Australia – Independent agency Bastion has appointed Simon Langley, former national executive creative director and partner at advertising, content, and media agency Edge, to be its new group chief creative officer.
In his new role, Langley will be leading the creative offering of Bastion Creative, but his role will extend across the group to help define, drive, and unite, as well as support the creative ambition of other capabilities of the agency and ensure its clients benefit from seamlessly integrated ideas.
Prior to his previous stint at Edge, Langley has spent over six years as the national CCO of Wunderman Thompson. He has also held creative leadership roles at 303 MullenLowe helping the agency double in size before the acquisition by Lowe. Langley has also spent over six years at BMF, three of which as a creative director.
Commenting on his appointment, Langley said that he is certainly wasn’t looking to make a move, but Bastion is a business he has been watching gain momentum in this market and beyond, and he is excited to be a part of an independent with a global reach and such a wide breadth of deep specialist capabilities, able to bring ideas and experiences to life seamlessly across every touchpoint.
“It’s no surprise they’ve attracted truly great talent, some of whom I’ve worked with for many years, created great work with and just as importantly, had a huge amount of fun with. It’s this combination of factors that made it very hard to say no,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mike Godwin, Bastion Creative’s CEO, noted, “Simon has been successfully leading creative departments for over a decade. He has a reputation for being an open, positive collaborator both within the agency and with clients, and is equally passionate about delivering memorable and highly effective work.”
Jack Watts, Bastion’s global CEO, commented that they are thrilled to welcome a creative leader of Langley’s calibre into the Bastion group, as his track record of nurturing creative minds to deliver truly world-class work is amongst the best in the region.
“Combining this with our creative firepower in New Zealand will elevate our business to one of the finest creative agencies in the region. We are confident this will not only take our creative work to another level, but the entire Bastion business globally,” said Watts.
In March 2022, Bastion has announced two new recent high profile hires, namely Angela Morris, the new national chief strategy officer, and Ana Lynch, the new managing partner for Sydney. Both are charged with taking the Bastion creative business to the next level, along with Langley.