Conran Design Group Adds Ankur Naik as Senior Strategist
Design and branding agency Conran Design Group has announced the addition of experienced brand storyteller Ankur Naik as their new Senior Strategist. Working directly to support Managing Director Christina Falzano and the entire Conran team, Naik will lead projects across brand strategy, naming and expression.
Naik’s career is defined by integral roles at some of the industry’s most lauded and ambitious agencies, helping to build everything from massive global brands to buzzworthy disruptors. As Senior Program Manager at Wolff Olins, his understanding of the importance of collaboration, iteration, and the integration of strategy and design fueled successful work for iconic clients like Google, Spotify, Showtime and AES. He then took those insights to branding and social innovation agency BBMG, where he worked with brands such as Burton, Target and BarkBox to name a few. This experience helped him master the ins and outs of impact-driven brand purpose and sustainability, as well as how brands can materially incorporate them into every aspect of their business to create meaningful impact for consumers and the world.
Having worked with Falzano previously at Wolff Olins, Naik immediately felt that the team at Conran shared many of his core beliefs and ways of working. The agency’s open, inclusive environment allowed him to establish a workflow that positions Conran to deliver best-in-class work.
“With Wolff Olins, I saw how branding and big ideas could be used as tools to enable incredible business transformation, while at BBMG, I dealt with sustainable and societal issues that showed me all the creative ways in which brands can address social issues,” Naik noted. “Now at Conran, I hope to bring the combination of the two – sustainability and impact-driven business transformation delivered through brand – to some of our largest clients, both within the health and wellness space and beyond.”
In addition to the opportunity to work with Falzano again, Naik was further enticed to Conran by the opportunity to take on a role involving brand architecture, naming and verbal identity work. He will also be involved in helping the team pitch new work, growing and strengthening Conran’s relationships with new and existing clients – building on the design-led agency’s global reputation fostered by founder Terrence Conran – and harnessing the worldwide scale and capabilities of the Havas network.
Naik’s diverse wealth of experience will be an asset to Conran Design Group as leadership imagines the next evolution of the agency. Naik furthered, “The beauty of Conran’s team is that it’s full of experts who’ve worked at some of the biggest shops in the branding game. We can easily build on each other’s experiences and best practices. Combine that with the exposure to the vast Havas network and it’s the perfect place to make something truly special.”
Falzano concurs, adding, “I am thrilled to have Ankur join the team. His energy, drive and unexpected ideas are exactly what we’re looking for as we continue to grow in the US and think of new ways to create more meaningful and valuable work for our clients.”