LIVONIA, Mich., March 15 -- Valassis, the leading company in marketing services and Connective Media, announced today the naming of Gary Yost to the newly created position of President, International Media Properties. In this position, Yost will be responsible for leading Valassis' product development efforts in Europe, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom as well as opportunities in the rapidly expanding marketplace in Asia. "International media development is a highly important corporate objective and Gary's knowledge of Valassis products, his deep understanding of our customer base and his outstanding work ethic will help us accelerate international new media product development," said Alan F. Schultz, Chairman, President and CEO. Yost has more than 30 years of industry marketing experience and spent 10 years at the helm of the Valassis U.S. marketing team that transitioned the company to a customer-focused organization. As an expert in targeting consumer behavior, he built a world-class targeting and analytics team. Yost joined Valassis after leading sales, marketing and promotion teams at Reckitt Benckiser and Bristol-Myers Squibb.