Bastion (agency)

Last updated
Bastion
Industry Advertising, Marketing
Founded2009
Founder Fergus Watts
Headquarters
Cremorne, Victoria Waterloo, New South Wales
,
Australia
Number of locations
Worldwide
Key people
Fergus Watts, Chairman
Jack Watts, Australia CEO
Dax Cornelius, US CEO
ServicesMarketing and advisory services
Website bastionagency.com

Bastion is a global marketing and advisory company headquartered in the Melbourne, Australia suburb of Cremorne, Victoria. It is reportedly the largest independent marketing and communications group in Australia and New Zealand, and was founded in 2009 by former professional Australian rules footballer Fergus Watts. [1] [2] [3] Watts serves as the company's executive chairman. [4]

Contents

History

Bastion was founded in 2009 as Bastion Group by 23 year old Fergus Watts, who briefly played for the Adelaide Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). [5] After his football career ended due to an injury, he started working in an advertising agency, and then decided to form his own company. [5]

In 2010, the company acquired PR Agency Undertow Media. [6]

In October 2015, the company changed its name to Bastion Collective. [7]

In January 2016, the company acquired Melbourne and Sydney-based research agency Latitude Insights, renaming it Bastion Latitude. [8]

In March 2017, the company received media coverage for its policy of unlimited leave for its staff. [2] In October, the company hired former US Air Force fighter pilot Dax Cornelius to launch its expansion in the United States. [3] It opened an office in Irvine, California, and in 2018 formed its U.S. footprint with the acquisitions of digital marketing firm Rare Branding and web-app development firm Digital Brand Group (DBG), followed by LFPR, a social media and public relations company. Rare Branding and DBG were merged to form Bastion Rare, and LFPR was rebranded as Bastion Elevate. [3]

In May 2018, the company launched Bastion China, an advisory firm for companies doing business with China, and Bastion Engage, a community and government engagement agency. [9] In July, the company launched creative agency Bastion State. [10] In October, the company announced it was buying a stake in Sydney, Australia-based agency Banjo. [11] In November, the company acquired social research company Stable Research, and Melbourne-based production house Bengar Films. [12] [13] Bengar Films was merged with Bastion's production business Bastion Stadium to form Bastion Films [13] which rebranded into Bastion Make in September 2022 [14]

In November 2019, Bastion acquired a Highland Park, California-based consumer insights and strategy agency db5. [15] In 2020, Peter Harris was appointed as the CEO of Bastion Insights, coming from his CEO position at Potentiate. [16]

In October 2020, the company renamed its Bastion China operations as Bastion Asia. [17]

In October 2021, the company changed its name to Bastion. [18]

In November 2021, Bastion acquired NZ Agency Shine, renaming it to Bastion Shine [19] Later, in August 2022 Bastion Shine launched four new specialty business units to broaden their service offering - Bastion Creative, Bastion Digital, Bastion Amplify and Bastion Transform. [20] They then expanded into Wellington in November 2022 [21]

In December 2022, Bastion Reputation, who previously solely operated out of Melbourne, expanded into Sydney [22] Later, in November 2023, they opened a Canberra office [23]

Continuing this growth pattern, Bastion has also expanded into Queensland with the acquisition of top public relations firm, Promedia, in November 2022 [24] to be a part of their communications arm - Bastion Amplify. Additionally, Bastion Experience opened a new office in southeast Queensland. [25]

Operations

Founder Fergus Watts serves as Bastion's non-executive chairman, his brother Jack serves as Global CEO, and Dax Cornelius is the United States CEO. [11] Former AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou and sports broadcaster Hamish McLachlan sit on the company's board. [5]

The company's global headquarters is in the Melbourne, Australia suburb of Richmond Cremorne, Victoria, [26] and the company lists additional offices in Sydney, Gold Coast, Canberra, Brisbane, Auckland, Wellington, Los Angeles, Orange County, CA, and New York City. [27]

The company operates several sub-divisions in Australia:

As part of Bastion's 2021 acquisition of New Zealand's Shine, the company operates four sub-divisions in New Zealand, with similar focus as their Australian counterparts: Bastion Amplify, Bastion Creative, Bastion Digital, and Bastion Transform. [39]

In the United States, the company operates two businesses as part of Bastion USA:

Related Research Articles

Schwartz Publishing is an Australian publishing house, digital media, and news media organisation based in Melbourne, established by Australian property developer Morry Schwartz in the 1980s. Since the late 1990s many of its publications have appeared under the Black Inc imprint. Schwartz Publishing has its complementary brand Schwartz Media, which all sit under the wider group of Schwartz companies, specialising in newspapers, books, essays, magazines, journals, podcasts, and online news media. Its most well-known publications are Quarterly Essay, The Saturday Paper, and The Monthly.

The Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. is an American company that provides commercial data, analytics, and insights for businesses. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company offers a wide range of products and services for risk and financial analysis, operations and supply, and sales and marketing professionals, as well as research and insights on global business issues. It serves customers in government and industries such as communications, technology, strategic financial services, and retail, telecommunications, and manufacturing markets. Often referred to as D&B, the company's database contains over 500 million business records worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports Entertainment Group</span>

Sports Entertainment Group (SEG), formerly Pacific Star Network, is an Australian sports media content and entertainment business. SEG is the owner and parent company of Sports Entertainment Network (SEN).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1116 SEN</span> Sports radio station in Melbourne, Victoria

1116 SEN is an Australian radio station in Victoria, Australia. Owned and operated by Sports Entertainment Group, it broadcasts a sports radio format. It commenced broadcasting on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the station currently broadcasts from studios in South Melbourne.

Fergus Watts is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Watts was a forward line player. He later went on to form Bastion Collective, reportedly the largest independent marketing agency in Australia. Watts serves as the company's executive chairman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nine.com.au</span> Australian news and current events website

Nine.com.au is an Australian news website, owned by ASX-listed company, Nine Entertainment Co. It was originally established as a 50:50 joint venture between Microsoft and PBL Media in 1997 as "Ninemsn." Microsoft sold its stake in the venture to Nine Entertainment in 2013 and the company was rebranded as Nine Digital in 2016. The website was rebranded to its current name Nine.com.au on 28 June 2016.

Network Ten Pty Limited, trading as Paramount Australia & New Zealand, is a major media company in Australia. Headquartered in Sydney, its major asset is Network 10, a free-to-air television network. Formerly a public company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, since December 2019, it has been a subsidiary of Paramount Networks UK & Australia.

MullenLowe Profero is a digital marketing agency operating across twelve offices, with over 600 employees globally. Its services typically include customer experience, digital marketing, creative, media, technology, user experience (UX) and strategy. It is part of the MullenLowe Group global network, which is owned by global agency network Interpublic Group (IPG).

The Monkeys is a creative agency based in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 2006 by Justin Drape, Scott Nowell and Mark Green, they now employ over 130 full-time staff. The Monkeys create ideas that live within advertising, entertainment and technology. Clients include The University of Sydney, Telstra, IKEA, UBank and Parmalat.

Universal Media Co. is an Australian publisher of magazines, websites, and calendar products that cater to niche markets. Prema Perera is currently CEO of the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mushroom Group</span> Largest independent music and entertainment company in Australia

Mushroom Group is the largest independent music and entertainment company in Australia. It comprises more than two dozen companies. It has offices in Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland with over 200 employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kayo Sports</span> Australian sports streaming service

Kayo Sports is an over-the-top video streaming subscription service available in Australia, owned by Hubbl. The service offers sports live and on demand from Fox Sports, ESPN and Racing.com.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binge (streaming service)</span> Australian streaming service owned by Foxtel

Binge is a video streaming subscription service available in Australia, owned by Hubbl. The service offers on demand and live entertainment, lifestyle, reality and movies.

Martin Kieran O'Halloran is an Australian former national champion and national representative rower and a senior global executive in the advertising industry. From 2020 to 2023 he was Global Chief Executive of the international advertising network DDB Worldwide.

Pedestrian, formerly PEDESTRIAN.TV, is a youth digital news and entertainment website based in Sydney, Australia, founded in 2005. It is a subsidiary of Nine Entertainment

<i>Man of Many</i> Australian independent digital lifestyle magazine

Man of Many is an Australian independent digital lifestyle publication and website founded by Scott Purcell and Frank Arthur in 2012 that focuses on men's lifestyle, technology and consumer product news.

Adam Ferrier is an Australian psychologist, writer and creative strategist.

Capital Brief is an Australian news website that primarily covers business and politics. It launched in August 2023 and is aimed at founders, executives, investors and politicians and policymakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Nunn</span> Australian media executive and former basketball player

Matt Nunn is an Australian media executive and former basketball player, known for founding and leading Nunn Media, Australia's largest independent media agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vinyl Group</span> Australian music technology company

Vinyl Group Ltd is an Australian music technology company. It is traded on the Australian Securities Exchange. Its subsidiaries are Jaxsta, Vampr, Vinyl.com and The Brag Media.

