ConocoPhillips Convenience Store Signage
Petroleum & Convenience Store
The Project
ConocoPhillips (COP), a leading global petroleum company in the United States, consulted with their marketing and design experts to evaluate their existing facilities and improve the presence of their brands at street level. Many design elements were tested to deliver a ‘look’ that would resonate with consumers and deliver the best image at all of their fueling brands – Phillips 66, Conoco and 76. The outcome of the testing and research was the ‘Oasis Image System’.
As COP embarked on this new sleek, modern design of ‘Oasis’ they engaged QPM to serve as their project management staff to provide a consistent project management solution for this fresh new image program. QPM supported approximately 1400 projects in California, Oregon and Washington for a period of 18 months.
COP’s goal was to create a location that would spotlight the company’s major fuel brands, attracting both new and repeat customers with a custom sign package including lighted street signs, exterior building signs and framed interior point-of-sale, as well as canopy replacements, fuel station change-outs and other miscellaneous image work.
The QPM Solution
The ‘Oasis’ Program required six key steps:
- Survey Site
- Obtain site image approval
- Acquire site and signage permits, if necessary
- Order image materials
- Install Oasis image element
- Obtain final site approval
In order to determine the detailed scope of work for each location, QPM assisted in the development of the survey form needed to assess each site’s current image – the overall site, canopy (fascia) and islands and Main ID sign. Once the survey phase was completed, QPM’s team was able to develop detailed scopes of work, for each project site, and make the necessary recommendations to COP.
After the survey phase, QPM worked closely with COP to obtain site image approval, which consisted of validating that each site met all brand/image standards, requesting any image exceptions (if necessary) and obtaining exception/site imaging approvals.
Throughout the program, each QPM project manager worked closely with the COP team including real estate managers, construction coordinator, supply chain logistics, store managers, dealer reps, vendors, contractors and fixture installers on:
- Planning
- Design Component Review
- Permitting Tracking
- Cost estimating and budgeting
- Procurement
- Scheduling
- Budget Control
- General contractor selection and management
- Coordination of fixtures and telecom
- Build-Out
- Weekly reporting
- Management of Signage Installation
- On-Site Project Management
- Change order review
- Punch walks
- Project Close out
By evaluating the program nationally as opposed to regionally (as it had been managed previously), QPM was able to establish Best Management Practices that were included in the national specs and shared among contractors. QPM also streamlined the material order process with COP’s Furnished by Owner (FBO) vendor to improve quality of services being received (e.g. consolidation of materials, tracking of deliveries, minimizing back orders,etc).
The Results
By utilizing QPM the COP Team was able to accomplish the major brand reimage of a 100-year-old brand (76) across 1,400 locations in multiple states with a consistent process. QPM provided valuable insight on design and vendor issues and COP incorporated these ideas into their process going forward.
