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.

M&A Marketing and Brand Integration: Best Practices

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?