Mergers and acquisitions have long been a key strategy for businesses across the globe. It’s unfortunate that in reality, the majority of these decisions fail to create value for organizations.
Many factors contribute to failed M&A, yet the keys to success often rely on less tangible factors than on just financials or operational integration. In the wake of the countless complex decisions that the leadership team is required to make before, during, and after a merger, the core brand choices are often rushed and poorly planned.
Finch Brands has created a framework for defining optimal brand architecture strategies following M&A activity to help clients realize the full potential of these integrations.
In an M&A situation, brand strategy is a principal symbol of the business strategy – a declaration of what the world should expect from the new entity.
Brand architecture choices send signals to three stakeholder groups: the customer, the team, and outsiders (investors, partners, etc.). It is important to consider what brand choices say or don’t say.
The right M&A brand architecture approach is situational, based on both the business strategy and nature of existing brand equities.
With many factors to consider and a lot of emotion clouding these decisions, it is often difficult for teams to be objective when making brand choices. Working with an objective expert allows for the right business decision to come through.
Choices around brand strategy or brand architecture on the heels of a merger or an acquisition send signals to key stakeholders. These decisions express to employees, investors, customers, and the market, where the entity is headed, what’s changing, and what’s staying the same. Making the right brand strategy decisions is critical to activate the full potential of the merger or acquisition.
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With 70-90% of mergers failing to create value, this decision carries significant weight. One thing has been abundantly clear throughout – the right brand architecture approach is situational.
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