Mergers and acquisitions can throw your marketing plans into chaos. Suddenly, you need to quickly and effectively integrate a new web, email and social presence for the acquired brand. It’s a high-visibility project with a tight timeline.
Regardless of how often your company acquires brands, it helps to have a playbook to streamline the process. This guide walks you through key steps to lead a seamless brand integration.
Step 1: Assessment and strategic alignment
Clarify the business objectives with executives of both brands
This seemingly obvious step should clarify the guiding principles you need to integrate a new brand effectively. Sometimes, the same word from two different executives means a totally different thing.
Ensure you know the brand and marketing objectives and how the integration will be measured. If those objectives and success metrics don’t exist, propose them. Get everyone aligned on timelines.
Align the capabilities of the martech stacks of both brands
This is also a wonderful learning opportunity. It’s rare to have totally honest and in-depth conversations with competitors or exemplars.
Find out what is working, what goals the new team has and what tools they use. I collate this in a spreadsheet, which helps all marketing colleagues better understand opportunities throughout the customer lifecycle. Plus, you start to see overlaps and conflicts with vendors.
Gather the internal stakeholders
Typically, these projects involve product, IT, brand, marketing, customer service and other internal teams. Limit the number of participants to ensure effective communication.
If the list of participants grows beyond the level for effective collaboration, break the team(s) into workstreams, each with a leader who can represent the group.
Get to know the other team
Beyond shared goals, collaboration and trust are essential to success. Don’t wait for the M&A team to think of this.
Make a special effort to get to know the new team. Tap whatever company culture assets exist, from buddy assignments to virtual happy hours and speed networking to lunch-and-learn events.
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Step 2: Map the data flow
Data management dictates much of the opportunity
You don’t have to migrate the data at this stage, but you need to know where it all lives, how it gets used and where the integration hooks are.
Think future-forward. Perhaps this project is the leverage you need to get that personalization project approved.
Engage with the privacy and security teams early
Ensure you know how first-party cookies can be used across the two brands and should be collected in the future.
Learn from the data about customer needs and loyalty
Share and compare at least the last quarter’s reports and analysis. Review customer personas for common interests and needs.
Email and social are typically the first channels to focus on cross-selling the two brands. Recommend ways to promote the new product set, and use this early outreach to test messaging that will help you set a vision for the website product content.
Uncover some early analytics and reporting synergies
You can’t succeed without data analysis, but likely the two organizations are doing different things on different schedules with different reporting metrics.
A combined dashboard can be a good first step, even if it has to be created by hand and provide essential transparency for all teams.
Reviewing the two sets of reports regularly can be a wonderful way to get to know your new teammates and ideate new campaigns.
Step 3: Set a vision and timeline for the integration
Clarify how marketing will get done in the integrated world
How will the new brands be treated on social and the web? What current and near-future marketing campaigns do you need to support?
How will you migrate product and brand content? Who will own the shared editorial calendar, and how will you transfer SEO authority from the old site(s) to the new one?
Create distinct strategies for each audience
Customers, partners, prospects, investors, employees and employment candidates. For example, microsites might be needed for prospecting campaigns, while deep product content can live within the site’s current structure. Be sure to establish the future home of customer service content, video demos, and all the blogs.
Set a communications framework for all stakeholders
Be consistent in your communications and meeting schedule. Use email for comms, but keep all your meeting notes and action plans in the project management system.
Tap whatever collaboration tools are available: Slack, a shared Command Center for documents, scheduled non-meeting work time, and brief update videos for executives.
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Step 4: Create a project plan
Organize your project plan around the objectives
Typically, I start with each channel (web, social, email, search, paid promotion) and build out critical milestones by the audience. Creating this matrix of channels and audiences also reveals ways to repurpose content, test cross-selling, and align team assignments.
Working with each channel owner, flesh out the set of tasks. You already know many tasks since you likely have templates for building webpages, managing a content-based campaign, QA’ing a website launch, building a social calendar, creating an audience journey, etc.
