CB Exclusive: The Royals expands creative department with seven new creative hires

CB Exclusive – The Royals is continuing to expand its creative department on the back of new business wins.

Following a strong six months of business growth, including the recent wins of iSelect and NT Masterbrand, The Royals have added seven talented creatives to its growing ranks.

Leading the charge of new creative recruits over the past three months is award-winning art director Iain MacMillan, who joins as associate creative director. A self-proclaimed media-neutral creative, MacMillan has collected awards at Cannes, AdStars, Spikes, Axis, Effies, AWARD and more, across multiple categories and channels. He has spent most of his career so far in New Zealand at agencies including FCB Global, Colenso BBDO and Saatchi & Saatchi NZ.

Says MacMillan: “The Royals have this great mix of big thinking, and innovation as well as fresh design that really excites me. So I’m pretty humbled to be asked to join, and can’t wait to see what we can come up with along the way.”

Experienced art director Pete Sherrah has come on board as senior art director, having previously freelanced at agencies including 72andSunny, The Core Agency, DDB and JWT among others. He also worked in Canada at Sid Lee, Craft WW and The Sandbox Agency. Sherrah is partnered with copywriter Mark Rosenberg, another newcomer to the agency, with prior creative stints at Marcel Sydney, BWM Dentsu and Archibald / Williams.

Originally from Amsterdam, Leah Dunkley has joined as copywriter from CHE Proximity where she spent three years working primarily on the Mazda business, while Sean McNicholas has made the move from Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne, also as copywriter.

Art director Kiah Barker, previously at LOUD Advertising, has brought across her skills in design, branding and identity, animation and film editing.

The newest addition to the creative department, Marte Hansen, will relocate from Oslo, Norway, to take on the role of art director in May. She has worked at a number of Norwegian agencies, including Creuna and Hyper, on clients such as LEGO, Coca-Cola and Visit Norway.

The newcomers are the latest additions in a creative recruiting spree that has seen the size of The Royals’ creative department grow by 55% over the past six months.

Says Nick Cummins, creative partner at The Royals: “Our ambition at The Royals is to be ‘the most interested agency in the world’, so hiring perpetually curious thinkers with unique perspectives is an important part of that mission. All seven of the talented individuals who have joined us bring all the characteristics we look for, plus a fresh energy that makes us better as a team. The end result is work that delivers a greater business result for our clients.”