MonogramGroup

SurfacePrep is the largest national network of regional distributors of high-quality abrasive products, specialty ceramics, and surface finishing equipment.

In 2014 Frontenac Company acquired GNAP, a leader in the distribution of industrial abrasives, with the strategy to use GNAP as a platform to do a national rollup in the category.

In 2018 GNAP was sold to Center Oak Partners, whose investment thesis featured the creation of a national brand and marketing infrastructure to accelerate the integration and create brand equity.

MonogramGroup was retained to develop a research-based, bespoke brand strategy. Once approved, we created a new brand with a three-part architecture to accommodate local market issues that would impact each local branch’s adoption of the brand. Our content and toolkit development covered a full spectrum, from a family of logos and brand design system to a complex website, marketing templates, photography and video assets.

In February 2024, CenterOak completed the sale of its majority interest to Nautic Partners. Mike Currie, CEO of SurfacePrep, acknowledged the branding strategy's role in the company's exit. He commented, "Together, we converted 15 local brands to the single unified ‘SurfacePrep’ name operating under the ‘One SurfacePrep’ model, tripled our salesforce and broadened our service and product offerings."