Dentsu Creative Aotearoa Appoints Nikki McKelvie MD

Dentsu has appointed Nikki McKelvie as managing director of Dentsu Creative Aotearoa. In this role, Nikki will lead the creative practice, building on strong momentum across the business and supporting the continued expansion of dentsu’s client portfolio.

Nikki joins the dentsu Aotearoa executive leadership team, strengthening an already highly regarded, award-winning leadership group and reinforcing dentsu’s commitment to creative excellence.

She brings more than two decades of experience shaping some of Aotearoa’s most successful and highly awarded creative agencies. Most recently, she spent 13 years at DDB Aotearoa, including four years as managing director, where she played a key leadership role in the agency’s sustained creative and commercial success.

During Nikki's tenure as managing director, DDB Aotearoa won eight Agency of the Year titles across major industry awards including Spikes Asia, Axis, and AWARD. She was also instrumental in launching Takitoru, a Māori creative agency within the DDB Group, demonstrating a deep commitment to inclusive creativity and meaningful representation.

Nikki is widely recognised not only for her creative and commercial leadership, but for her focus on people, culture, and capability building. She has led large, diverse teams, led new business, shaped agency-wide inclusion and diversity strategies, and played an active role in 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.”

Nikki 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.”

Nikki has worked across a wide range of industries including banking, FMCG, retail, insurance, electronics, pharma, telco, services, media, and government.