By Steve Garrou,Creative Director
Mergers shake things up, changing how people see a company, expanding what they offer, and often boosting market share. Companies that merge successfully take the best parts of each business and level up: Finances, talent, technology, and customers all come under one umbrella, making the new organization more competitive.
One critical element merging companies need to consider—ideally before the merger—is brand. With a proper strategy in place, there is a great opportunity to take the brand to new heights, creating a better version of a brand customers already trust, or even introducing a brand customers didn’t know they needed.
Let research be your guide
Research should be the driving force behind brand updates related to mergers—understanding customer perception of both brands in-market should be the basis of strategy and execution. Considerations include:
Brand health
Brand health scoring allows us to identify where a brand is slipping or standing strong. We use data to understand the audience’s perception of the brand and to inform strategy and creative decisions.
Competitive Landscape
Like an elite-level sports team watching hours of opponent “game tape,” merging brands need to understand their competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, and where their new brand can fit into the marketplace. A thorough competitive analysis provides objective data to help understand where the new brand can best position itself.
Personas / Segmentation
Being “everything to everyone” isn’t a great marketing strategy. Targeted audience messaging and design are much more effective in building brand affinity. We use personas and audience segmentation to understand who the audience is, so you can talk with them—not at them. (Why cast a wide net if you know exactly how to land the big fish?)
Now we can execute: strategy guides creative
Ok, so we’ve identified how we’ll impact the industry, and we have research that serves as a guide for creative direction. Now we can do what we do best: lean into the second half of the EPIC Creative name and flex that muscle. Building on data-informed insights allows us to build a brand that resonates both intuitively and emotionally with our target audience(s).
PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN: THE AQUATROLS COMPANY
Aquatrols has been a trusted name in the golf industry for decades, with a goal of expanding into the sports turf market. After merging with the turf division of Precision Labs in early 2024, “The Aquatrols Company” was born. Their brands are royalty in the turf industry, specifically as innovative juggernauts in surfactants and adjuvants. In (super) layman’s terms, they make water work harder depending on what’s needed for the environment, boosting the performance of irrigation, fertilization, and other maintenance practices.
How we got there
The process was pretty seamless: Get to know our client, understand their needs and goals, gather perspectives from those involved, lean into the research, align with the client, and move forward decisively—with precision (pun most certainly intended).
We knew it was important to truly listen and let their unique voices inspire the creative. And we quickly determined that being respectful and celebratory of each brand would be paramount to our success.
The result is a thoughtfully executed brand system that allows brand loyalists to see what they want to see, but still breaks out of the boundaries of what’s expected of the brand. We paid homage to both original brands, presenting them as equals while elevating them in a fresh, new singular concept. The research and our ears-open approach allowed us to develop a visual presentation where both companies felt heard and reflected in the final brand.
Just as important as the logo was the value proposition of the new organization. It needed to celebrate what came before, but point to something new. (See a theme here?)
Because one of their goals was to penetrate the sports turf market, our solution was to make the tagline clear, concise, and more specific to their value proposition. “Precise Water Management” is the sum of all parts—a nod to the former Precision Laboratories and a straightforward description of what they do in every application. Most importantly, it illustrates the result of using their products: more control over your operation and resources. These three words speak directly to their audiences.
Ultimately, a successful merger rebrand should leverage all of the best aspects of both origin companies to create something greater. There’s no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” approach. The secret sauce is a mixture of research, market knowledge, active listening, careful planning, collaboration, and creativity. It might seem like a lot of ingredients, but boy, that sauce makes everything so much better.
