Bench Media Promoted Growth Lead to General Manager

The advertising agency has elevated Jessica Torstensson to oversee its global strategy and audience intelligence development.

Updated on Sept. 28, 2026 in Advertising

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Bench Media has appointed Jessica Torstensson as general manager of growth, tasking her with leading global client strategy and the expansion of the agency's Bench Lens intelligence product. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Bench Media has promoted Jessica Torstensson to general manager of growth, effective immediately. Torstensson will now lead the agency's client strategy, new business initiatives, and the rollout of its Bench Lens audience intelligence product.

Why it matters

This leadership change follows a period of expansion for the agency, which recently secured major accounts like Hisense and Prospa and moved into the United States market with Bikes Online. The move aims to centralize growth efforts under a single executive as the firm scales its international reach.

Jessica Torstensson brings over 20 years of experience to her new role, building on a career that includes founding The Room Collective earlier this year. The agency is currently scaling its international presence across Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

The players

Bench Media

An international advertising agency operating across Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

Jessica Torstensson

The new general manager of growth who previously served as client growth director at Bench Media.

The details

As general manager of growth, Torstensson is tasked with managing senior client partnerships and shaping the agency's broader market presence. Her remit includes driving the adoption of Bench Lens, an internal audience intelligence offering designed to support client strategy. This consolidation of strategy and intelligence aims to streamline the agency's response to its recent account wins.

Timeline

  1. November 2025: Jessica Torstensson joined Bench Media.

  2. Earlier this year: Jessica Torstensson founded The Room Collective.

  3. September 28, 2026: The promotion was announced.

Market Landscape

This promotion follows the documented industry trend of mid-sized agencies investing in proprietary audience intelligence platforms to differentiate themselves from global holding companies. By integrating Bench Lens, Bench Media is positioning its strategy unit to provide deeper data-driven value as it expands into the U.S. market.

Agency operators should monitor how Bench Media leverages its Bench Lens platform to secure market share in the competitive U.S. and Australian regions. Consider auditing your own client strategy and intelligence tools to ensure they align with your current expansion goals.

The takeaway

Leadership transitions in growing agencies often signal a shift from general growth to product-led scaling. Operators should look to pair new service offerings, like audience intelligence platforms, with clear executive oversight to ensure consistent client delivery.

Further reading

For more on shifts in the agency landscape, see our coverage in Advertising.

Source note: This article includes information reported by B&T.

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