40 Under 40 2021: Cindy Lim, BCW

Cindy Lim

Managing director & market leader
BCW
Singapore

Clients seldom take long to trust Cindy Lim. Much of this, colleagues say, can be attributed to her straightforward approach. This sometimes means she asks hard questions, but in so doing she moves the client-agency relationship beyond niceties to the root of any challenge or brief. Yet transparency goes both ways, which is why Lim demands the same integrity of herself and her team to demonstrate and deliver the value of their approach. It also requires enough agility to change tack or adapt creative ideas for each new challenge.

For 13 years, Lim has brought out the best in her agencies to lead multi-million-dollar, multi-market integrated marketing work for clients such as Diageo, the Singapore Tourism Board, Levi’s, Alibaba and HP. In the process, she has worked on campaigns that have introduced a new face for Singapore tourism through the ‘Passion Made Possible’ brand, built the first digital lullaby generator in the world to debut the Zepp brand worldwide, and sailed a ship around the world for Johnnie Walker, all en route to multiple global and regional awards.

Such achievements require full team efforts. In leading BCW Singapore, Lim excels at motivating and incentivising her teams, whether through new onboarding programmes, workshops to articulate core values, or the creation of a ‘Values Squad’ quality and standards programme, allowing teams to win points and prizes for demonstrating excellence. The results speak for themselves. Since May 2021 Lim has collaborated with BCW teams to bring in 10 new business leads through personal contacts, worth close to SG$3 million (US$2.2 million), placed organic and net sales revenue on track to close at 26% growth this year and introduced financial rigours to reduce overserving while improving profitability and margins. 

Described as a management-theory geek, Lim thrives on developing high performance buy-in through on-the-job coaching, encouragement, and investment in talent development. She runs weekly mentorship sessions, acts as a cultural ambassador with ‘welcome wagons’ for non-Singaporeans, and introduces new methods for peak performance. Examples include group meditation before new business pitches and launching mental wellness timeouts. 

Lim also believes in giving back, supporting the non-profit Special Olympics Asia Pacific, including an activation to raise awareness and support for young people with intellectual disabilities. In her free time, Lim helps cut up vegetables at soup kitchens and distributes rations to low-income households and seniors. When she finally has time to treat herself, Lim likes to indulge in edomae sushi. Word has it, she even dreams of exotic sushi toppings.