Introducing an international touch
Digital experience agency Touchcast recently welcomed Luke Pittar into its Auckland office as a design director.
Pittar’s experience over the past years has seen him work with many major international brands in both a strategic and visual direction capacity.
His recent role at Saatchi & Saatchi Design Worldwide has given him exposure to the international network of ad agencies, from Auckland to New York, Milan and Shanghai across a range of key international clients, such as P&G, Illy Coffee, Lexus, ASB, Telecom, KPMG and Air New Zealand.
Prior to plying his trade at Saatchi & Saatchi Design Worldwide, he was studying his master’s degree in participatory design, while tutoring at Massey University.
Pittar says that in his new role he hopes to create meaningful brand experiences that consumers enjoy to engage with.
“From a product or services to an app, a book, event or website, these experiences must enable their customer and communities to collaborate with, create, connect and make sense of the world around them, enabling better choices for a better life. As an agency Touchcast completely understands this, which is what makes the journey ahead pretty damn exciting.”
“We’re excited to have Luke on board and look forward to his contribution to the ongoing evolution of Touchcast. He brings a great range of experience and senior leadership to the creative team under our creative director, Matt Barnes,” says Touchcast managing director Andrew Hawley.
Filling in
MediaWorks TV has announced that Reuben Wiremu, currently the brand and communications manager at Lotto NZ, will be joining the broadcaster’s marketing and publicity department in late May as the TV3 brand manager on a 12-month contract, which will see him cover for Rebecca Saunders while she is on maternity leave.
Wiremu has worked for Lotto NZ in various capacities since 2007, and before that he worked at Teletech and Meridian Energy.
A spokesperson for Lotto NZ says that the organisation has not yet commenced the search for a replacement but there are plans to start the hunt shortly.
Pure SEO, pure CEO
Jay Harraway has been appointed to the position of chief operating officer at Pure SEO, which is promoted as New Zealand’s top-ranked commercial website for the search terms ‘search engine optimisation’ and ‘SEO’.
The role will give Harraway responsibility for driving growth in the business while maintaining a high quality of service to Pure SEO’s 150 clients across multiple sectors in New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
Harraway brings extensive management and business leadership experience from a 15-year career in companies, including Just Water New Zealand, Bartercard New Zealand and Clearwater Filter Systems (Aust) Pty. She first joined Bartercard in an estate agent role and rose to become national administration manager and later operations and HR manager. She also served as general manager of Bartercard Thailand.
In her most recent role, as general manager of Just Water New Zealand, the country’s largest water delivery business with a $20 million annual turnover, Harraway increased EBIT six-fold in three years, enhanced employee engagement by 50 percent and implemented a customer care programme that significantly improved contact and retention rates.
“Jay’s extensive experience in SMEs, particularly those experiencing rapid growth, will be invaluable in our business as we continue to expand. She has a sophisticated understanding of the business landscape in which we operate and a superb record of results in service and delivery to clients. We are delighted to welcome her to the team,” says Pure SEO owner and managing director Richard Conway.
Pizza every day
Domino’s Pizza has appointed Emma Barnes in the role of its New Zealand PR Manager, bringing its Kiwi-based PR function in-house following a long relationship with Impact PR.
Barnes comes from a marketing and advertising background, most recently within the media industry at Adshel as a marketing manager for two years and prior to that she worked at King St advertising as a media and account manager for eight months.
“I am really excited about becoming part of the passionate and driven Domino’s team,” says Barnes. “I have a fantastic platform to work on from Impact PR and am looking forward to working closely with the franchisees to increase their exposure in the local markets while ensuring Domino’s get the coverage they deserve. I am impressed with how much there is to talk about here at Domino’s”
Domino’s New Zealand general manager is equally enthused about the prospect of working with Barnes.
“It is the perfect time for Domino’s to bring the PR in house, we have an exciting time ahead of us with our menus, stores and continually improving technology offerings, so to have someone dedicated to sharing our journey with the public is a great step.”
A Kiwi returns
Wellington-based Touchtech has appointed Madeline King in its lean marketing and growth department in a position that will see her using her social media skills to increase the reach of a range of startups in Wellington.
This position is the first role that King will tackle following a trip to Colombia, where she served as the campaign director for not-for-profit organisation Beyond Violence.
In addition to this international experience, she also worked as the social media manager at Art of Leaning for three years and holds a master’s degree in media studies from the University of Auckland.
The socialist
Jack Prichard has joined OptimalBI and MagnumBI as the Wellington-based agency’s brand community manager (although his LinkedIn page describes him as a socialist at OptimalBI).
He joins from iSentia, where he worked as a search specialist for five years before deciding to further his career with Optimal BI’s Victoria MacLennan and Shane Gibson.
In his new role, Prichard has been charged with an organic build of community, engaging fans and enthusiasts of business intelligence, data visualisation, and analytics.
As an interesting side note, Prichard was currently serving as the man behind the Poli v Poli twitter handle (@polivspoli), which operates to promote campaign recently launched by OptimalBI.
