Niki Garner, Head of Creative

In just two years, Niki Garner has transformed ITV Creative into one of the UK’s most progressive and high-performing in-house agencies.

Brought in to get the team “match fit” ahead of the ITVX launch, Garner inherited a traditional promo-focused department and turned it into a strategic, brand-building powerhouse. She streamlined the team, brought in top agency talent, and expanded its remit to include brand campaigns, performance marketing and further collaboration between ITV Creative and ITV Media.

Under her leadership, ITV Creative now contributes earlier and more strategically to the planning process: developing ITV’s brand platform and shaping campaigns from the inside out. Within the organisation she has been an active player in developing new agile ways of working, replacing silos with cross-functional squads and embedding delivery roles to drive efficiency, collaboration, and quality.

That transformation is already paying off. Recent campaigns have not only elevated ITV’s brand but helped the broadcaster show up with purpose, like the General Election campaign that repurposed X Factor footage to encourage voter turnout in just days.

Garner’s influence extends beyond the work. She’s fostered a more inclusive, thoughtful team culture and championed sustainable production practices that balance creativity with responsibility.

From a two-week temp job at the start of her career to the helm of one of the UK’s biggest in-house creative teams, Garner’s story is proof that brave leadership, clear vision, and believing in people can transform more than a broadcaster’s creative output. It can transform a whole approach to commercial storytelling.