Bastion leadership transition as co-founder steps back

Independent agency Bastion has appointed Cheuk Chiang as group ceo as co-founder Jack Watts assumes an executive director role.

Bastion group ceo Cheuk Chiang and Bastion co-founder and chair Fergus Watts.

Bastion group CEO Jack Watts has stepped down from his role leading one of Australia’s largest independent agencies and promoted ANZ chief executive Cheuk Chiang to the global group role.

Mr Chiang will take the helm of the integrated marketing and communications agency, which was launched 16 years ago by co-founders Jack and Fergus Watts. Jack Watts will step into an executive director to focus on strategic growth operations for the business.

The leadership transition will be overseen by Bastion chair Fergus Watts, who served as group CEO for the first ten years of Bastion’s growth.

Fergus Watts told The Australian the transition had been in the works since Mr Chiang’s appointment to run the ANZ business one year ago.

“Jack and I have always said, if we are really going to go and create one of the strongest independent agency networks in the world, then it needs to be bigger than us. We need different skill sets, we need to evolve the business much more than we can ourselves, and, we can’t be chained to the CEO desk the whole time.

“That started with me five years ago, stepping out of the CEO position and Jack stepping into that position, and now it’s time to transition the business to be run by someone whose last name isn’t Watts, and who has global experience and can take us to the next level.

“And we kicked that off a year ago when we hired Cheuk to run the Australian business and it’s been a sort of gradual takeover culminating in it all happening officially on the first of July.”

Mr Chiang, whose previous roles include senior management positions at global agencies including Omnicom Media Group APAC CEO, Dentsu Creative APAC CEO and Dentsu China chairman, will assume responsibility for the agency’s global business, which boasts offices in Australia, New Zealand and the US and clients including Air New Zealand, Kelloggs, L’Oreal and Unilever.

The transition comes hot on the heels of the launch of Bastion’s media planning and buying division and the recent appointment of Anna Cherry to run the media business, as revealed by The Australian.

It comes as the broader advertising industry experiences significant change and transformation. However, with a significant amount of the change being experienced by the global advertising holding companies, significantly the Omnicom-IPG merger and the recent WPP restructures, the change is creating a stronger playing field for independent agencies.

“The opportunities are huge for independent agencies,” said Mr Watts. “But the issue with most independents, certainly in this country and throughout Australasia, is the lack of scale and the breadth to be able to deliver at the level required for the biggest clients in the country.

“That’s the challenge for independent agencies anywhere in the world. What we’ve been able to do is break the back of that through scale and through breath of service. There’s not an independent throughout Australia that can compete with us in terms of our size and scale and sort of integrated service offering.

“You’ve got to be an independent agency that can tackle AI in the way we are, that can invest ahead of the curve in new and evolving services and can deliver at a scale for large clients. And the reality is most independents just can’t do that. So the opportunities are pretty significant for us.”

Mr Chiang added, “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.

“A lot of agencies talk a good game when it comes to integration however very few can deliver that with deep expertise,” said Mr Chiang.