Bastion Collective, Exists to be the Bastion of Australian Ingenuity, Creates Simple, Original, and Resourceful Solutions to its Clients' Complex Problems

“Bastion Collective is the hybrid between the large multinational agencies and the small independents.”

With a rapidly fragmented media market that is driven by consumer choice and influence, brands and organisations need to rethink the way they communicate with their customers, partners and stakeholders. Bastion Collective is built-in and for the modern world to help its clients create, grow, protect, and measure ideas.

The company operates as an advertising agency. It’s the largest independent communications agency in Australia with a growing presence in the USA, alongside our agency partnerships around the world with representation in Dubai, London, Singapore, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Bastion Collective exists to be the Bastion of Australian ingenuity – creating simple, original and resourceful solutions to its clients’ complex problems.

The company delivers this for its clients by providing the entire breadth of communications services, delivered by absolute experts in their field combined with owner-operator service.

Bastion Collective was incorporated in 2009 andis headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria.

Bastion Collective: Synopsis

Priceless Early Years

Bastion Collective was establishedby the two brothers – Fergus and Jack Watts. They started out with bucket loads of energy and a serious drive that is hard to match.

Jack and Fergus Watts are not your typical mad men. They have been on an incredible journey with the support of thousands of people. They have built Bastion Collective into a 250-person agency group in 10 years through a true commitment to creating more opportunities for their clients and their staff.

The boys are fond of the early years. The real joy, however, comes from striving to have Bastion make a dent on the communications industry. A driving passion to deliver ideas that are insight backed and an execution team that is second to none. A passion to continually evolve and create a group that delivers a full-service solution for the modern client: A focus on creating a place that is great to be part of.

‘Australian Ingenuity’

Modern communications has become a challenging and complex task. No longer can we segment consumers based on age and income, nor can we reach the majority of Australians through traditional advertising alone.

Bastion believes that the future of communications is the ability for any brand or organisation to articulate one unifying idea, influenced by data and insights, executed consistently, yet bespoke across every applicable channel.

To effectively deliver this, the company believes brands and organisations need the support of an agency partner built for the modern world.

Bastion’s clients can access the breadth of communications disciplines, delivered by absolute experts in their field combined with owner-operator service.

Every one of the company’s 250+ staff work together to provide simple, original, and resourceful solutions to its clients' complex communications problems.

Elevating Client Relationships

Bastion Collective is the hybrid between the large multinational agencies and the small independents. The company comprises of 10 mid-sized agencies that work together to form the largest independent agency in Australia.

Bastion comprises of market research operational agency, Stable Research, research and insights agency Bastion Latitude, creative and digital agency Bastion Banjo, corporate and crisis communications agency Bastion RM, consumer communications and PR agency Bastion Effect, strategic and experiential agency Bastion EBA, content production agency Bastion Films, Chinese marketing communications experts Bastion China, merchandising business Bastion Promote, and retail and shopper marketing agency Bastion Retail.

In the USA, Bastion is comprised of integrated public relations and social media agency Bastion Elevate, digital agency Bastion Rare and creative and branding production agency Bastion Blend.

Each one of Bastion’s businesses is run by an industry-leading owner-operator. Because let's face it, you are more invested in delivering exceptional outcomes for your clients if you have skin in the game.

This means the clients get to deal with the people who run the place. This makes Bastion nimble and responsive in a rapidly changing communications landscape.

The clients can choose to work with Bastion in one of its disciplines, or, when the time is right, access its range of communications services to deliver truly integrated campaigns. Importantly, the company’s agencies are complementary, not competitive. This means Bastion genuinely works together to deliver an outcome that is best for the client, not the bottom line.

Leadership | Bastion Collective

Jack Watts, CEO – Australia:Over the past 10 years, Jack and his team have grown Bastion Collective into the largest independent marketing and communications group in Australia. Day-to-day, he works with Bastion’s wide range of clients to ensure that anyone who walks through the doors leaves satisfied. As CEO, Jack prefers to anticipate Bastion’s next big opportunity rather than relish in its success – he is always looking ahead to see what can be achieved in the near future.

Fergus Watts, Founder and Managing Director:Thanks to his knack for understanding the business quickly and creating growth opportunities, Fergus Watts has assisted some of Australia’s most dynamic companies in charting the future of their marketing and communications. First and foremost, Fergus believes that a company is nothing without quality people growing within it. He has even fostered his own education program, the Bastion Degree, to help turn visionary young workers into well-rounded self-starters.

“Bastion Collective is Australia's largest independent communications agency. Over the past decade, it has curated complementary, best in class expertise to provide the full breadth of services across the communications spectrum, delivered with owner-operator service.”

“We are on a journey to create the New World Agency Model that leads the ideas economy, through growing our clients’ businesses.”