Digital services firm APD has hired two customer engagement specialists in its Australian offices, David Avery joining as regional head of sales and Ben Poliansky as SMS manager.

Avery will play an instrumental role as APD introduces the IBM Marketing Cloud to its clients looking to extend their marketing automation capabilities, primarily in the Australian market at first, and expanding into New Zealand and Asia. He spent three years selling the product, previously known as Silverpop, in the Asia Pacific market.

Tony Davis, APD’s head of customer engagement in Australia, said Avery will ensure the team hits the ground running. “Our expansion of marketing automation is central to our commitment to increasing customer value for our clients. David understands the product inside-out and will bring our team and our clients up to speed very quickly.” David will be based in APD’s Sydney office.

Poliansky joins APD with eight years experience at Oxygen Interactive Marketing where he was in senior account management and customer support roles.

Davis said: “Ben adds a great depth of experience to our SMS business, including SMS marketing, promotions, competitions and product management of a platform that delivered millions of messages globally.”