Bastion acquires AnalogFolk Australia in effort to improve digital offerings
Integrated marketing and comms agency Bastion Australia has acquired digital creative agency AnalogFolk Australia in a bid to enhance its digital offerings across its wider team.
AnalogFolk, known for its innovative approach to building brands in the digital world, has established itself as a strong digital innovator, winning multiple APAC awards for its achievements.
(L-R): Matt Robinson, Jack Watts, Ben Hourahine
The acquisition will see AnalogFolk’s CEO Matt Robinson take on the role of managing director, digital brand, at Bastion, and Ben Hourahine, chief strategist at the digital creative agency, assume the position of Bastion’s chief strategist, digital brand.
The pair have been tasked with driving Bastion’s comprehensive digital and creative capabilities, and assist the agency with a more progressive approach to brand building, advertising, PR and more.
“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,” said Jack Watts, group CEO of Bastion
He said the acquisition puts the agency in a good position to grow and address the dynamic needs of brands in a rapidly evolving digital age.
“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,” Watts said.
The wider AnalogFolk team will complement Bastion’s existing digital service offerings, across digital customer and technology experience, digital transformation, and strategic marcomms, led by Tim den Braber, Gaven Morris, and Angela Morris.
Robinson says that since a management buyout in early 2023, AnalogFolk Australia has been exploring a wide range of partnerships that could enhance its offering and capabilities.
“Finding Bastion as a new home for us in Australia is the perfect fit,” he explained.
“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 added: “I’ve always been incredibly inspired by Bastion’s CEO, Jack Watts, the Bastion Group as a whole and their ‘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. 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.”
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Lauren McNamara is a journalist at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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