Kelly began his career writing menus and shooting his own scripts, including an ad for Volkswagen. Ogilvy South Africa and The Cannes Advertising Festival recognized his talent, and in 1997, he became the youngest person to win a Cannes Lion.

In 1999, with an award and a collection of menus, he landed his first significant role at Berry Bush BBDO, followed by positions at Bester Burke D’Arcy and Lowe Bull.

In 2004, Kelly was headhunted by Ogilvy Singapore as a regional writer, working on prominent Southeast Asian brands like DHL, The Economist, HSBC, Nestlé, Nike, and Tiger Beer. His creativity earned him a 3rd place in The Young Guns awards for the most creative under 30s while at Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore.

Two years later, Ogilvy brought him back to Cape Town, where he worked as a senior copywriter on blue-chip brands such as VW, Audi, Castrol Oil, Carling Black Label, Old Mutual Investments, and Multi-Choice.

In 2009, Kelly moved to Sydney as Creative Director at The Campaign Palace, where he won the Westpac business and led campaigns for Dominos, Panasonic, and Bonds underwear.

After a decade of international experience, Kelly co-founded Bletchley Park, “The home of beautiful problems,” with Jonty Fisher. They grew the agency to 25 people before merging to form OFyt.

OFyt is a blend of seasoned advertising professionals and talented younger creatives. It serves as both a full-service agency and a graduate program, fast-tracking young, disadvantaged talent into the industry. Over the next eight years, Kelly and his partners expanded OFyt to 65 people with offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Half South African and half Kiwi, Kelly has returned to Auckland, New Zealand, where he continues to drive brand growth through disruptive ideas, channel-agnostic thinking, and digital innovation.