About Macleodglba

Our designs don't just enhance brand aesthetics; they serve as a testament to a brand's commitment to innovation, sustainability, and a more conscious future.

Gail Macleod, the founder and president of Macleodglba in Brisbane, Australia, is a seasoned business leader with a storied career in brand management. She’s a former president and founder of Stratcom Branding GLBA, which was established in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1994. In 2019, Gail took on the role of Strategic Director at bstrat GLBA, a 100% BBBEE company in Johannesburg. Additionally, she is a co-founder and board member of the Global Local Branding Alliance (GLBA), established in 2013.

GLBA is a coalition of eight multi-award-winning strategic brand and packaging agencies located in New York, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Moscow, Istanbul, Shanghai, Johannesburg, and Brisbane.

Gail’s success is rooted in her holistic approach to business. She expertly bridges the gap between management, marketing, R&D, shopper, legislation, distribution, and procurement, all in pursuit of delighting the Strategic Value Customer (SVC). Through research, collaboration, innovation sprints, current scenario discovery, intellectual property management, networking, career mentorship, and training, she embodies the principle of “Know Your Customer Deeply” (KYCD), in both B2B and B2C contexts.

As an esteemed adjudicator, collaborator, and consultant, Gail offers her expertise in innovation, particularly in packaging and its commercialization.

Qualifications

UJ_University of Johannesburg
[National Diploma in Graphic Design]

WITS University of the Witwatersrand
[Graduate School of Business Administration SMME]

UCT_University of Cape Town
[Get Smarter certificate – Digital Marketing]

UCT_University of Cape Town
[Get Smarter certificate – Business Analytics]

UCT_University of Cape Town
[Get Smarter certificate – Accounting Technology & Bookkeeping]

Collaboration

Gail Macleod’s Sisonke Initiative, representing ‘coming together,’ partnered with South African SMMEs, also known as ‘mom and pop’ businesses. This socially responsible effort offered pro bono expert consulting and innovative packaging design to support local entrepreneurs and enhance creative projects..

Notable Projects

Testimonials

Rebranding SA’s Nestle Corporate Identity

We built a regional group strategy nested under the Nestle global brand identity that is a regionally relevant big idea for the Master brand.

The solution included a big brand regional identity and full CI application: “From our nest to yours”.

Nando’s global launch into retail in 12 geographies

Gail generated brand strategy in packaging, design and IP, and the global iconic cost optimised and sustainable bottle which resulted in unprecedented growth in most categories of a least 28% ROI.

A great example of working with brand and collaborative manufacture.

“Gail Macleod and her Team are titans in the world of Strategic Brand Positioning and Communication. From Brand Migration Proposals to an exceptional relaunch project undertaken for Nestle – a Global company launching a new Local HO – and seeking a way to incorporate and represent nine diverse Divisional Business Unit identities within the constraints of many masters. Gail reverted with an exceptional piece of work that brought together the essence of Ubuntu with the legacy of a 150yr old company in a sensitive and distinctive Brand Design masterpiece. I cannot recommend Gail or Stratcom more highly – the Strategic approach, the professionalism – the response and execution were outstanding.”

“I have worked with Gail and her Stratcom team for many years on branding and packaging projects. I have been very impressed with her wealth of experience and her ability to consider and balance the strategic issues, creative concepts and practical considerations. Gail is a creative thinker who is unafraid to push the often-imposed boundaries to get the client to think about approaching their target audience in a new way.”

“There are strategists and creatives and then there are uniquely strategic creative visionaries like Gail MacLeod. Having worked on several projects with Gail at both Nando's and L’ORÉAL – I have found her to be exceptional at interpreting consumer insights into market-related strategies that are globally relevant and effective.
She approaches complex projects with relevant insight and delivers simple and effective creative solutions that are consistent of a superior standard! The Strategies, Packaging Concepts, Corporate Identities and Brand Architectures that she curates are world-class, professionally managed and award-winning. She invests the time and energy in developing positive professional relationships with her clients and consistently meets even the most challenging deadlines on time and on brief with outstanding results. I would have absolutely no hesitation to recommend Gail for strategic projects based on her advanced experience and skills in Strategy, Corporate and Brand Identity and Graphic Design.”