In the emerging economy
Thought Leadership is Brand Leadership
Our Expertise
Crafting the Foundational Assets for your Brand Marketing
A brand must always be in tune with its environment and rebranding helps do just that. We craft the core brand assets by building on the past but, more importantly, by looking at the future of your category and competition. This ensures that the brand remains sustainably relevant and differentiated for years to come. With this solid foundation in place, the firm can then CLEARLY and CONFIDENTLY embark on a multi-year brand-building journey.
Our Ideal Client
Established brands running on past momentum
These are mature organisations who find their relevance waning in the emerging economy. Through re-branding, they seek to re-energise their perception for external audiences and strengthen internal alignment. Re-staging the brand with a fresh perspective and heightened relevance helps the organisation compete more effectively, while retaining its core values.
New-age aspirants in emerging sectors
These are ambitious leaders who have, more often than not, introduced a pioneering concept. They need to attract talent and resources while competing with more established alternatives. Re-branding helps sharpen their messaging, create referability and do more with less.
Our Perspective
In the emerging economy, Thought Leadership is the source of Brand Leadership
A clear, easy-to-understand and unique perspective, combined with a well-defined target audience builds Thought Leadership, which ultimately creates Brand Leadership. The “broadcasting-through-bought-media” approach no longer works. Today, a brand needs to be MAGNETIC and its differentiation is experienced more through actions and innovations, than empty words.
We believe every brand has an opportunity to be magnetic by putting out a strong and unique perspective on its category and its role in the world. We see this UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE as a force multiplier that provides unity and coherence across all dimensions of the organisation – innovations, talent, leadership, promotion, etc.
Our Team
We orchestrate a diverse set of talents to deliver an accurate solution. Having multiple talents under one roof saves time and effort for our clients while helping us work more efficiently. Our size allows the seniormost members of our team to maintain close, collaborative involvement across all phases of the engagement.
Ashutosh Wakankar
Co Founder, Strategy
Barring a short misadventure into Engineering, my life has been a series of lucky breaks. Although a Bhopal boy at heart, I found my calling during my post grad at MICA.
Over 15 years down the road, I am still all in on the power of brands to improve lives. There are many things to get right and many more skills to pursue.
I see myself doing this work for the rest of my life.
My role at Cracker & Rush is to bring vision and guts to our work. Outside of that I am responsible for overall operations, securing new business and working closely with every client to bring their brands into sharp focus.
Ruhi Sridhar
Co Founder, Design
I consider myself a visual person. Art & crafts have been my co-travellers in exploring how colours, shapes, alphabets and numbers come together to create stories. CKP, NIFT and Ray & Keshavan have been important pit stops in my journey towards Cracker & Rush. I back my intuition with practice, curiosity and observation to bring the brand story alive. At C&R, my role combines the two extremes of guiding the big picture of the firm, with an eye for detail on every piece of work that gets shipped. At heart, I am an explorer - of places, recipes, and a myriad delights that make life interesting. A proud resident of Bangalore, I live with my architect husband, Dhanwant, daughter Maaya and our pet slug.
Richa Chhabra
Strategy
Confronted by the commitment to a topic for an 18,000 word thesis during my Master’s in Design Management, I found within me a deep curiosity to understand the most fundamental. Why do people relate to brands? By the end of my 6 month thesis, from being a lay consumer, I knew I wanted to participate in this world from the inside. At Cracker & Rush, each engagement offers new insights. I live in a world where assumptions don't exist and every day is a quest to unearth something unique about a sector, brand or consumer. Echoing Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s, The Little Prince, “What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
Rashmi Singh
Design
I have always been a visual thinker. When I slice an orange, I visualise a bicycle wheel. When I hear a business brief, I start visualising images. In a quest to explore my own creativity I went to London to study Visual Communication. On my return, I found my niche in Cracker & Rush.
Cracker & Rush sets high benchmarks that help me push my boundaries while allowing me complete creative freedom. I start every project wondering what I’ll come up with. And through the journey, I get to see something I am proud of.
Oh, and my boss bakes the best cakes. For a person whose ultimate dream is to eat her way out of a human-sized sponge cake, that’s a sweet deal!
Partners
Thomas Xavier
As a chronic latecomer at school, I discovered the art of storytelling. Directionless at college, I learnt the power of purpose. Since then, I’ve made an occupation of spiritedly applying these two domains to brands. Like IBM, Toyota, Air Deccan, and Himalaya. At agencies like Mudra, Mc Cann, and Leo Burnett. Two decades later, it looks like I have work experience. Nah. Here’s to more play.
And what better place than CRACKER & RUSH.
Eshwar Sundaresan
A published author, practicing counselor, Life Skills trainer, freelance journalist and a social change-maker. I wear many hats to embellish my bald head!
Working with C&R adds another dimension to my professional journey. Here, I watch organisations transform into butterflies. A coherent strategy gives them new wings and compelling designs make those wings pretty. In a way, C&R is transforming the corporate world into a beautiful garden.
At C&R, I keep re-learning the power of authentic branding, and I get to work with people of unmatched integrity and warmth.
Our Difference
Grey Hair
We are a tightly-knit team that has amassed insights from over 200 client interventions. Our most recent work can be found here.
Down & Dirty
Our approach to research is meticulous and hands-on, and we don’t stop digging till we have extracted the vital essence out of each pie-holder, responsibly.
Tailor-made Fit
We don’t rely on anecdotal wisdom. We know how to get the true context for your organisation using the First Principles of Organisation Branding.
The Little Big Thing
A genuine passion for the craft (strategy) and art (design). Our standards and commitment usually go way beyond client expectations.