Cyclect

The Cyclect Group provides engineering, procurement and construction services for marine and land industries. Founded in 1943, Cyclect has offices in eight countries with a staff strength of more than 500.

When Cyclect engaged Consulus, it had just concluded its transfer of leadership; the reins of management had been handed over to the third generation of family members, who felt that branding could provide clearer direction for the company.

As the early leader in Singapore’s marine industry, Cyclect was a well established name. However, as the company grew to offer new service offerings to several industry segments from semiconductors to theme parks, it was increasingly difficult to position Cyclect.

Business Design

An important part of this branding exercise was the customer and organisational research conducted to obtain clear insights into the needs and behaviours of Cyclect’s internal and external stakeholders and the identification of the organisation’s brand purpose.

Business success is not accidental. It is an intentional outcome that happens when organisations are designed according to their business purpose, vision and mission. In line with the brand purpose, Consulus created a tagline, and formed internal brand circles for internal alignment. Cyclect’s brand portfolio was also reviewed and optimised.

New insights to seek business growth

One insight we uncovered in the initial business research study was the gap in their customers’ knowledge of their services. For example, less than 30% were aware that the Group offered renewable energy solutions, despite its entry into this field nearly ten years ago. Also, most customers associated Cyclect with the Marine, Power and Oil & Gas industries, which are only a fraction of all the industries they serve.

Secondly, Cyclect faced difficulties in retaining talents who wished to grow with the company and ascend to management level. Internal communication became fragmented as the company grew larger and staff in Cyclect were sometimes unaware of the projects and achievements of colleagues in other departments. Through the research, we found opportunities for internal collaboration and increased integration in service offerings.

Clarified purpose to drive performance

To ensure that the proposed brand state was in line with the direction envisioned by top management, Consulus conducted in-depth interviews with Cyclect’s second and third generation of leaders. Their aspirations, tempered by the company’s existing states of ability, influence and differentiation, helped define the proposed Brand Purpose and 3-State Brand Model for Cyclect.

From Anchorage of Trust to Completely Possible

“The impossible we do at once; miracles take a little longer,” said one of Cyclect’s managers during the Harness research interview. The strong sense of determination to see through each project regardless of the challenges faced was ingrained in the way of life for Cyclect’s senior staff. The research on their internal culture unearthed numerous examples and recounts of projects with extremely difficult requirements that Cyclect had managed to successfully complete.

The new tagline “Completely Possible” reflects their brand purpose and way of life and was the first step in communicating that culture throughout the rest of the organisation.

Moving the organisation forward

A strategic management workshop was conducted with several senior managers to acquaint them with the proposed brand model and business research. They helped set the business direction during the retreat, formulating Cyclect’s vision and mission.

Consulus worked with top management to rethink the core values of the company and develop a way to incorporate the values into the working culture. To promote greater alignment of personal goals with the company’s vision, it was essential that the staff identified with and embraced the company’s core values.

Alignment towards a common goal

To ensure the new brand purpose, philosophy and direction are clearly communicated throughout the organisation, Consulus trained selected staff members to be the brand activists. We drew up a detailed and planned curriculum to guide the activists on how to share brand knowledge and invite the other staff to partake in the company’s growth.

Towards the end of the exercise, a Brand Circle was nominated by the top management to take charge of key branding activities within the company. To help the Brand Circle guide the rest of the company, a framework governing brand practices was developed. The framework was based on Cyclect’s core values and took staff input provided during the brand alignment workshops into account.

Revision of Cyclect’s group structure

Through discussions with Consulus, the top management made a strategic business decision to streamline the group’s business processes and market its subsidiaries and joint ventures, which include Aeco Plant Engineering, Mecflou and Chemicrete Enterprises, under the single focused entity of Cyclect Group.

Different parts, complete packages

Cyclect’s services were originally marketed based on functional divisions, such as Manufacturing and System Integration and Product Distribution. Customers were more interested in comprehensive industry-specific service packages rather than individual services.

An integrated group marketing strategy allowed different divisions to share customer opportunities and experience. Featuring multiple industry experiences and service capabilities would also serve to communicate Cyclect’s reputation of being a trusted partner among their potential customers.

We proposed to simplify Cyclect’s services into the following categories to provide a clearer business proposition for its clients:

• Marine, to serve Marine and Offshore clients
• Infrastructure, to serve land-based clients, including those in Process, Hi-Tech Manufacturing, Commercial Projects and Utilities
• Energy, to serve clients who want to invest in clean energy solutions