Sophie Hornsey commences as Senior Manager - Marketing, PR & Social

Ashbury Communications has welcomed Hermen Chow as Associate Director, strengthening its advisory team.

Based in Hong Kong, Hermen brings expertise in corporate profile-raising, media relations, thought leadership, and crisis and issues management to Ashbury. She is experienced in advising conglomerates, financial institutions, professional services firms, and developers across Hong Kong.

Hermen has worked with firms including Weber Shandwick, Brunswick Group, and SEC Newgate. Prior to joining Ashbury, she was Associate Director at Sandpiper. 

Lucy Roach has been welcomed at VicReturn as Senior Marketing and Communications Manager. She was at Solar Victoria for five and a half years, most recently as Manager, Communications and Media DEECA. Prior to this, Lucy was at Sustainability Victoria, following a career in broadcast television production.

Bastion Insights has launched Bastion Vantage, a new AI-powered digital intelligence offering. The service combines AI with the judgement and strategic thinking of senior researchers to review online conversations and provide digital intelligence for organisations.

The agency said that Bastion Vantage is designed to help organisations identify online behaviours, sentiment, cultural shifts, commercial opportunities and reputation issues. It is also meant to complement traditional research and social listening by providing ongoing intelligence on culture, sentiment, and emerging behaviour.

The service can be used for brand strategy, innovation, communications development, trend forecasting, and reputation management.

Cheuk Chiang, Group CEO of Bastion, said the launch reflects the agency's continued investment in solutions that help clients stay ahead of change.

“Innovation has always been about creating better outcomes for our clients. Bastion Vantage is an important addition to our integrated offering, bringing together AI and human expertise to help organisations navigate complexity with greater confidence. It's another example of how we're evolving our capabilities to keep our clients in a position of strength.”

Joanne Norton, Managing Director, Bastion Insights, said Bastion Vantage addresses one of the biggest challenges facing marketers today.

“Marketers are drowning in metrics and starving for meaning. Data can tell you what happened, but insight explains why it happened and, more importantly, what to do next. Bastion Vantage combines the speed and scale of AI with the judgement of experienced researchers to ask better questions, uncover the human truths behind consumer behaviour and give our clients the clarity and confidence to make smarter decisions.”