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Digital payments are the language of growth for businesses. At Cashfree Payments, we help merchants of all sizes and sectors stay ahead of the curve through best-in-class products and payments tech that is tailored to their specific needs. Through our partnership, merchants focus on what they do best – growing their businesses – while we take care of the rest.
But how do you tell that story to the world? How do you capture a philosophy of speed and agility in a way that not only piques interest but also feels authentic to who we are?
That’s where MOVE FAST began, as a vision to showcase a bolder, sharper and more dynamic Cashfree Payments. What followed was one of our most ambitious brand campaigns, and here’s the story of how our teams came together to bring it to life. Led by the incredible effort of our in-house marketing team, MOVE FAST – our tagline, philosophy and core identity – is now synonymous with all things Cashfree.
Here’s the story of the team who made it possible.
The Idea: Defining the message
For Aditi Olemann, Senior Director of Marketing, MOVE FAST was about much more than a tagline.
Aditi adds, “Distilling the idea of MOVE FAST into a campaign started from singling out our core strengths — faster payments, faster onboarding for merchants, and faster resolution times.”
But beyond the product, we wanted to show the world what we stand for as a brand. Nishat Farhat, our Associate Director of Brand Marketing, puts it simply, “We wanted a campaign that stood out. We aimed for a bold, high-energy story anchored by a celebrity who truly reflects our brand’s agility.”
Choosing Rajkummar Rao as our ambassador to help us share this message was just the move to lock this in. “Rajkummar is relatable, trustworthy, and dependable. These are the qualities we stand for as a brand,” says Aditi.
Making Speed Visual: Designing MOVE FAST
Once the core narrative was in place, the next challenge was to visually bring speed to life without falling into clichés. This is where Samir Bellare, Senior Director of Design, and his team played a crucial role.
Early explorations included fast animals, lightning, jets, and bullet trains. But the breakthrough came when the team landed on streaks of speed combined with neon-bright backgrounds, creating a bold yet modern look that could cut through noise. “It was about making sure Rajkummar stood out while keeping the brand energetic. The neon worked beautifully with Cashfree’s color palette, and we used big, bold typography to make a statement,” Samir explains.
This balance of sharp, clean design and a high-energy vibe carried through everything from the website to outdoor hoardings. “For outdoor hoardings, we knew people had just seconds to take in the message so we kept it super simple. A familiar search bar, with simple words like ‘Fastest Payment Gateway’ and our logo in a big, bold way. That was all it needed,” he adds.
Channel Strategy: Where Speed Meets Impact
With a strong creative direction in place, the next step was getting the message out to the right audience at the right time. Here, Nishat emphasises the importance of an integrated media plan. “We built a video-heavy storytelling approach for awareness, and impact properties for recall. Each channel was chosen strategically to ensure our story reached businesses at different stages of their journey,” Nishat explains.
The team went beyond just mass reach. “Beyond the brand film, we created a multi-touchpoint approach to make sure MOVE FAST resonated all along the purchase journey,” she adds.
Aditi also highlights the need to be strategic with the media mix. “When it came down to the execution it wasn’t about being everywhere. Rather it was about choosing the channels that mattered the most. We blended online platforms with offline OOH advertising to create a presence that was sharp and targeted,” she says.
Executing at Speed: True to the Message
Bringing the MOVE FAST message to life was also about moving fast ourselves! A campaign of this scale required quick thinking, collaboration, and agility, especially when things didn’t go as planned.
One of the defining moments came when the team had to finalise hoarding creatives just a day before rollout. “Despite multiple iterations, just before the launch nothing felt right. So, teams from brand, design, and media came together and quite literally ‘moved fast’ — ideating and executing overnight. By morning, our OOH went live with creatives we were proud of,” shares Nishat.
Kumar Anubhav, Associate Director of Digital Marketing, reflects on how his team focused on native advertising and creative formats that matched today’s digital behavior. “We tried storytelling formats and interactive surveys on platforms where we knew we’d find the right audience. These allowed us to engage without feeling pushy, which is important when consumers are smart and attuned to digital storytelling,” Anubhav shares.
More Than a Slogan: Embedding MOVE FAST in Our Culture
From the start, MOVE FAST was never meant to be just an external message — it was a company-wide philosophy. This internal alignment, Aditi believes, was essential to making the campaign real. “This wasn’t just about telling a story it was about doubling down on our promise to customers. MOVE FAST is a part of who we are,” she says.
As the campaign wrapped, its impact stays ever-present. “MOVE FAST is our strategic edge in fintech,” Nishat reflects. “As the landscape grows, our ability to move fast in transactions, decision-making, and customer experience will define us. We are built for speed. And we’re just getting started.”
For Aditi, the campaign also set a new standard for future brand work. “We built an end-to-end playbook that gave us clarity at every stage from pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. It’s now a framework for everything we do going forward,” she shares.
From the first brainstorm to Rajkummar Rao lighting up billboards, MOVE FAST was a campaign built on the very philosophy it set out to share — speed, agility, and purpose.
If you’re someone who loves building at speed, come join us. Explore careers at Cashfree Payments here.
