Kirsty Muddle has been appointed CEO of Ogilvy for Australia and New Zealand.
Muddle will replace Sally Kissane, who departed the role earlier this year, and will oversee all of Ogilvy’s capabilities, including advertising, PR, social and influencer, customer engagement, consulting and health.
“It’s an honour and a great privilege to step into this role and lead one of the world’s most admired creative businesses, Ogilvy, across Australian and New Zealand,” Muddle wrote on LinkedIn about the appointment.
With more than 25 years’ diverse experience, Muddle has built businesses from the ground up, as well as led large, established organisations.
She joins Ogilvy from Dentsu, where she leads as CEO of Practices & Products for Australia and New Zealand, overseeing creative, PR, government, customer experience, Salesforce, insight, data and technology, commerce and B2B marketing & media.
Prior to her three years at Dentsu, Muddle was a founding partner at cummins&partners, where she spent 11 years establishing a strong creative reputation at the agency. She also spent nine years at Mindshare, in the UK and Australia, strengthening her media skills.
Muddle has been awarded Woman of the Year and Executive of the Year twice, and she sits on the boards of the Australian council of Advertising (ACA), the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA), and Ridgeway; an Indigenous Social Change agency.
“Ogilvy is a place where every leader I’ve encountered has a strong point of view, saw change as an opportunity, and spoke with clarity about AI, data and integration but wasn’t lost in it,” said Muddle, who will step into the agency’s role of CEO in early 2026.
“Importantly, they also never forgot why this business was born – the power of creativity to drive growth. That enduring belief made Ogilvy feel like home. I’m humbled to partner with an incredible set of clients and the exceptional talent within both Ogilvy and WPP to harness the network’s full power and collectively move us all forward into what’s next.”
Welcoming Muddle to the new role, global CEO of the Ogilvy Group Laurent Ezekial praised her “undeniable track record of delivering real value and impact for clients”.
“She deeply understands the complex challenges businesses face today and champions creativity not just for its own sake, but as a powerful force that can solve those challenges,” Ezekial says about Muddle.
“Her ability to build strong, trusting relationships with clients, always putting their needs first, and her knack for bringing together diverse capabilities – from social and influencer to cutting-edge technology and data – to create truly impactful solutions, makes her an exceptional leader for Ogilvy in this key market.”
An extension of Ogilvy, WPP’s president for Australia and New Zealand, Rose Herceg, described Muddle as a “standout choice” for the role of CEO.
“When we searched for Ogilvy’s new leader, we felt we were asking for a unicorn – a modern marketer built for the emerging world, with strong business experience across the communications spectrum,” said Herceg.
“In Kirsty, we found that rare blend; a genuine love for creativity that moves mountains, coupled with experience harnessing the disciplines that creativity needs to thrive in a dynamic, fast-moving media landscape,” she said.
“We can’t wait to see the impact she’ll have at Ogilvy, bringing the kind of fresh, entrepreneurial perspective every business needs to stay ahead.”