Independent Bastion has acquired digital creative agency AnalogFolk Australia.
Commercial details haven’t been released.
The acquisition is the latest step in the rise growth of Bastion, founded by brothers Fergus and Jack Watts in 2009 and now heralded as Australasia’s largest full-service independent marketing and communications agency.
AnalogFolk Australia CEO Matt Robinson and chief strategy officer Ben Hourahine in March last year acquired the agency from the UK parent company, AnalogFolk Group Marketing and Technology, via a management buyout.
Since then AnalogFolk Australia has been exploring a range of partnerships.
Robinson will join Bastion as managing director digital brand and Hourahine becomes chief strategy officer digital brand.
AnalogFolk Australia’s clients include Bayer, TAL, Proximo Spirits, Pet Circle, ROKT, Curtin University and BWX (Nourished Life). In 2021, AnalogFolk Australia won a Gold APAC Effie for its campaign for Hyundai,
“Finding Bastion as a new home for us in Australia is the perfect fit,” Robinson said.
“Bastion, with its wide array of deep specialists under one roof, from creative, code, data, research, PR and social, reputation, strategy, experiences and beyond, offers the perfect ecosystem for our clients to benefit from the enhanced scale, while staying true to the independent and innovative capabilities of AnalogFolk.”
Hourahine said he'd always been inspired by Bastion’s CEO, Jack Watts, the Bastion Group as a whole and the THINK WIDE philosophy.
“We're really excited to bring our clients and agency into this dynamic and innovative network, with a shared vision for the future of brand marketing in digital spaces," Hourahine said.
"It gives us the true scale and global reach we’ve been craving while maintaining the entrepreneurial spirit and agility that have been hallmarks of our journey so far."
Robinson, Hourahine and the AnalogFolk team will complement Bastion’s digital service offering across Digital Customer and Technology Experience, led by Tim den Braber and Digital Transformation led by Gaven Morris, while enhancing broader strategic marcomms offering, led by Angela Morris.
Bastion's Jack Watts said the acquisition positions Bastion for continued innovation and leadership as The New World Agency, ready to address the needs of brands in a rapidly evolving digital age.
“Bastion has been built over the past 15 years on the simple premise of bringing together best-in-class experts in their field to solve clients' most critical challenges,” Watts said.
“Matt and Ben's visionary leadership and the agency's track record of digital innovation and excellence will be instrumental in helping us create, grow, protect and measure our clients' businesses.
“Our vision is to not just be the biggest independent agency in the region but the best. Welcoming AnalogFolk Australia into the Bastion family is a significant milestone on that journey and an opportunity for us together to redefine the landscape of digital marketing services.”
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