Valya Kruk, formerly global chief strategy officer (CSO) at Tank Worldwide and EVP at Grey Group, has officially launched Hidden Rabbit, an independent strategy consultancy based out of Montreal and New York.
Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across client, agency and consulting roles, Kruk has led initiatives in diverse sectors including health, beauty, technology, telco, financial services, auto, retail, travel, government and nonprofit. She previously worked at agencies including Tank, Grey, Cossette, FCB (then DraftFCB), Publicis, as well as client-side at the National Bank of Canada, RBC and Air Canada.
While at Tank Worldwide, Kruk (pictured right) helped develop a proprietary online tool called ThinkTank, which allowed everyone at both client and agency to have a voice throughout the creative process.
“Having developed and honed the proven, transformational ThinkTank planning process that helped to fuel the growth of Tank and of its global clients, I was keen on exploring how best to evolve this approach that I had built over decades, working with founders, CEOs and their leadership teams,” Kruk says.
Hidden Rabbit’s second founding partner is Laura Kunzelmann, a former partner at Grey NYC, where she was a member of the senior leadership team and worked at the agency for almost 18 years before departing last last year.
“[Kunzelmann] and I have worked closely together as trusted advisors to CEOs of startups and high growth companies,” Kruk tells strategy. “She [as] worked across categories on Fortune 50 and Fortune 100 brands [and] has a keen sense of both the U.S. and global markets.”
Kunzelmann was an advisor to C-suite executives at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Pfizer Consumer Healthcare and GSK. Her healthcare expertise also spans retail pharmacy (Walgreens), health insurance (Aetna) and OTC and Rx products.
“While our expertise certainly runs deep in health, it also runs broad in so many categories,” Kruk says.
The genesis of the shop name, Hidden Rabbit, plays on the idea of revealing an elusive magical rabbit, seemingly pulled out of a hat, in a flash of insight.
