’ director of international professional services.
“Facultas has really done a great job in the UK, and one of the keys to the acquisition is that we are acquiring great people,” said Brian Bailard, SVP global sales at Lyris. “We also see opportunities for substantial growth in Europe. We’ve seen our growth do quite nicely with very little effort, and now is a good time for us to step up our game in the European market.
For Silverpop, the European expansion began back in 2005 with an office in London. The new office in Germany will be located in Munich and is being assisted by the European Founders Fund (EFF), a venture capital firm, holding common stock directly from the privately held Silverpop.
Silverpop’s team in Munich will be led by three regional sales managers: Marc Hergenroether, Beate Metz and John Thomson.
Hergenroether comes to Silverpop from online marketing firm Enecto, where he served as general manager for Germany. Metz and Thomson will lead Silverpop’s sales efforts for the Silverpop Engage platform. Metz brings more than 10 years of online marketing experience to Silverpop, having previously served as a sales manager for Epsilon. Thomson most recently focused on e-mail as an account manager for Premiere Global Services.
“There is tremendous opportunity to help German companies further engage their customers and prospects to boost their sales success, and Silverpop is uniquely qualified to provide the necessary solutions,” said Hergenroether in a statement.
