In most M&A integrations, the financial model gets all the attention while the brand becomes a redesign project after the fact.
According to a study analysing over 40,000 acquisitions across 40 years, 70% to 75% of deals fail to achieve their stated objectives, with strategic misalignment posing a risk throughout the deal lifecycle.
Intentionally using your Brand and Employer Brand to build alignment across the process, protects market equity while safeguarding key talent and customer relationships. These are key checkpoints to consider:
1. Pre-M&A: Diligence & Alignment
Before the deal is signed, look beyond financial statements to audit intangible equity:
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- Purpose & Values: Purpose and values similarities and differences.
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- Culture & Leadership Alignment: Cultural compatibility (decision-making style, ways of working, risk tolerance, behaviours), Leadership alignment
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- Portfolio & Value Proposition: Evaluate whether offerings complement, substitute, or overlap, and clarify the core deal thesis
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- Brand & Digital Equity: Audit external brand positioning, IP and trademark protections, domain/SEO authority, and channel reach for both entities
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- EVP & Talent Sentiment: Review internal employee sentiment (Glassdoor, surveys) and identify key-person retention risks
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- Customer Sentiment: Review customer sentiment (surveys, interviews), Identify key customer risks
2. During M&A: Architecture, Strategy & Planning
Define the integration pathway and equip leaders to guide both talent and customers:
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- Brand Architecture Selection: Choose the long-term model, whether Masterbrand, house of brands, endorsed or hybrid.
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- Purpose & Brand Strategy: Organisation purpose, positioning and value proposition
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- Naming: Organisation brand name, rational and emotive descriptor
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- Customer and Talent Retention Strategy: Develop strategy and review all customer touchpoints and EVPs through the”Keep, Combine, Replace, Stop” audit
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- Measures of success: Establish key metrics, measurement methods and reporting process including brand equity tracking
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- Day 1 Changeover Preparation: Channel and web migration (domain redirects, social profile mergers, legal entity updates), Customer service centre.
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- Day 1 Communications Blueprint: Draft tailored narratives for employees, key accounts, investors, suppliers, communities; customer communications.
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- Leader Enablement: Train leaders and managers on the integrated story before public launch.
3. Immediately Post-M&A (First 100 Days): Co-Creation & Baseline
Build trust, eliminate ambiguity, and establish operational governance:
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- Governance & Assets: Issue clear interim branding guidelines, co-branded templates, and asset repositories to support dissemination and avoid rogue branding.
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- Monitor Stakeholder Sentiment: Leadership interviews, Employee Pulse, Voice of Customer
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- Co-create Values, Employer brand/EVP and Employee Experience: Conduct surveys and workshops, define shared values and behaviours, develop employer brand, employee value proposition and employee experience, alignment of customer experience (EX = CX)
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- Customer Experience: Conduct surveys and focus groups, develop customer experience that delivers against the brand strategy for the new organisation
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- Early Communications: Highlight early integration milestones, rollout purpose and values, employer brand/EVP and experience
4. Ongoing Post-M&A (Months 6–12+): Track, Migrate & Tune
Ensure integration is an active process, not a one-time launch event:
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- Ongoing Communications: Purpose and values alignment examples, brand and employer brand executions, highlight employee engagement, wellbeing and recognition, highlight customer successes
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- Monitor Stakeholder Sentiment: Run employee and customer sentiment surveys with open-ended feedback channels, engage with suppliers and communities
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- 12-Month Brand Equity Tracking: Measure post-merger brand health, customer experience and employee engagement scores against baseline metrics.
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- Evolve Strategy: Process in place to make changes to activities and strategy to improve performance.
As a Brand or Employer Brand Leader, what’s the biggest challenge you’ve experienced during an M&A?
Contact rachel@thehealthybrandcompany.com if you have an upcoming M&A challenge to manage.
Rachel Bevans is Managing Director, Strategy & Planning at The Healthy Brand Company. We deliver research and strategy at the intersection of brand, employer brand and sustainability – helping organisations build and align the promise and experience that is relevant and compelling to all stakeholders to achieve healthier, more sustainable results.
