Bastion promotes Cheuk Chiang to group CEO
Bastion has promoted Cheuk Chiang to the role of group CEO after only a year with the agency.
This will see current CEO, co-founder Jack Watts, step into an executive director role. Watts will focus on strategic growth opportunities for the agency.
“The past 16 years have been an extraordinary journey; to build a global business from scratch in any industry is something rare. An integral part of the growth and longevity of Bastion has been our continued evolution, knowing that what got us here, won’t get us there,” Watts said of the changes.
“I’m excited to see the impact that Cheuk will now have across our broader group. Personally, I’m energised to spend a lot more time working with our people to solve our clients’ biggest problems with new offerings and capabilities that help give them a competitive advantage.”
Group CEO Cheuk Chiang, Chairman Fergus Watts
Said to mark a “new era” for Bastion, Chiang’s appointment hopes to build on its “entrepreneurial spirit, deep client relationships and… relentless commitment to innovation”.
He joined Bastion in April last year, as CEO of the Australian and New Zealand business. At the time, his appointment was described as a “major investment” in Bastion’s growth.
Prior to the marketing and comms agency, Chiang was APAC CEO of Dentsu Creative. He also held senior roles at Cummins & Partners, OMG, PHD, and M&C Saatchi.
The leadership transition will be overseen by Bastion’s chair, Fergus Watts, who was group CEO for the first ten years of Bastion’s growth.
As group CEO, Chiang will be focused on the “continued growth” of the global Bastion business, with key clients, regional expansion, and multi-market integrated campaigns.
“It’s an honour to take the reins from Jack and lead Bastion into its next phase,” he said of his appointment.
“We are uniquely positioned to meet the needs of the modern marketer through our world-class integrated end-to-end offering. Our global platform enables us to deliver truly integrated, best-in-class work with local insight and I’m energised to build on this strong foundation.
He said a lot of agencies “talk a good game” when it comes to integration, however “very few can deliver that with deep expertise”. This is what he hopes to prove Bastion can do.
“Bastion has always been very humble when it comes to promoting itself, however it’s time that the world sees what we are truly capable of.”
Bastion says it is moving into new areas including digital brand experience, e-commerce, and marketing automation.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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