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Touchcast announces three new senior recruits

Touchcast has announced three new senior appointments to its Auckland team, including general manager Jacqui Copas, client service director Steve Poutney and design director Dean Pomfrett.

Touchcast managing director Andrew Hawley says Copas replaces Will Joyce, who was in the role for 18 months, Pomfrett replaces Luke Pittar, while a new role has been created for Poutney.

Hawley says there have also been a number of changes in account services. “The kind of work we are doing is evolving and growing so it’s a natural addition of people we had to bring on board as needs changed,” he says.

Dean Pomfrett (design director, Auckland), Andrew Hawley (managing director NZ), Jacqui Copas (general manager Auckland), Steve Pountney (head of client service)

Hawley says Copas’ mix of digital agency experience with brands like Samsung, Chevron, British Telecom, Reckitt Benckiser, The Nike Foundation, and Cancer Research UK and client-side experience at Spark, Yellow and WHSmith gives her the balanced perspective Touchcast needed to service its clients in the way they expect.

“With Jacqui spearheading a very talented team that includes Steve and Dean I’m really excited about the future of our Auckland offering, its commitment to our clients, and the great work they will be launching over the coming months.”

He says Poutney’s experience includes a five-year stint in London and most recently Terabyte in New Zealand. 

Pomfrett comes fresh from agency land, and was previously at DDB.

“Jacqui, Steve and Dean join Touchcast as it continues to grow in both Wellington and Auckland, with the Department of Internal Affairs and New Zealand Business Number just some of the company’s newest clients,” Hawley says. 

While it may seem the waters are a little choppy with senior roles being replaced, Hawley says this is nothing beyond normal. 

“[We’ve] definitely been paying a bit more attention to client-facing roles, that’s been pretty key. It’s a normal rate of change to keep up with the demands of the business,” he says.

“We’re trying to relive the values of our business through our Wellington office, so we’re just getting people to understand how we operate,” he says.

“It’s been tough to try and find people to understand that the client side is far more important than we will ever be and in part because Auckland has grown so fast and Wellington had a stable team of people who were on board for a number of years.”

It took longer than Touchcast had hoped, he says, but he’s happy with the team leading things.

“It’s been three years now [since the Auckland office opened]so it’s just keeping pace with the growth and with massive projects we made sure we acquired different skillsets to go deeper and broader … I feel like we are tuned in right to the brand and a lot of our clients exist in both cities too, so it’s really crucial the way we behave and operate and the quality of work is consistent [with the Wellington office].”

Hawley says Touchcast also has a few new clients, but isn’t able to share any details on them just yet. 

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