Bastion Collective was founded in 2009 as Bastion Group by 23 year old Fergus Watts, who briefly played for the Adelaide Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League. After his football career ended due to an injury, he started working in an advertising agency, and then decided to form his own company. In October 2015, the company changed its name to Bastion Collective. In January 2016, the company acquired Melbourne and Sydney-based research agency Latitude Insights, renaming it Bastion Latitude. In March 2017, the company received media coverage for its policy of unlimited leave for its staff. In October, the company hired former US Air Forcefighter pilot Dax Cornelius to launch its expansion in the United States. It opened an office in Irvine, California, and in 2018 formed it's U.S. footprint with the acquisitions of digital marketing firm Rare Branding and Web / Mobile app development firm Digital Brand Group, followed by LFPR, a social media and public relations company. Rare Branding and DBG were merged to form Bastion Rare, and LFPR was rebranded as Bastion Elevate. In May 2018, the company launched Bastion China, an advisory firm for companies doing business with China, and Bastion Engage, a community and government engagement agency. In July, the company launched creative agency Bastion State. In October, the company announced it was buying a stake in Sydney, Australia-based agency Banjo. In November, the company acquired social research company Stable Research, and Melbourne-based production house Bengar Films. Bengar Films was merged with Bastion's production business Bastion Stadium to form Bastion Films. In November 2019, Bastion acquired Highland Park, California-based consumer insights and strategy agency db5.
Operations
Founder Fergus Watts serves as Bastion Collective's Chairman, his brother Jack serves as Australia CEO, and Dax Cornelius is the United States CEO. Former AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou and sports broadcasterHamish McLachlan sit on the company's board. The company's global headquarters is in the Melbourne, Australia suburb of Richmond, Victoria, with additional offices in Sydney, Los Angeles, Shanghai and London. The company operates several divisions with different areas of expertise:
Bastion China, an advisory firm for businesses targeting the Chinese market
Bastion EBA, based in Melbourne, is the company's sports marketing division, and it includes a London branch to promote European sports partnerships
Bastion Effect, formerly Undertow Media, the company's communications arm
Bastion Engage, formerly Bastion S&GO, a community and government engagement agency
Bastion Films, the company's film production business
Bastion Latitude, the company's research arm
Bastion Promote, a merchandising business
Bastion RM, a reputation management company
Bastion State, a creative agency
The Stadium, a creative content firm
In the United States, the company operates three businesses as part of Bastion Collective USA:
Bastion db5, a consumer insights and strategy agency
Bastion Elevate, a social media and public relations company
