Occasion
Navigating a merger or acquisition? Here’s a playbook for using brand to strengthen your investment.
M&A is complex. That’s just the beginning.
Bringing one—or many—companies together during a merger or acquisition can be difficult. Behind the scenes, you need to integrate products and platforms, sales teams that used to be competitors, cultures with different heritages, and leaders with diverse perspectives.
That doesn’t even begin to cover the difficulties in how you go to market. What’s your company name? How in the world do you tackle an email signature? And what story should you tell the press when the ink dries on the deal?
The good news
Brand can help you unite multiple cultures under a shared vision. Beyond that, it can create a company more valuable than the sum of its parts.
M&A Brand Playbook
Unsure where to start? Here are some best practices for turning your investment thesis into a winning strategy.
Measure Brand Equity
There’s a lot of pride behind each brand you’re integrating, but some names, logos and products will need to be retired. Avoid subjective decision making by conducting qualitative and quantitative research to determine what to maintain, and what to evolve.
Build a Shared strategy
Your new executive leadership team likely involves people who are working together for the first time. A brand strategy process gives everyone a chance to align under a new north star, so they can share in the pride of your new company’s mission, vision and value statements.
Harmonize Your Offerings
Merging companies often means aligning naming systems and product logos that clash or compete. Dive under the hood to build a new end-state portfolio strategy, and then translate that into a refreshed brand identity that harmonizes where you’re coming from with where you’re going.
Galvanize Your people
To roll out your new shared brand, you need the people behind it to believe in it. Build an employee brand launch and value proposition that helps your employees tell your new brand story, and extend the training to your channel partners as well.
Recommended Services for Merger & Acquisition Branding
After rebranding over 45 software companies, many of whom needed a new brand due to M&A activity, here’s what we recommend.
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Conducting research into your brands' equities, and recommending a shared purpose, vision and category description.
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Conducting an exploration to evaluate if you should maintain an existing name, or develop a new one.
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Building an end-state model that integrates your brands and offerings, and a plan to help you get there.
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Crafting a distinct voice that unites your communications.
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Building a messaging and design toolkit that honors existing brands while adding new energy and differentiation into your market.
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Developing training materials that unite your employees, and plenty of swag to build pride in your new shared culture.
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Creating a plan to help you build market awareness with your key customers, so they're just as excited about your new brand as your former one.
