Three new hires for Creative Marketing Agency Poke

Creative marketing agency Poke has expanded its team after welcoming three new recruits.

Designers Mark West and Alex Pankhurst and Account Manager Emily Kench join the North West business, which has built a reputation for delivering exceptional high-quality campaigns, as it continues to grow its solid nationwide client base. 

Established in 2020, Poke currently works with Professional Liverpool, Liverpool Cathedral and Oxford River Cruises and was recently shortlisted in the Independent Agency of The Year category in this year’s Prolific North Awards.

Head of Digital Strategy Nicola Docking said:

“Retaining good staff is one of our key objectives as a business. We have a great team here at Poke and it’s brilliant to be able to add to the strength of that by attracting some very talented individuals.

“As a growing agency, it’s essential that we have the right people in place to deliver the results that we do for our clients, as we continue to nurture those strong relationships that we are proud of. Creativity needs to run through every level, and we expect strategic thinking at each stage of every project.

“We take the time to really get under the skin of our clients and understand each company that we work with, including their objectives and target audiences. This is what enables us to deliver marketing strategies that actually deliver results.”  

Following three years at Leeds Beckett University, Mark West has seven years’ experience in graphic design, motion design, branding and creative artworking, with previous clients including Subway, Go Outdoors and Co-Op.

Alex Pankhurst has a BA Hons in Graphic Design and has been working as a designer with brands including Everton FC, Liverpool FC, Wolves FC, Newcastle FC, Rangers FC and Castore Sportswear.

Emily Kench completes the trio after moving from IMA-Home, where she included adidas as her clients. As well as working on in-store client experience activations within Sports Direct and JD Sports, she’s also spent time in-house at Matalan on the Brand Comms team working on TV and charity campaigns, including NSPCC and Alder Hey’s famous pyjama campaign. 

Other clients include Chester’s Grosvenor Shopping Centre and Nuffield Health from her time at dewinter.  

Nicola added:

“Although we are only in May, this year is proving to be a pretty considerable one for us already and we need a team that is ready for that. 

“Everyone who works at Poke has undergone COM-B training, the University College London affiliated behaviour change framework, so that the company’s belief in making genuine impact for clients runs through every touch point of what we do.   

“Poke’s whole ethos is all about collaboration, respect and delivering great projects and we know that Mark, Alex and Emily will really strengthen that, and we look forward to seeing what’s to come.”

For more information about Poke Marketing and its services visit https://www.pokemarketing.co.uk/