--- title: "Smith Power Equipment: 19 brands, one marketing engine" description: "How Culture Cartel ran brand strategy, campaigns, retail and digital for Smith Power Equipment's 19-brand portfolio across six countries." canonical: https://www.culturecartel.ca/work/smith-power-equipment language: en-CA publisher: Culture Cartel --- Smith Power Equipment # Smith Power Equipment 19 brands. 7 categories. 6 countries. One marketing engine. - **Client:** Smith Power Equipment - **Format:** Brand - **Industry:** [Power Equipment and Agriculture](https://www.culturecartel.ca/industries/equipment-dealer-marketing-canada) - **Location:** Johannesburg, South Africa - **Year:** 2019 ![The Smith Power Equipment head office: the red Smith facade, brand flags along the balcony and Kubota machines out front](https://www.culturecartel.ca/_frames/m/smith-hq-v1.webp) Rebrand · Portfolio · Retail · Operations Smith Power Equipment · six countries Nineteen brands, *one engine*. Scroll 1. 01 / The rebrand Repositioned from the sign out. We led the rebrand and repositioned Smith in its market, then ran marketing operations across the business. 2. 02 / The portfolio A plan for every brand. 19 separate marketing and operational roadmaps, each matched to its category, competitors and position. 3. 03 / Connect Us One team across 10 countries. A program that unified marketing professionals across Europe and Southern Africa into one coordinated team. 4. 04 / Retail Distribution meets the customer. We led the design and rollout of key retail stores, from large-scale distribution to direct-to-consumer. 5. 05 / The result Five brands held #1. Five core brands kept their #1 market position, and the portfolio ran on clear, individual plans. The full story - **Global brands in one distribution portfolio:** 19 - **Product categories managed:** 7 - **Countries of operation:** 6 - **Market position held for five core brands:** #1 Services - Brand strategy - Rebrands and refreshes - Advertising - Websites - PR and reputation - Go-to-market Practice - [Strategy & Brand](https://www.culturecartel.ca/services#brand) - [Campaigns & Content](https://www.culturecartel.ca/services#campaigns-and-content) [Start a project like this](https://www.culturecartel.ca/start?service=brand&ref=smith-power-equipment) ## The brief Smith Power Equipment is a multinational distributor representing 19 world-leading brands across seven categories, operating in six countries. Culture Cartel ran its marketing and strategic operations. The job: keep five core brands at the #1 market position while giving every other brand in the portfolio a plan of its own. ## The insight A portfolio this size fails when it is run as one brand. Each of the 19 needed its own strategy, its own operating framework and its own marketing system, held together by one set of standards. Global consistency, local execution. Everything else, from cross-border logistics to time zones, had to be organised around that. ## The work ### Portfolio strategy, brand by brand We built and ran 19 separate marketing and operational roadmaps. Each brand got a plan matched to its category, its competitors and its market position. ### Connect Us We designed and piloted the “Connect Us” program, unifying marketing professionals across 10 countries in Europe and Southern Africa into one coordinated team. ### Creative and digital, full lifecycle Website architecture, omnichannel advertising and PR, all run in house. When things went wrong, we handled disaster management too. ### Retail flagships We led the design and rollout of key retail stores, connecting large-scale distribution with a direct-to-consumer presence. ## The result Five core brands held their #1 market position. A 19-brand portfolio ran on clear, individual plans instead of one diluted message. And an international marketing team across 10 countries worked as one. In the client’s words: “We would not be where we are today without Culture Cartel.” Project highlights ![Power equipment brand creative produced for the Smith portfolio](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/w/f79f2c_5fb93ea3f3504b02-2000.webp) 01 / Power equipment brand creative produced for the Smith portfolio ![Smith Power Equipment marketing visual for a portfolio brand](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/w/f79f2c_98b63c786b7e4fb6-1024.webp) 02 / Smith Power Equipment marketing visual for a portfolio brand ![Campaign image from Smith Power Equipment's multi-brand marketing](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/w/f79f2c_b7cb4af36b4340c7-1200.webp) 03 / Campaign image from Smith Power Equipment’s multi-brand marketing ![Smith Power Equipment product and brand photography](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/w/f79f2c_8443aeb020ef416f-1200.webp) 04 / Smith Power Equipment product and brand photography ![Retail and brand creative for Smith Power Equipment](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/w/f79f2c_031c1b1ac0d141f5-576.webp) 05 / Retail and brand creative for Smith Power Equipment ![Smith Power Equipment campaign execution across the portfolio](https://www.culturecartel.ca/media/w/f79f2c_756d6772197a45d1-2000.webp) 06 / Smith Power Equipment campaign execution across the portfolio 07 / Smith Power Equipment brand video > Culture Cartel played a major role in shaping Smith Power Equipment into the business it is today. From leading the rebrand and repositioning the company in the market to driving marketing operations across the business, their impact went far beyond creative execution. They brought clarity, structure, and momentum at a level that genuinely changed the trajectory of the company. Quite simply, we would not be where we are today without Culture Cartel. Arjan Mulder Managing Director, Smith Power Equipment ## Start a project like this. Positioning, identity and senior judgement that make you the obvious choice. Tell us where you are and where you need to be. [Start a Project](https://www.culturecartel.ca/start?service=brand&ref=smith-power-equipment) [Ask about this project](https://www.culturecartel.ca/lens?mode=ask&ref=smith-power-equipment) Related work - [Kubota](https://www.culturecartel.ca/work/kubota): The strategic engine behind a category-leading brand. · **80+** Dealers supported across Southern Africa · Brand / Agriculture and Power Equipment / Johannesburg / 2021 - [Baoli](https://www.culturecartel.ca/work/baoli): Engineering the market entry of a global materials handling contender. · Brand / Materials Handling / Johannesburg / 2022 - [BOMAG](https://www.culturecartel.ca/work/bomag): Full marketing for BOMAG Light Equipment, launch through growth. · Brand / Construction Equipment / EMEA [Next project Linhai Powering the #1 selling value-class all-terrain brand in South Africa. Keep scrolling](https://www.culturecartel.ca/work/linhai) --- Culture Cartel, 8 The Esplanade, Toronto, ON M5E 0A6. info@culturecartel.ca, +1 647 459 2154. Start a project: https://www.culturecartel.ca/start