Cheuk Chiang and Fergus Watts.
Bastion’s co-founder Jack Watts is stepping back from day-to-day operations, promoting Cheuk Chiang to take over as group CEO.
Watts, shedding his chief executive role, becomes executive director to focus on strategic growth opportunities.
"The past 16 years have been an extraordinary journey; to build a global business from scratch in any industry is something rare," Watts said.
Chiang brings experience from major agency networks including Dentsu and Omnicom, where he led teams of up to 3000 people across creative, media, data and technology divisions throughout the Asia-Pacific region. His appointment follows a year as CEO of Bastion's Australia and New Zealand operations.
Bastion, founded in 2009 by brothers Fergus and Jack Watts, now operates across 10 cities in five countries with more than 350 employees.
The agency works with brands including Kellogg's, Air New Zealand, Spotify, L'Oreal, Ferrari and Bunnings Warehouse across advertising, communications, digital, experience and insights services.
The company recently launched a media planning and buying division led by Anna Cherry, formerly of Clemenger BBDO, covering Australia and New Zealand.
"We are uniquely positioned to meet the needs of the modern marketer through our integrated end-to-end offering," Chiang said.
"Our vision is to scale Bastion to be the world's strongest independent network driving innovation, embracing emerging technologies and expanding our global footprint."
Bastion chair Fergus Watts, who led the company for its first decade, said the appointment was part of a five-year succession plan designed to reduce the agency's dependence on its founders.
"This business is bigger than any one person," he said. "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."
The agency is investing in artificial intelligence capabilities across audience insights, media, communications and creative delivery as part of its growth strategy. Bastion also plans to expand into 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," Chiang said.
The leadership transition positions Bastion to compete with larger international agency networks while maintaining its independent status in a consolidating industry.
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