Industry Context

Finding a highly qualified Saudi construction brand with a clear focus on their vision would require some effort. The Saudi market and economy is developing and growing, with large-scale industrial and infrastructure projects at the heart of this expansion, creating the right platform and environment for growth in other sectors. Skilled engineers and contractors are integral to the realization of this vision. Leaders in the EPC sector have traditionally been international players with few local success stories.

The downward pressure on the economy has furthered this trend with a number of local players being squeezed out. Saudi KAD is a Saudi construction brand weathered this downturn and reestablished the company with the vision of being an international standard player with strong Saudi roots – a company moving beyond pipelines and oil and gas into a fully in-house EPC offer across a range of sectors.

Challenges of a Saudi construction brand

The key challenge was to capture, clarify and codify the new spirit and vision of the company in an inspiring and empowering brand strategy. We needed a brand strategy that would unite the company around the common objectives and values, while providing the right clarity and focus to drive the creative process. The company also faced the challenge of migrating to a new name. We needed to conceive a name that would minimize dislocation, while also signalling a clear separation from the previous association and communicating the new spirit and intent of the business. The creative solution needed to have a fundamental strength and robustness, as well as flexibility to be able to work across the broad range of instances and execution types in various conditions – from large field machinery and work wear, to office and site signage.

Strategy

We needed a strategy for a Saudi construction brand to harness the new spirit and ambition of the company; equipping them with the right focus to tackle any challenging situation and achieve their business goals. The oil and gas and industrials sectors are demanding busy, and dirty places to work so we also needed the right practical toolkit to empower the brand to communicate effectively – maximizing visibility and building the right perception as an international standard brand with strong local roots.

Naming Strategy

The naming strategy was an integral part of this – we needed to migrate away from Saudi KAD into a new space. The new name Arkad was conceived to achieve 3 key goals. Firstly to distance ourselves from the old ‘group’ with which Saudi KAD had been associated. The second key driver was to identify a name that was inspired by an Arabic root, yet was phonetically right to work in an international market place building the right associations of scale, strength with accessibility. The final consideration was to minimize dislocation. The name solution Arkad is inspired by an Arabic language root related to pillars and strength, while also being a highly effective portmanteau of the words ‘Arabian’ and the original name KAD.

Results

Arkad now has a formidable brand identity which will empower its growth beyond both its current markets and geographic location. Received with applause and excitement, the new brand has been launched internally, already achieving significant results in terms of facilitating employee belief and engagement in the company’s world-class ambitions. The new brand strategy, name and livery have also been key contributors into the business strategy, inspiring the bar to be set higher than was originally intended for the year ahead. Further to this the brand has been soft launched to Arkad’s key client, further supporting confidence in the business. Arkad has recently signed a 1.2 billion dollar deal with this key client. The firm is now a leading Saudi construction brand in the industry.

You can check Unisono’s digital work for Arkad in this post or by visiting arkad.com.sa

Services delivered:

Brand strategy, brand identity, naming strategy, collateral, design, digital.

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