Bastion Experience has bolstered its Melbourne operations with senior appointments spanning its three key business pillars – strategic partnerships, creative strategy and brand experiences.
The expansion of the strategic partnership, brand and experiential agency’s Melbourne team follows year-on-year growth driven by brands and clients increasingly utilising all three arms of its Experience business.
The appointments see Emily MacFarlane join as client director, Marnie McManus as strategic partnerships director and Ally Deacon as lead creative strategist.
MacFarlane has a wealth of brand expertise gained in London as a business development manager for the on-demand beauty and wellness platform PRIV, as well as working with the equity crowdfunding platform Birchal as a campaign manager, connecting brands and investors.
MacFarlane will work closely with Bastion’s experiential clients including L’Oréal overseeing all campaigns and activations.
McManus brings deep partnership experience gained over four years as Director and Manager of Strategic Partnerships at IMG, and in London-based roles for Digital Sports Mgmt and City Football Group. Her vast sports partnership expertise also includes four years with the AFL in an account role spanning broadcasting, scheduling, and a wide range of client services for domestic and international rights holders.
McManus will be working closely with brand marketing specialist, Sean Singh Manager – Commercial Strategy, who also joined Bastion Experience earlier in the year.
Most recently, Deacon was based in LA, where she spent two years as creative lead at AI-driven influencer marketing platform Captiv8. Her background also includes Melbourne-based roles as creative and digital strategist for Willett Marketing, digital content specialist for The Australian Ballet and social media community manager for Huckleberry Agency.
The trio’s depth of experience, combined with Bastion Experience’s decade-long ability to tap into real-world cultural, audience, competitor, and contextual insights, will ensure the business continually delivers best-in-class expertise to clients, Bastion Experience’s general manager Lizzie McManus said.
“As our Experience business continues its growth trajectory, we’re excited to elevate our business with these exceptionally talented women.
“We handcraft our teams to maximise complementary skills and strengths across our strategy, partnerships and brand experience arms. With clients increasingly drawing on all three of those key business pillars, the wealth of new knowledge and expertise Emily, Marnie and Ally bring will further strengthen and enhance our three-faceted offering,” McManus said.
In addition to growing its Melbourne team, Bastion Experience has boosted its Sydney operations with the appointment of Jack Playfair as client director – experience. His experience includes four years in Account and Client Management roles with TLA Worldwide.
Playfair strong sports partnership pedigree includes three years as Supercars partnerships manager and stints as commercial coordinator for Rugby Australia and sponsorship assistant at Fox Sports.
Bastion works with some of the most widely recognised brands across their partnership strategy and experiential activity including: Xbox, Kia, Kennedy, Ferrari and L’Oreal.
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Top image left to right: Ally Deacon, Marnie McManus and Emily Macfarlane