An Unique Interview with Aayush Bansal, Co-Founder and Director at Black Cab
On this partaking interview, Aayush Bansal, Co-Founder and Director at Black Cab, opens up about his journey of constructing one of the crucial dynamic artistic businesses.
He shares insights on innovation, storytelling, and management which have positioned Black Cab as a trusted identify within the business.
What impressed the creation of Black Cab, and the way has its imaginative and prescient developed since inception?
Aayush Bansal: Black Cab was born at a time when social media was simply beginning to evolve right into a critical platform for model communication. Social commerce and digital engagement had been on the rise, however most manufacturers had been nonetheless caught in an advertising-first mindset.
We noticed a transparent alternative to assist manufacturers shift from polished advert movies to extra related, social-first content material. With a younger, digital-native workforce, we believed we had the precise instincts to bridge that hole.
Over time, the imaginative and prescient has developed, from creating partaking content material to constructing a full-stack artistic community that helps manufacturers scale throughout identification, storytelling, and efficiency, whereas staying culturally related and creatively sharp.
How does Black Cab differentiate itself from different advertising businesses in India when it comes to technique and consumer engagement?
Aayush Bansal: The most important differentiator is our company community mannequin. As an alternative of being a generalist 360 company, we’ve constructed three specialised arms: Ottoman Design (branding), Secret Sauce (content material manufacturing), and Black Cab (amplification and technique).
Every company is led by specialists with deep expertise of their area. For instance, our content material studio is led by Alok Verma, a six-time India’s Greatest Meals Stylist and Photographer.
Shoppers get entry to best-in-class expertise throughout verticals by way of a single retainer and single level of contact, which retains communication tight and output seamless.
We additionally strategically enter underserved markets. As an example, we constructed a stronghold in hospitality and alco-bev as a result of luxurious resorts and alcohol manufacturers had been struggling to transition to social-first storytelling. We recognized this hole early and constructed a service ecosystem particularly tailor-made to them.
Are you able to share insights into Black Cab’s income development, market enlargement, or key milestones during the last 2–3 years?
Aayush Bansal: Over the previous 2–3 years, Black Cab has achieved a number of important milestones that mirror our regular development and enlargement. About three years in the past, we crossed the $1 million annual income mark and have continued to construct on that momentum ever since.
We additionally diversified our choices by launching Secret Sauce Studios, which is now finishing three profitable years, and Ottoman Design, which can rejoice its first anniversary this January.
To assist this development, we moved into a brand new 6,600 sq. ft. headquarters, scaling our capability to a 120–130 member workforce, and in the present day, our energy has grown to over 80 professionals working throughout specialised pods in content material, digital, branding, and technique.
Moreover, we now have begun integrating AI into our workflows to boost effectivity whereas guaranteeing that creativity stays on the core of every thing we do.
In in the present day’s cluttered digital panorama, what makes a model marketing campaign really impactful?
Aayush Bansal: Two issues: genuine communities and powerful artistic path. We’re seeing a transparent shift: manufacturers that construct actual ecosystems round their customers (like Nike Run Membership or Lululemon’s yoga communities) find yourself driving loyalty with out consistently promoting. On social, their content material is only a reflection of these communities.
In parallel, artwork path is enjoying an enormous function in model recall. A robust visible identification, mannequin shoots, product styling, high-quality reels, and even CGI, is what stops thumbs in the present day. Nevertheless it solely works if it’s contemporary, daring, and true to the model. That’s the stability.
Might you spotlight a current marketing campaign the place Black Cab delivered progressive options that stood out from the standard strategy?
Aayush Bansal: The Indri Diwali Collector’s Version is a superb instance. The product itself went on to win Greatest Indian Single Malt, however our function was to construct the storytelling round it, from pre-launch teasers to visual-led content material and festive cultural cues.
We mixed fashionable artwork path with conventional motifs, layered with efficiency advertising that focused area of interest audiences throughout markets. The marketing campaign wasn’t simply in regards to the bottle; it was about positioning Indri as the collector’s present for Diwali, and that narrative caught.
How does Black Cab assist manufacturers construct long-term fairness and buyer loyalty in a fast-changing market?
Aayush Bansal: We all the time strategy advertising as extra than simply marketing campaign supply. Our purpose is to construct narratives and IP that manufacturers can personal, seasonal properties, repeatable codecs, and community-driven concepts.
In classes like alco-bev and F&B, the place repeat visibility issues, we deal with staying top-of-mind by way of constant storytelling quite than one-off spikes. We additionally guarantee our artistic tone evolves with the buyer, as a result of what works in the present day received’t essentially work subsequent quarter.
What function do know-how and data-driven advertising play in shaping your methods for purchasers?
Aayush Bansal: A large one. We’ve been aggressively constructing AI-backed techniques internally to streamline every thing from put up planning and idea era to efficiency monitoring and post-campaign reporting.
However whereas tech helps with effectivity and scalability, we’re very clear that the artistic core stays human. Our technique is to make use of information to tell, not dictate. To make use of AI to speed up, not change. That stability permits us to be each sensible and soulful.
How do you envision the evolution of selling and model constructing in India over the following 5 years?
Aayush Bansal: We see three huge shifts:
Design-led differentiation: Robust artistic path shall be non-negotiable. The age of bland, template-led content material is fading quick. As an company, we’re evolving to steer in all three, and serving to our manufacturers do the identical.
Group-first considering: Manufacturers that construct ecosystems will outperform those who solely promote. Content material as IP: Each model will want its personal recurring codecs, suppose past campaigns, suppose reveals, rituals, repeat hooks.
By his imaginative and prescient and keenness, Aayush Bansal underscores how creativity, adaptability, and powerful technique can form model success.
His perspective displays Black Cab’s mission to redefine storytelling and ship significant influence within the evolving world of selling.
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