Macleod GLBACorporate & Industrial · PPC
PPC: one masterbrand, built as an architecture
Corporate identity as architecture: one PPC masterbrand, leading in every market.
Work by Gail Macleod, Stratcom Branding
7 countries named in the PPC files
The masterbrand bags
The PPC masterbrand bag family: the PPC shield badge on every bag, colour-coded by product.
PPC brand architecture: corporate, names and brands, endorsement, products. PPC leads at every level.
Select a numbered pointer on the image to see what it shows.
Rwanda portfolio
Proposed product portfolio for Rwanda, under the PPC masterbrand: the SURE range, with CIMERWA shown as an existing cement in the range.
DRC portfolio
Proposed product portfolio for the Democratic Republic of Congo, under the PPC masterbrand: the SURE range, with the earlier local names mapped to each product.
Interactive architecture
From a fragmented portfolio to one PPC masterbrand
A cement house had grown through acquisitions, so the same strength classes carried different names in different countries. Slide to see the architecture that replaced them.
- PMC
- UNICEM
- BOTCEM
- OBRAS
- IDM
- FORCA
- PREMIO
- OPC
- VAL
- CEM
- Local names
162brands, in the decks' own illustration (54 × 3)
Naming inconsistencies despite similar visual appearance. The decks' own illustration: regional brands multiply, 54 markets by 3 products is 162 brands.
Source: Stratcom PPC client folder: brand architecture decks and portfolio proposals.
Countries named in the architecture work
7countries named in the PPC files
Seven countries are named in the PPC architecture decks and portfolio proposals. That is a count of what the files name, not a claim of where PPC trades or where work shipped. Zambia appears in the decks only as a competitor note, so it is not counted. Select a country for its source.
Market divisions in the current architecture
Named in proposed portfolios
South Africa
Listed as PPC South Africa in the recap of the current architecture, and named as a leading cement supplier in the strategy deck.
Source: PPC Brand Strategy deck, slides 3 and 12.
Film
Transcript: the words on screen
For over 100 years
Our Africa icon has been hard at work…
Building communities
Nurturing generations
Delivering strength where it's needed most
On the Southern tip of Africa
But the dawning of a new day has come
A time to take action
To gather our strength and re-group
As we migrate to the rest of Africa
We will nurture and build even more communities
We will build a better future
Testimonial
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.
Corporate identity treated as architecture. The PPC files hold the sequence: a fragmented portfolio, the models of brand architecture, a monolithic branded-house answer with PPC leading, a SURE naming prefix, a three-tier navigation system, Francophone naming, and a shield badge proposed to replace the round quality-stamp seal.
Identity as architecture
Every corporate identity is an architecture: a decision about which brand leads, what sits beneath it and how each name earns its place. At PPC the answer was one masterbrand, with PPC leading at every level.
The shield badge is the visible part of that decision. The brand-expression pages in the strategy deck call for a simpler logo that moves away from the quality stamp, and for logo and icon development that supports solutions streams. The files show the round Strength Guaranteed seal beside the proposed shield, and the shield on a flag, a wall sign, a truck and the bag family.
The problem: a fragmented portfolio
PPC sold cement across African markets under names picked up through acquisitions. The same strength classes carried different names by country, and the decks flag naming inconsistencies despite similar visual appearance.
The architecture decks put the cost plainly: regional brands multiply, so 54 markets by 3 products is 162 brands, which they call the highest cost structure, cumbersome to manage and hard to understand. That figure is the decks' illustration, not a PPC count.
The architecture
The decks work from the models of brand architecture to a monolithic, branded-house answer: one PPC identity, a clear brand message, focused marketing spend and brand leadership with a long-term vision.
A consistent SURE prefix organised the product portfolio for English-speaking markets, and a three-tier navigation system (core, range and sub-brand descriptors, expansion sub-brands) gave the portfolio a rule for where each name sits. For French-speaking markets SURE is replaced by FOR throughout.
Rwanda: Cimerwa beneath the masterbrand
The proposed Rwanda portfolio lists CIMERWA as an existing cement within the range, beneath the PPC masterbrand. It is a market name inside the architecture, not the lead brand, and the bag on this page is the PPC masterbrand bag.
The files also hold PPC-endorsed migration options for the Rwanda business. This page does not claim Cimerwa's final logo.
What the files do not show
Commercial results, and the final decision on each name. Some pages in the decks are marked confidential and are not shown.