The making of North America’s largest construction firm serving the utility industry

About Centuri

The Journey begins

After nearly 50 years of growth, NPL engaged Parker Madison to lead a journey of discover that ultimately re-framed the essence of brand.

Over the years, the NPL brand had become disjointed and misapplied by local and regional offices. It was time to pull in the reigns, speak with one voice, and communicate a singular brand vision for the company. The objective was not to change NPL, but to reframe it - allowing the true character of the organization to shine through. NPL has long-standing customer relationships, established core values and a focus on safety that has contributed to the company’s success.

The Challenge

The legacy brand did not align with the company's national standing. Further, the brand didn't express the expertise or scope that their clients demanded.

Founded in 1967 as Northern Pipeline, the company grew to have over 20 offices across the United States. Acquired by Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc in the 1990s, they earned a reputation as a nationwide leader in utility construction services.

Parker Madison set out to re-brand one of the nation's most respected energy construction services firms. In the process, we named, and established a brand architecture, for a newly established parent organization: Centuri Group.

This re-invigorated brand family tripled revenues over next four years.

Utilizing the considerable brand equity, core values, and history of the company, Parker Madison re-imaged the brand - bringing relevance to customers, as well as business objectives. Central to this effort was the development of a sustainability framework that communicates the key facets of the organization's purpose.

In the middle of the NPL re-branding process, the company leadership approached Parker Madison to request that we name and brand a new holding company. This organizational restructuring became a critical piece of the company's growth strategy.

The Challenge

The NPL brand had market equity, but the holding company had none. Parker Madison was tasked with give a name, and more importantly, meaning to the entity - for both employees and customers.

A New Brand

The name and brand became an expression of organization vision for the future. A 100 year vision for the future of North America's energy infrastructure. By creating a flexible and modular symbolism, the new brand architecture emerged.

With the goal of creating a flexible, modular and structured logo system for Centuri companies, the recurring theme of deconstructed hexagon shapes were utilized. As you can see, the logos for Centuri, Vistus, Lynxus and NPL logos are all derived from the hexagon shape of the Centuri logo.

As part of a new identity, the tagline Think Ahead was adopted - expressing the enduring legacy of safety that the organization practices every day. Further, the key theme of sustainability as brought forward through a sustainability framework that touch on all key stakeholders.

The renewed energy implied by the logo, coupled with the tagline and sustainability framework resulted in positive review from the industry and clients:

The renewed energy implied by the logo, coupled with the tagline and sustainability framework resulted in positive review from the industry and clients:

"“NPL has done a great job with the new brand identity. In fact, it doesn’t look like a contractor at all. It looks better than ours!”

—PG&E, March 2015

“The new NPL brand is aligned with our company’s core values, especially sustainability.”

—BG&E, January 2016

Over the course of the two years, the new identity was applied across the full range of equipment, fleet vehicles, workwear, websites, and communication materials.