Explore best practices surrounding brand transition after a merger or acquisition. ©Marketer, The Journal of the Society for Marketing Professional Services, August 2018, www.smps.org.

1. Brand transition is emotional.
This is true for a firm of 10, 50,
300, or 10,000+ employees.
Yet this process is becoming
more common as the number
of mergers and acquisitions
(M&A) continues to grow in the
A/E/C industries.
S
ince brand transition is emotional,
there are some best practices and
items to be considered as you
move through the evolution.
The first step in any transition is truly
understanding what the new firm stands
for and the why behind the brand.
Marketers tend to be wired to seek this
out, but it is not always true for others,
despite the need for this understanding to
be equal among all staff.
Marketing alongside leadership must
make a conscious effort to educate
and connect the staff on the why. It’s
important to consider cultural nuances in
the why of a new company and its brand.
If the company is global and maintains
staff and locations around the world,
recognize that the words, phrasing, and
expressions that can be part and parcel to
a North American-based company may
require some extra explanation.
Beyond the why comes a series of
common questions related to M&A brand
transition. Should a firm:
Rip the Band-Aid off or co-brand for a
period of time?
Carry multiple websites or redirect
immediately?
Exhaust marketing material, letterhead,
accounting, etc. or spend early?
Change out business cards and when?
Every organization, regardless of size,
goes through these same questions and
issues. It’s important to have a plan and to
stay focused and keep emotions in check
as the migration occurs. The plan should
involve both building the new brand and
leaving room to say goodbye and celebrate
the previous. It should encompass items
such as:
Client outreach
Employee outreach
Media outreach
Investor outreach
Brand identity guidelines (name, logo,
colors, emails, fonts, etc.)
Key messages
Marketing materials
Proposal materials
Signage
Some of these items evoke more
passionate responses than others, so
make sure you’re open to what people
might feel or say. Remember, everyone
processes emotions differently and might
be attached to different elements from the
previous brand.
The following items seem to invite
widespread passion and opinion. Here
are some questions to consider and best
practices for transitioning them.
Business Cards
Will you have an interim card with co-
branding? This decision can be based
on the timeline for transition and how
entrenched the brand is of the firm that
has been acquired.
Does it make sense to replace all cards
immediately or only those who use
them extensively (business developers,
seller-doers, etc.)?
If a company is global, do you
understand the different cultural
nuances, legal requirements, and length
of names for different countries? Do
the colors or visual elements convey
something unintentionally?
Be sure to involve your HR department
to ensure titles and credentials are
accurate with the new company.
Websites
Place a landing page over your website
with tight messaging reinforcing the
merger or acquisition. Allow the visitor
to go to the old site or visit the new one.
Before removing the previous
company’s website, place redirects
between websites and key pages that
are highly trafficked.
Update your new site and locations with
the proper search engine browsers and
map applications.
Don’t forget your mobile users in the
web transition.
If merging with a multilingual site, be
aware that this takes more time and
effort to ensure the language nuances
are captured accurately.
By Jennifer Van Vleet, CPSM,
and Kristy Alley
BRAND TRANSITION
AFTER A MERGER OR
ACQUISITION
34 SOCIETY FOR MARKETING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

2. Conference Materials
Review a calendar of upcoming
events and prioritize materials.
Order a few small merchandise items
right away as people like to share
these in the excitement of being a
part of a new company.
Develop key messages that discuss
how the two companies align and how
the acquisition brings benefits to the
clients.
Never assume that staff know what
to say about the merger or acquisition.
Be intentional about meeting with
event staff prior to the conference so
they can be ready to answer common
questions that arise.
Email Signatures
Similar to business cards, make a
decision about the use of a dual logo
and for how long.
If a company currently does not
manage signatures, a merger is a
great time to implement a new way
of doing things, so consider taking the
opportunity if possible.
The best way to manage signatures
is to work with the IT staff and push
signatures to staff through Office
Tools, as opposed to asking staff to cut
and paste from a template. This is the
best way to ensure consistency.
If working with offices around the
world, pay attention to required legal
items such as disclaimers and the
inclusion of the legal entity name in
the signature.
Client Discussions
Develop an FAQ document to empower
your clients with accurate answers.
Develop key messaging points around
the brand transition explaining the
benefits and what isn’t changing.
Communication about the change needs
to be consistent and clear, regardless of
who is delivering the message.
Segment your clients into groups and
determine who may need a face-to-face
meeting, a phone call, or an email.
Brand transitions don’t happen overnight,
even if the company decides to move
swiftly with the change. Consider holding
a kickoff event and involve employees
to communicate the change. This helps
establish a sense of community.
Have fun memorializing the passing
brand. Celebrate the old and usher in
the new. Provide new swag—a shirt or
mug—or something an employee will use.
This subtle reminder goes a long way in
smooth brand transition. Commemorate,
celebrate, and communicate, and you’ll
discover that continued operations will be
much smoother for it. n
Luddy Hall, School of Infomatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects (design
architect); FRP (structural); Weddle Bros. Construction (contractor); Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (civil); Design 27 (tech); Circle
Design Group (MEP); RATIO Architects (Architect of Record). ©Susan Fleck Photography, fleckphoto.com.
35MARKETER AUGUST 2018