Brands Merge, Emotions Flare
📸 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘦𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 Michael Blachly. 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 a 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 — 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘭𝘺.𝘤𝘰𝘮.
When Companies Merge, the Real Drama Begins with the Brand
It’s less about the spreadsheets and financials and more about the emotional attachment that sometimes resembles therapy.
💍 In my work leading brand integrations after mergers, I’ve learned this:
• M&A brand work is emotional work.
• It’s basically marriage counseling but for logos, cultures, and client expectations.Here are a few lessons that stick with me:
🔸 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹
The acquired brand meant something. If you treat it like a line item, you’ll lose more than aesthetic consistency, you’ll lose people.
🔸 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀
In one deal, interviews revealed clients trusted the brand because their data wasn’t shared with a certain sales team. Although this wasn’t in the selling documents, it impacted client retention afterwards.
🔸 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿
We hosted ceremonies to mark brand transitions. Small rituals made the shift feel real while helping teams move forward together.
🔸 𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Clients care more about consistency of experience than matching logos. Let the brand evolve thoughtfully, not abruptly.
🔸 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱
If you don’t make space to say goodbye to the old, the new won’t stick.
Brand integration isn’t just strategy.
• It’s storytelling, empathy, and leadership.
• Done well, it builds bridges. Done poorly, it builds walls.
💬 Have you seen M&A brand work done well — or disastrously? I’d love to hear your story.
🔁 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦.
