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It’s a common question for newlyweds. Do they each keep their birth names, opt to use one name—or hyphenate? When B2B brands wed, however, the name game gets really tricky.
The challenge for leadership is particularly complex when the merging enterprises occupy the same business segment, representing a marriage of equals. Sometimes it’s relatively simple: go with the larger entity’s original name (backing the stronger horse) and move forward, sunsetting or quickly retiring the junior brand.
But the decision isn’t always this straightforward.
If business segments are roughly the same, it may be best for one of the merging equals to retain its birth name and build on it while being supported by the other company’s brand. Then again, perhaps the merging businesses will become so much more than the sum of their parts that they require a new name altogether. And if they’re truly equals, a compound married name may be the soundest course.
With all the available options, it’s easy for leaders to lose their sense of direction. Let’s discuss how to rediscover it.
Follow the Brand North Star
Determining a B2B naming strategy starts with evaluating each merging equal’s customer/client brand experience to identify synergies or dissonance between the brands. The emphasis should be on the value, character, and quality of each company’s customer/client relationships—today and tomorrow.
Each leadership team should ask:
- “What defines our ongoing customer brand experience over the long term?”
- “What will define it after the merger?”
- “How invested are clients and customers in each brand?”
- “How will they react if one brand takes precedence?”
- “What are the internal implications of a new brand—how will employees and business partners adjust to it?”
Let’s look at a few real-life examples of merging equals and how they navigated their brand (and name) transitions. While these examples are mostly from the world of B2C, their naming/brand solutions will resonate with B2B leaders facing similar challenges.
Birth Name: Bigness versus Brand
Let’s consider what happens when a big fish swallows a smaller one.
When Sprint acquired Nextel, it subsumed it into the Sprint brand. Later, T-Mobile did the same to Sprint, folding it into T-Mobile. In each case, the “stronger horse” case prevailed among the merging equals. The assumption was that in cellular—a hotbed of price/value/offers and high churn—customer brand loyalty is relatively low, so subsuming acquired brands wouldn’t cause much harm.
Contrast that with two powerful media merging equals in the movie business, Disney and Marvel Studios. Marvel is arguably the strongest studio brand in motion pictures, with its unique ongoing and intersecting storylines following the exploits of massively popular characters. There was no way would Disney force its own super brand on that juggernaut. And so, Marvel Studios’ birth name lives on independent of Disney post-merger.
Married Name: Brand versus Blah
A married name is a compound fusion of two existing brand names. Often, it’s the outcome of a “marriage of convenience,” where brands are merging (or semi-merging) their cultures, eliminating organizational redundancies, combining different capabilities and creating economies of scale. Two instances are FIAT-Chrysler in automotive and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in accounting and business consulting. The news in these mergers doesn’t blare—it’s mostly blah.
On the other hand, consider how the post-merger married name of two WPP Group ad agencies, Wunderman and Thompson, resonates with clients and potential clients. The first of the two is a powerhouse brand in DTC and activation, while the other contributes more than 120 years of general advertising success. The result: Wunderman Thompson.
Yet another Disney merger is a case where a married name evokes the best of two big merging equal brands: Disney and Pixar. Disney’s more than 90 years of animation excellence is famous worldwide. But there’s no ignoring the public’s perception of Pixar’s brand leadership in digital animation. The only option to marry the two brands as Disney Pixar.
New Name: New Brand Roof or New Brand Mission
The two primary reasons for brand equals to adopt an entirely new name and brand are a roll-up of brands under a new roof, or when the merger results in a new and different corporate mission.
A few years ago, several electric utility brands serving markets in New England were merged into a single entity under a new name: Eversource. That made sense because all the merging brands were in the public utility energy space. (That said, when Eversource moved outside the energy segment to acquire a Connecticut water company, Aquarion, they smartly kept that acquisition’s branding and distinctive name completely intact.)
A marriage of equals can also be the foundation of a newly revised corporate mission and positioning. When several former AT&T “Baby Bell” regionals first merged, they became Bell Atlantic, with basically the same telecommunications mission. But when Bell Atlantic then merged with NYNEX, another collection of Baby Bells, the position changed dramatically. It was the genesis of an expanded, nationwide brand scope covering a wide range of new media and communications technology platforms. The new name: Verizon.
So despite naming challenges, merging equal brands can live happily ever after. At least until their next merger comes along.
Want to discuss M&A branding and how to make the naming decision that creates maximum value? Let’s talk.
