What is a Black Swan?

A quick Google search would soon give you the answer:

A black swan is an unpredictable event that is beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences. Black swan events are characterised by their extreme rarity, severe impact, and the widespread insistence they were obvious in hindsight.

The 21st century. We've had flurry (or indeed a bevy, bank or wedge) of black swans, including the global financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, waves of polarised political ideology - resulting in both Brexit and the election of President Trump; and, a climate emergency. And that's just for starters. So, how do we emerge from the blizzard?

The consultancy bit

It is fair to ask, what has the above got to do with a consultancy seeking to work with brands, both large and small? In short, we recognised that the unexpected, indeed the potential for crisis, has been hitting everyone hard. With that in mind, we wanted to bring our skills to the table, providing interim and fractional access to the communication, marketing and talent knowledge that we've built by working in some of the world's most recognisable FTSE 100, Fortune 500 and ASX 50 brands.

For smaller businesses, our offering provides access to skills and experience that you might not otherwise have. Or, when making tough budget decisions, that you couldn't quite commit to full time. For the corporate side, it's about access to a fresh perspective, that's based on a familiarity with how you work, but with an independence that allows us to be fearless in our feedback and unfettered by both internal politics and what's been done before.

Together, working with our clients, we hope to give support, counsel and direction to brands, leadership teams and employees as they navigate the fall-out from the black swan events. To help build back better. After each black swan event there is a wealth of new opportunity, and we're here to help you capitalise on it.

What's in a name?

We are in the comms space, so in choosing a name we went with something that gave a nod to our reason for being. Cygnus (the latin name for swan), and B, representing black. Because, even out of the most unexpected challenge, new and interesting things can emerge.