M&A deals are started based on the value found in each entity, including financial performance, capabilities, and market share. However, in many instances, there is a value that is often overlooked, even though it factors significantly in the success of the deal: brand value.
- A brand provides differentiation from the competition.
The brand can quickly differentiate a company or product. Articulating the perceived roots of this differentiation early in M&A will help to guide audiences toward positive perceptions of the deal.
- A brand builds equity.
Brand equity is derived from consumer perceptions, and such perceptions do not take shape overnight. With careful control and attention over time, a brand’s reputation becomes clear and memorable. In an M&A setting, there may already be significant equity to build upon and, equally so, significant equity to lose.
- A brand saves time and creates efficiencies.
By defining and honing the resultant brand in the early stages of M&A, voice, communication style, visual identity, and core messaging can stay ahead of marketplace conjecture and help to shape positive marketplace perceptions of the deal. Expressing a brand in advance requires less effort and energy than correcting misinterpretations and misrepresentations.
- A brand engenders trust and can retain loyalty.
Trust and loyalty. These are potentially two of the greatest intangible assets at risk during an M&A process. They can be protected and preserved if your new company focuses on four principles: quality, consistency, transparency, and mutuality.
- A brand guides organizations as they change and grow.
The foundation of the emergent M&A-created brand begins with a purpose and a vision. Clearly defining these elements early in the process will allow the brand itself to serve as a lodestar, maintaining a track of integrity through the often tidal forces of M&A.
Brand value is at its most volatile during and immediately after M&A activity. Defining and articulating it is essential to every stakeholder—and every customer—through the entire M&A process.
About the Author
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is + at is a strategic design house specializing in brand and product market readiness. By combining expertise, insight, and innovation, opportunities are identified in areas that are primed for success. is + at designs systems and realizes brands, messaging, and products into market-ready states, and builds the systems that support them to success.