Bastion has promoted Cheuk Chiang as Group Chief Executive Officer, as co-founder and current Group CEO, Jack Watts steps into the role of Executive Director where he will focus on strategic growth opportunities.
The leadership change marks a new era for the agency, as marketing and communications network in Australasia. Founded in 2009, by brothers Fergus and Jack Watts, the agency operates in 10 cities and 5 countries with over 350 employees.
Bastion services local and global brands such as Kellogg’s, Air New Zealand, Spotify, L’Oreal, Ferrari, Unilever, Mars, Salesforce and Bunnings Warehouse across 6 key services; Advertising, Communications, Digital, Experience, Insights and its recently launched Media Planning and Buying offering across Australia and New Zealand, led by Anna Cherry.
“The past 16 years have been an extraordinary journey; to build a global business from scratch in any industry is something rare,” said Jack Watts. “An integral part of the growth and longevity of Bastion has been our continued evolution, knowing that what got us here, won’t get us there.”
“Working with Cheuk as CEO of our ANZ business over the past year has been eye-wateringly fun. He possesses a remarkable skill set, with the proven experience to lead not just a team of 350, but teams as large as 3,000.
“I’m excited to see the impact that Cheuk will now have across our broader group. Personally, I’m energised to spend a lot more time working with our people to solve our clients’ biggest problems with new offerings and capabilities that help give them a competitive advantage.”
Cheuk will focus on driving the continued growth of the global Bastion business with key clients, services, regional expansion and multi market integrated campaigns.
He brings decades of experience leading some of the world’s most successful marketing and communications organisations across Dentsu and Omnicom. He also has deep experience working across the APAC region and has successfully led creative, media, data and technology businesses building integrated models that deliver end-to-end solutions for modern marketers.
With his expanded global remit and sound understanding of Bastion ANZ, Bastion reinforces its commitment to global excellence underpinned by independent thinking.
“It’s an honour to take the reins from Jack and lead Bastion into its next phase,” said Chiang.
“We are uniquely positioned to meet the needs of the modern marketer through our world-class integrated end-to-end offering. Our global platform enables us to deliver truly integrated, best- in-class work with local insight and I’m energised to build on this strong foundation. Looking ahead, our vision is to scale Bastion to be the world’s strongest independent network driving innovation, embracing emerging technologies and expanding our global footprint while staying true to our entrepreneurial spirit.
Chiang added: “A lot of agencies talk a good game when it comes to integration however very few can deliver that with deep expertise. At Bastion, we are proud to consistently deliver truly integrated campaigns that put our clients in a position of strength. Bastion has always been very humble when it comes to promoting itself, however it’s time that the world sees what we are truly capable of.”
New era of AI at Bastion
Bastion will continue to invest in forward-looking capabilities that leverage data and technology and using AI to power up audience insights, media, experiential, communications, creative and campaign delivery therefore driving faster, smarter and more measurable outcomes for clients.
It continues to launch into new areas like digital brand experience, e-commerce and marketing automation.
“Our end-to-end offering is being supercharged by AI, enabling us to deliver smarter strategies and more effective results for our clients,” said Chiang. “This is not just evolution, it’s transformation and it will be central to Bastion’s global growth strategy.”
The leadership transition will be overseen by Bastion’s Chair, Fergus Watts, who was Group CEO for the first 10 years of Bastion’s growth. As Chair, Fergus continues to guide the business with a long-term vision rooted in purpose and performance.
“This is more than just a leadership change, it’s a natural progression for our business,” said Fergus Watts. “Cheuk’s appointment is the culmination of a 5-year plan to ensure Bastion does not fall victim to what hampers most agency’s growth, which is an ongoing dependency on the founders. This business is bigger than any one person. It is and always has been about delivering exceptional results for our clients.
“Our ambition is to build one of the strongest independent agencies in the world. Having done that across Australia and New Zealand, it is now time to cement our strategy across the USA and focus our further expansion into Asia.
“Cheuk is the right person to lead our people, clients and partners into the next chapter putting them in a position of strength and I look forward to supporting him in unlocking the full potential of our global network.”
Top image: Cheuk Chiang and Fergus Watts