M&A Marketing and Brand Integration: Best Practices

When it comes to handling the public perception of your mergers and acquisitions activity, it is important to make sure that your marketing and brand management is geared to making the changes as smooth and palatable as possible.

Here is our best practice guide to help you through the initial announcement of the transaction and beyond.

Consider the power of the brand

When you acquire a company, there are some important branding decisions to make almost
immediately. You have to choose whether you will change the target company to be the same as your existing organization, keep the two brands distinct, or create some sort of hybrid – and it is not a decision you should take lightly.

If you are buying a pharmacy business that has been serving the community for decades and has a great public perception – is it really worth it to change the name of the company or the brand and logo? It can often make more sense to leave things as they are if your new acquisition is held in high regard.

Conversely, of course, if there is a negative sentiment toward the company that you are buying, then it makes sense to change the business name, logo, and branding as soon as possible and make several announcements about the new management taking over so that you can start to rebuild the trust in your businesses.

What about the cost?

Changing the public face of your new acquisition will not be free. Even if it is something as simple as changing the storefront signage, you are still looking at hundreds of dollars, so before you start ask yourself one question: is it actually worth it? What value to the business does a name change or brand realignment actually bring? If there are tangible benefits, then go ahead – if not, think twice.

Be consistent

Whatever strategy you choose, you need to stick to it. Rebranding the new acquisition, realizing that you made a mistake, and going back will do nothing more than irritate and alienate your customers. Likewise, if you announce new management but that everything will stay the same, and then six months down the line you change the company name and branding to fit with your portfolio, customers will lose faith and trust in you.

Use external expertise

Judging the power of your brand, and assessing the value of making any changes and integrating your brands can be complex. Often, the best way to make sure that you choose the right strategy is to make use of the experience and expertise of a dedicated M & A firm – they will be able to show you the pros and cons of each approach and help you to choose a course of action that makes the most sense for you and your businesses.