Black Cab’s Founders Redefine Brand Building with Bold Creativity, AI-Driven Strategies

In India’s rapidly evolving marketing landscape, where D2C brands and challenger startups are rewriting the rules, Black Cab has carved a niche by blending founder-led thinking with bold creativity. Co-founders Siddhartha Singh and Aayush Bansal are not just agency leaders; they are hands-on strategists shaping brand narratives, leveraging AI, and redefining how engagement, loyalty, and storytelling work in a digital-first world. In this candid conversation, they share insights into their journey, their unique approach to brand building, and how they are helping both premium and challenger brands thrive.

Siddhartha Singh: Aayush and I met during our undergrad at NMIMS, sharing the same class for three years. Beyond being classmates, we collaborated on multiple projects. After college, our paths diverged. I pursued an MSc in Marketing at the University of Bath and worked at Tata, while Aayush focused on creative pursuits. Yet, the entrepreneurial spark stayed with both of us. Through discussions in Mumbai, we identified a market gap: startups lacked agencies that truly understood founder-led businesses. That led to the creation of Black Cab—an agency that thinks like a founder and operates as an embedded team.

Aayush Bansal: From the start, our mission was simple: work on projects where marketing decisions create tangible impact. Over time, this has grown into a full-stack creative network, but the principle remains unchanged collaborate with founders, deliver measurable results, and stay lean and focused.

The two key ingredients are building genuine communities and ensuring strong creative direction.

Brands that foster real ecosystems around their audiences, like Nike Run Club or Lululemon’s yoga communities, drive loyalty without constant selling. Their social content naturally reflects these communities.

Simultaneously, visual storytelling plays a critical role. Well-executed shoots, product styling, high-quality reels, and CGI grab attention in today’s fast-scrolling world but only if the work is bold, original, and true to the brand’s identity. The challenge is balancing creativity with relevance.

Marketing for us goes beyond individual campaigns. We focus on creating stories, IP, and repeatable frameworks that brands can own. Seasonal initiatives, community-driven projects, and consistent content keep brands top-of-mind, especially in sectors like alcohol and F&B, where repeated visibility is key.

We also ensure the creative tone evolves with the audience, as what resonates today may not connect tomorrow. The emphasis is always on sustained engagement rather than short-term spikes.

Technology is central to everything we do. We have developed AI-powered systems to streamline concept generation, post planning, performance tracking, and reporting.

However, while AI boosts efficiency and scalability, the creative process remains human-centric. Data informs decisions but doesn’t dictate them, and AI accelerates ideas rather than replacing human intuition. This approach keeps our campaigns both smart and emotionally resonant.

We anticipate three major trends. Our agency is positioning itself to lead in all three areas while guiding brands through these shifts.

1. Community-first approaches: Brands that cultivate ecosystems will outperform those focused solely on selling.

2. Content as intellectual property: Brands will need recurring, proprietary content formats rather than one-off campaigns, think shows, rituals, or signature hooks.

3. Design-led differentiation: Strong visual identity and creative execution will become non- negotiable, replacing generic, template-based content.

Absolutely. D2C has been one of the fastest-growing segments, particularly post-COVID. These brands rely heavily on marketing, performance strategies, content creation, brand positioning, and communication.

Being internet-first and consumer-centric, D2C brands continue to offer immense opportunities for creative agencies and remain a major growth driver in the Indian market.

It’s both. For challengers, we lower the cost of market entry by providing superior creative, strategy, and positioning, enabling faster growth.

Simultaneously, this approach pressures incumbents to invest more to maintain their market share. That tension gives challenger brands an edge, making it a strategic play on both fronts.

The festive season is always vibrant and critical for business. Many of our clients are consumer brands, making this period high-impact.

We’re managing multiple shoots daily, rolling out several campaigns, and supporting emerging brands that rely heavily on festive sales. The online audience is highly engaged during this time, making it an ideal window for new brands to connect with consumers, and we ensure they maximize this opportunity.