Serviceplan Middle East Appoints Nishant Shah as Executive Creative Director

Full-service communications agency Serviceplan Middle East, the Dubai-based arm of Serviceplan Group, has announced the appointment of award winning creative Nishant Shah as executive creative director. Nishant joins the agency from Publicis Groupe in Tokyo, where he held the position of global creative director. His position will be effective from August 1st, 2023. 

Nishant Shah joins Serviceplan Middle East on the next chapter of a journey through advertising that has taken him to internationally renowned creative shops including; Publicis Groupe, JWT, MullenLowe and 60LayersofCake creating famous work for iconic global brands such as; Unilever, Nike, RedBull, INFINITI, Harley Davidson, Amazon, Edgewell, Qatar Airways, Al Jazeera and Pepsi. 

Nishant Shah commented, “Creatives are often simple hearts. They can be easily deluded by the shiny things and the showmanship, whilst forgetting to have fun along the way. Serviceplan is one of the few advertising agencies that tries to keep it real — by celebrating the people, the process and the culture as much as the work we make. Natalie and Akhilesh are definitely on to something; and I’m deeply honoured for them to share this with me.”

Nishant’s role as executive creative director will involve strengthening the creative and strategic capabilities of Serviceplan Middle East, managing the creative team, providing creative inspiration, attracting the best talent, and collaborating with clients on the creation of innovative and award-winning campaigns.  

A compulsive storyteller and a serial optimist, Nishant earned an MBA in marketing, and his love of advertising led him to a production assistant role in Mumbai, before he embarked upon a career as a creative, going on to become a widely respected figure in the global advertising industry scene, and an award-winning creative leader. His creativity has earned awards at leading international advertising awards ceremonies including; Cannes Lions, One Show, Spikes Asia, Adfest, Dubai Lynx, Cristal Europe, Adstars, The Andy’s, Webby, Effie Asia, Lisbon International Festival, ACC Japan and Goafest India. He also believes that "too much modesty is dishonesty." 

Serviceplan Middle East managing director, Natalie Shardan commented, “We’re very excited to welcome Nishant back to the region, I had the pleasure of working with him at MullenLowe before he moved to Japan. Nishant is joining Serviceplan Middle East at the right time, the agency is expanding in size and talent and an addition of a new ECD is critical for our growth. Nishant will not only bring great creative expertise to our team, he’s also a perfect fit for our collaborative and creative culture. We’re very happy to welcome him on board and looking forward to creating memorable work together.” 

Serviceplan Middle East chief creative officer, Akhilesh Bagri added, “Every team needs a refresh from time to time. After a year of consolidating, we felt it was the right time to bring in someone who can help us aim higher. Nishant was really the only choice all along, because of the person he is. We are all very excited to learn from his experiences. Welcome back to Dubai, Nishant, there’s a new ramen place everyone’s talking about.” 

Serviceplan Middle East is part of Serviceplan Group Middle East, the 2022 Independent Agency of the Year at Dubai Lynx and part of Serviceplan Group, the 2022 Cannes Lion’s Independent Network of the Year. Serviceplan Middle East opened its doors in Dubai in 2010 and has since offered clients integrated services under the ‘House of Communication’ across all agency brands, focusing on the delivery of Übercreative work: Serviceplan, Serviceplan Experience, Mediaplus and House of Gaming.