AUCKLAND, Today: Dentsu has named Nikki McKelvie as Managing Director of Dentsu Creative Aotearoa, tasking her with leading the creative practice and building on strong momentum as the business continues to grow its client portfolio.
McKelvie joins the dentsu Aotearoa Executive Leadership Team, adding further depth to an award-winning leadership group and reinforcing dentsu’s commitment to creative excellence across the region.
With more than 20 years’ experience, McKelvie has helped shape some of Aotearoa’s most successful creative agencies, most recently spending 13 years at DDB Aotearoa, including four years as Managing Director.
During her time leading DDB Aotearoa, the agency secured eight Agency of the Year titles across major awards including Spikes Asia, Axis and AWARD, alongside sustained creative and commercial success.
She also played a key role in launching Takitoru, the Māori creative agency within the DDB Group, reflecting a strong commitment to inclusive creativity and meaningful representation.
“I’m really excited to be joining dentsu. There’s great momentum across Dentsu Creative right now, an incredibly talented team, and a real opportunity to do work that’s both creatively ambitious and commercially effective.” – Nikki McKelvie
McKelvie is widely respected for her people-first leadership, with deep experience across culture building, new business, inclusion and diversity strategies, and industry education.
Rachel Anderson-Cormack, Group Managing Director, dentsu Aotearoa said, “Nikki is an exceptional leader with a deep passion for creativity that drives real business impact.
“She brings a rare combination of creative ambition, commercial rigour and people-first leadership. As our client portfolio continues to grow, Nikki is exactly the right leader to build on the momentum in our creative business and help shape what’s next for Dentsu Creative Aotearoa”
McKelvie said, “I’m really excited to be joining dentsu. There’s great momentum across Dentsu Creative right now, an incredibly talented team, and a real opportunity to do work that’s both creatively ambitious and commercially effective. I can’t wait to get stuck in and help drive growth for our clients.”
Across her career, McKelvie has worked with clients spanning banking, FMCG, retail, insurance, electronics, pharma, telco, services, media and government.
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