References

  1. ↑ "Bastion creates the big independent as it acquires NZ agency Shine - AdNews". www.adnews.com.au.
  2. 1 2 "Why marketing firm Bastion Collective is introducing unlimited leave for its staff". smartcompany.com.au. 2017-03-13. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Aussie Collective Bastion Sets Up in Irvine". ocbj.com. 2019-01-28. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  4. ↑ "The benefit of doubt: Fergus Watts". theceomagazine.com. 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  5. 1 2 3 "Watts empire is no bastion of old-school Melbourne". smh.com.au. 2017-02-18. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  6. ↑ "Life after AFL: Fergus Watt's Bastion towers high". afr.com.au. 2014-06-30. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
  7. ↑ "Bastion Collective expands business to the UK; reveals new market-first agency model and name". campaignbrief.com. 2015-11-27. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  8. ↑ "Latitude Insights acquired by Bastion Collective". research-live.com. 2016-01-20. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  9. ↑ "Bastion Collective opens two new agencies Bastion Engage and Bastion China". mumbrella.com.au. 2018-05-30. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  10. ↑ "Bastion Collective Launches Its Own Creative Agency". bandt.com.au. 2018-07-03. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  11. 1 2 ""Game-Changer": Bastion Collective Acquires Creative Agency Banjo". bandt.com.au. 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  12. ↑ "Bastion Collective acquires social research company Stable Research". mumbrella.com.au. 2018-11-23. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  13. 1 2 "Bastion Collective Acquires Melbourne-Based Production Agency Bengar Films". bandt.com.au. 2018-11-14. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  14. ↑ Mediaweek (2022-09-12). "Bastion Films rebrands to Bastion Make and welcomes new team members". Mediaweek. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  15. 1 2 "Bastion Buys Agency db5". Los Angeles Business Journal. 2019-11-29. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  16. ↑ Macdonald, Anna (2021-07-05). "Bastion Insights appoints CEO for new Sydney office". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  17. ↑ "Bastion China expands to become Bastion Asia helping brands unlock opportunities across Asia". Campaign Brief Asia. 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  18. ↑ "Bastion Collective rebrands to Bastion, launches new brand positioning". mumbrella.com.au. 2021-10-12.
  19. ↑ "Bastion creates the big independent as it acquires NZ agency Shine - AdNews". www.adnews.com.au. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  20. ↑ Welch, Kalila (2022-08-30). "Bastion Shine launches four new business units". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  21. ↑ Says, Gummon Richi (2022-11-14). "Bastion Shine to launch Wellington operations, headed up by managing director Jodi Willocks". Campaign Brief NZ. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  22. ↑ Mediaweek (2022-12-06). "Bastion Reputation appoints Tess Salmon as principal consultant in its Sydney office". Mediaweek. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  23. ↑ Leong, Matthew (2023-11-13). "Bastion Reputation grows Canberra presence with strategic moves". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  24. ↑ Mediaweek (2022-11-14). "Bastion Amplify acquires Queensland public relations firm Promedia". Mediaweek. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  25. ↑ Mediaweek (2023-02-19). "Bastion Experience launches into Queensland with Maroons CEO Rohan Sawyer at the helm". Mediaweek. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  26. ↑ https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.bastion_reputation_management_(no2)_pty_ltd.525b9b903665ccaae53f53c804a3c8c3.html
  27. ↑ "Contact".
  28. ↑ "Bastion Collective rebrands and sets its sights on being 'largest independent that ever existed' - AdNews". www.adnews.com.au. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  29. ↑ "Bastion Collective rebrands and sets its sights on being 'largest independent that ever existed' - AdNews". www.adnews.com.au. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  30. ↑ "Bastion Creative Appoints Susan Bird Managing Partner to Lead Melbourne Operations | LBBOnline". lbbonline.com. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  31. ↑ Song, Darcy (2023-02-08). "Bastion Digital hires Deloitte Digital's Tim Den Braber to lead local offering". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  32. ↑ "Bastion Collective rebrands and sets its sights on being 'largest independent that ever existed' - AdNews". www.adnews.com.au. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  33. ↑ Says, Cornhub (2022-10-28). "Bastion Experience expands Melbourne team with three senior appointments". Campaign Brief. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  34. ↑ "Bastion Collective rebrands and sets its sights on being 'largest independent that ever existed' - AdNews". www.adnews.com.au. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  35. ↑ "Bastion Insights creates panel for diverse communities | News". Research Live. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  36. ↑ Mediaweek (2022-09-12). "Bastion Films rebrands to Bastion Make and welcomes new team members". Mediaweek. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  37. ↑ "Bastion Reputation expands to Canberra with acquisition of Frank Communications & Advisory - AdNews". www.adnews.com.au. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  38. ↑ Mediaweek (2021-12-13). "Former ABC director of news Gaven Morris to take over as Bastion Transform CEO". Mediaweek. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  39. ↑ Welch, Kalila (2022-08-30). "Bastion Shine launches four new business units". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.