Rejuvenating a brand, and how it is managed

The merger of Alcan and Alusuisse Group resulted the 'new' Alcan, a global leader in aluminium and speciality packaging. The merger afforded an excellent opportunity to rejuvenate the Alcan brand throughout the corporation. At the same time, they wanted to explore opportunities to standardise, centralise and rationalise how assets were branded.

Our involvement began early in the process, helping the senior executive team prepare presentations to the board of directors to get approval for the implementation plan. We gathered and developed budget information and presented alternative implementation scenarios.

Following board approval, we assumed responsibility for managing Alcan's transition to a new stationery system for 2.000 employees and overseeing the signage requirements for 138 locations in more than thirty countries. We developed the implementation strategy and tools and created a signage system for the company, which showcased the use of their principal product - aluminium. Our tight definition of requirements and focus on rationalisation resulted in a signage program that saved Alcan millions of dollars.

'We had all kinds of information and lots of people within the organisation to help. VIM Group provided project management expertise and advice. Working with Alcan managers, they developed an implementation strategy that brought our project in under budget. In doing so, our business group managers were able to learn from the process and take over the ongoing responsibilities for managing our brand issues.' Dan Gagnier, Senior Vice President, Corporate and External Affairs, Alcan, Inc.