Bastion Shine launches four new business units
Less than one year after being majority acquired by the Australian independent agency group, Bastion, New Zealand agency Bastion Shine is continuing to build its new agency and consultancy model.
Drawing on the model of its Australian counterpart, Bastion Shine is launching four new specialty business units: Bastion Creative, Bastion Digital, Bastion Amplify and Bastion Transform.
The expansion embodies the Bastion philosophy of ‘Think Wide’, with the four new consultancies to operate under the leadership of Bastion Shine CEO, Simon Curran, with their own specialist teams.
Bastion Creative is to be led by newly appointed managing director, Toby Sellers, who joins the agency after more than a decade with FCB
“Bastion Shine is an agency I’ve admired for a long time, especially for its ability to build strong, long-term business partnerships with leading New Zealand brands. We’ve been purposeful about taking a unique approach, leading to our success over a short amount of time, as well as an enviable roster of clients,” said Sellers.
“The Bastion partnership has provided the ability for the agency to broaden its existing offering and really start to scale. And that’s exciting.”
Bastion Creative will continue the work of Bastion Shine, delivering the strategic and creative solutions to create meaningful growth for its clients.
Bastion Digital will be headed by managing director, Andy Schick, the former chief digital officer at Bastion Shine.
The consultancy will continue the agency’s work across data, technology, media and automation, leveraging partnerships with Tealium, Braze and Salesforce. Bastion Digital is also developing its web performance capability, with SEM Rush joining cornerstone clients Spark Sport and OnceIT on its client roster.
Bastion Amplify constitutes a new offering for Bastion Shine, an integrated communications agency specialising in PR, media relations, influencer marketing, content and social media, with over 70 staff in Melbourne, Sydney, Los Angeles and now Auckland. The New Zealand arm will be led Joanna James, a senior consultant with nearly 20 years of agency and in-house communications experience.
“I’m a huge believer that an integrated approach for brands in a world where disciplines are increasingly converging is the right model to produce the most effective work for clients. This new model for Bastion Shine, combined with its hallmark smarts and creativity, are what drew me to the role,” said James.
“We also have the benefit of drawing on an extended whānau via Bastion Amplify Australia and US to deliver services such as ‘follow the sun’ social media community management and content creation. We’re looking forward to bringing Amplify’s best-in-class communications offering to Aotearoa.”
Bastion Transform will be led by general manager Andy McLeish, who is also chief strategy officer at Bastion Shine. The agency will offer strategic advice across a range of disciplines, from commercial strategy, corporate blueprint and road mapping, innovation consulting, through to high end executive coaching.
Bastion Shine’s leadership team also includes chief creative officer, Rich Maddocks, general manager, Annabelle Pitkin, chief financial officer, Melissa Hill and CEO Simon Curran.
Curran said: “Our ambition is to build a new model in New Zealand. One where clients have access to a wide array of consulting and communications services, each delivered with deep expertise and a truly integrated client experience.
“As a result, we have invested significantly to increase our depth and focus in the core areas our clients are looking for. We now have absolute market-leading expertise in each of our business units. But it’s our integration of those services that really sets us apart.
“The Bastion partnership has already allowed us to build further depth in core capabilities, as well as new ones, and our clients both existing and new are seeing the benefit.
“Toby and Jo both have proven expertise in their disciplines, plus the ability to stretch thinking for our clients across marketing communications disciplines and channels. I’m excited about our expanded leadership team continuing to enable meaningful growth for our clients.
“This is just the start. We believe we can change the shape of our industry in New Zealand, building a place where our clients can access wide thinking combined with deep expertise.”
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Andy McLeish
Andy Schick
Annabelle Pitkin
Bastion
Bastion Amplify
Bastion Creative
Bastion Shine
Bastion Transform
Joanna James
Melissa Hill
Rich Maddocks
Simon Curran
Toby Sellers
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