LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., Feb. 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Securing its position as the go-to alternative to the multi-nationals, Bastion Agency is pleased to announce the hiring of industry veteran, Steve Chavez as chief creative officer for its U.S. offering.
Chavez brings more than 30 years of industry experience, including leadership positions within the “Big 4” global marketing conglomerates. Steve comes to Bastion off an impressive tenure at the WPP-owned Garage Team Mazda where he led a creative team that took the global automotive brand to new heights. Now, he is joining the mega-independent, integrated agency model in Bastion, which is coming off a banner year with double-digit growth, a successful rebrand and the acquisition of the acclaimed integrated communications group, IMW Agency.
“2023 is off to an amazing start. Attracting top tier creative talent such as Steve Chavez is edification that Bastion has created a new world agency, whereby brands can get the depth and quality of deliverables expected from a niche agency and yet the breadth of services expected from the publics,” said Bastion USA CEO Dax Cornelius. “We will continue to grow our mega-independent by not only aggressively investing in talent but also in our future acquisitions.”
Steve will lead the U.S.-based creative team with a focus on industry-leading creative strategy, concepting, and execution. The addition of Chavez to the Bastion team is one of many ways the group has ensured the delivery of best-in-class services to clients across each one of its in-house offerings – public relations, media buying and planning, social media, web/app development, content production, branding and experiential marketing. Bastion houses these services under the banner of Bastion Amplify while leveraging quantitative and qualitative studies from its in-house research arm, Bastion Insights.
“We pride ourselves on our full-service capabilities and ability to deliver on any marketing need at any time,” said Bastion Amplify CEO Chris Bretschger. “By bringing in a heavy hitter like Steve, we’ll have world-class creative oversight as we continue delivering a frictionless experience for clients who want creative support that is innovative and inspirational.”
“Bastion has blown me away with its unique structure and, therefore, dedication to putting the client first,” Chavez said. “This organization isn’t beholden to anyone except its clients, and it has the depth of resources to serve any industry and help brands impactfully communicate with their audiences. It is literally having 9-plus boutique agencies with depth under one roof – all working together in tandem or independently in the best interest of the clients’ unique needs.”
Bastion USA is part of the global Bastion Agency, Australasia’s largest independent agency with more than 360 employees working across offices in Los Angeles, Orange County (Calif.), New York City, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. It holds agency partnerships in 10 Asian markets as well.
About Bastion Amplify
Bastion Amplify is an integrated, full-service marketing agency that is equipped to successfully fuel your growth and grow your business. Whether it be for creative strategy, PR, event activation, influencer, social media, media planning and buying – or all of it. Our ability to scale, as you need it, makes us the agency for you. We work with you, as a team, responsible for the development of bespoke programs specifically designed to get you and your company where it needs to go. We are Bastion Amplify, part of Bastion Agency, globally, the largest independent agency. As a full-service independent agency, we are set up to provide you with the hands-on customer service and vertical expertise that you need while being large enough to scale your growth. We approach our client work with both fiduciary and emotional responsibility to better serve our clientele with the latest and most relevant marketing programs that are used today.
About Chris Bretschger
Chris is an innovative marketer with nearly 15 years of experience in digital marketing developing brand-building online strategies as well as managing SEO/SEM, analytics, and online media. In 2022, he doubled the size of his family's long-standing advertising firm, IMW Agency, to make it the best-in-breed full-service marketing agency in Southern California. Rebranded as Bastion Amplify, Chris's company has merged with Bastion Elevate to offer award-winning public relations and social media services - both disciplines rank No. 1. in Los Angeles and Orange counties by the respected, peer-reviewed marketing ranking organization, Clutch. As a digital strategist, understanding culture and context is equally important to the content and the channel. With extensive experience in interactive creative, media, as well as social media and public relations, Chris applies both a specialist’s understanding and a generalist’s application of marketing in a digital world. He has worked at Mazda North American Operations as their Manager of Online and Social Media, Doner Advertising on Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine, Mazda and others, as well as West Marine, Jenny Craig, Adidas Golf, Kia, Hyundai, and VW.
About Steve Chavez
Prior to joining Bastion Amplify as its chief creative officer, Steve was executive vice president/chief creative officer at WPP/Garage Team Mazda overseeing the Mazda business in North America, with additional global duties. As member of agency’s four-person leadership team, led Mazda to its most successful growth period in more than 20 years, as one of only three automotive brands to increase year of year sales in 2020. Previously at Leo Burnett, Steve served led the office to 20 percent growth and oversaw Twitter Campaign Of The Year 2014 (NCAA), which was awarded by the New York Festival, and led team that created the most successful social media campaign in GM’s history – Purple Roads, three spots on the Super Bowl in a three-year span. At Doner, where he began in 2008 as Executive Vice President/Executive Creative Director, Steve ran Mazda business in North America, Pennzoil, Amazon Kindle and several other accounts.
Jonathan Winslow
jonathanw@bastionagency.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a5534907-25b4-4c02-911f-0d062fe6c8b3