Celebrate milestones throughout the project
This is a massive project with lots of stakeholders and plenty of pitfalls. Celebrate often and with an authentic appreciation of everyone’s contributions.
Step 5: Execute flawlessly (and avoid common pitfalls)
Surely, no complex marketing website project ever goes sideways. (Said no one, sadly, ever!) Below are steps to make the process more manageable:
- Be agile. Brand alignment and product strategy will evolve. Prioritize and get alignment before you tackle each section — akin to the carpenter’s rule to “measure twice, cut once.” For example, sometimes, it’s better to wait for the acquisition dust to settle before rewriting the entire new product section.
- Back-end CMS, personalization, and CRM systems are messy. Our martech systems are the result of thousands of well-intentioned and often isolated strategic decisions made by various past teams and leaders. Be ready for someone to tell you, “No, that cannot be done cost-effectively.”
- Everyone already has a full-time job, including you. Shape the project so that the goals and the team are focused on what a former colleague called “minimum loveable product.” Deliver the core set of features that will delight customers and stakeholders. Then, test and learn to set the next priority. Early success helps you get resources and builds excitement for the next phase.
While it can be a big lift, facilitating a successful brand integration on one of your company’s most highly visible assets can be a big win for both brands and your career. Accept both the risk and reward as an opportunity for growth and innovation.
Dig deeper: Building a brand strategy: Essentials for long-term success
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Mergers and acquisitions are a common occurrence in the business world, and they can be a great way for companies to expand their reach and increase their market share. However, one of the most challenging aspects of a merger or acquisition is integrating the brands of the two companies. Brand integration is essential for the success of the newly formed company, as it helps to create a cohesive and unified brand identity that customers can recognize and trust. Here are five essential steps for successful brand integration after a merger or acquisition.
1. Conduct a thorough brand audit
The first step in brand integration is to conduct a thorough brand audit of both companies. This involves analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each brand, as well as their target audiences, brand positioning, and brand messaging. By understanding the current state of each brand, you can identify areas of overlap and areas where the brands can complement each other. This will help you to develop a clear and cohesive brand strategy for the newly formed company.
2. Develop a clear brand strategy
Once you have conducted a brand audit, the next step is to develop a clear brand strategy for the newly formed company. This should include a new brand positioning statement, brand messaging, and brand identity. The brand strategy should be based on the strengths of both brands and should aim to create a unified brand that resonates with customers. It is important to involve key stakeholders from both companies in the development of the brand strategy to ensure that everyone is on board with the new direction.
3. Communicate the new brand to employees
Before you can communicate the new brand to customers, it is important to first communicate it to employees. Employees are the ambassadors of the brand, and they need to understand and embrace the new brand identity in order to effectively represent it to customers. This can be done through internal communications, training sessions, and workshops. It is important to involve employees in the brand integration process and to get their feedback and input.
4. Launch the new brand to customers
Once employees are on board with the new brand, it is time to launch it to customers. This can be done through a variety of channels, including advertising, social media, and PR. It is important to create a launch campaign that is attention-grabbing and that clearly communicates the new brand identity and messaging. The launch campaign should also highlight the benefits of the merger or acquisition for customers, such as an expanded product range or improved customer service.
5. Monitor and adjust as needed
Finally, it is important to monitor the success of the brand integration and to make adjustments as needed. This can be done through customer feedback, market research, and sales data. If there are any areas where the brand integration is not resonating with customers, it is important to address these issues quickly and make any necessary changes. Brand integration is an ongoing process, and it is important to continually evaluate and refine the brand strategy to ensure its success.
In conclusion, brand integration is a critical aspect of a successful merger or acquisition. By conducting a thorough brand audit, developing a clear brand strategy, communicating the new brand to employees, launching it to customers, and monitoring its success, companies can create a unified and cohesive brand identity that resonates with customers and drives business success.
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