Work
Brand integration
in practice.
Every deal changes something.
Not every brand should.
Some acquisitions need a new identity.
Others need to bring different cultures together, consolidate multiple businesses or protect the value of a brand that already exists.
There is no single answer.
Here are four different transactions, four different challenges and four different approaches to making the brands work.
Two cultures.
One new direction.
When international serviced-apartment business Q Apartments acquired Skyline, it brought together two organisations with very different ways of working.
Skyline was a young, dynamic challenger with an entrepreneurial culture. Q Apartments was an established business with its own history, processes and identity.
The opportunity was to bring the best of both together.
The challenge
How do you integrate a disruptive, entrepreneurial business into an established organisation without losing the energy that made it successful?
The challenge went beyond visual identity. It was about people, culture and finding a shared direction that both businesses could embrace.
The approach
We worked across the businesses to understand their respective cultures, values and ambitions, identifying the characteristics worth preserving and the opportunities to create something stronger together.
Through cultural engagement programmes, brand strategy and design, we helped bring a shared direction to life, translating it into both internal behaviours and external communications.
The outcome
An evolved Q Apartments brand that combined the credibility of an established international business with the energy and progressive thinking of Skyline.
A brand designed not simply to reflect a merger, but to help two different cultures move forward together.
One brand.
Two specialist strengths.
When established mediation business Global acquired a communications training company, it created an opportunity to broaden its offering while building on the reputation of the existing business.
The question was how to bring two distinct services together without losing the clarity of either.
The challenge
The acquired training business needed to become part of the Global organisation, but mediation and communications training served different needs.
The business required a brand structure that would give each service its own identity while maintaining a clear connection to the parent brand.
The approach
We developed a new overarching Global identity and created a brand architecture built around two distinct propositions: Global Mediation and Global Training.
Each was given its own clear position within a cohesive visual and verbal identity system, allowing the businesses to communicate their specialist expertise while benefiting from a shared brand.
The outcome
One unified Global brand with two clearly defined service offerings.
A brand structure that brought the acquired business into the organisation, strengthened the overall proposition and provided a platform for future growth.
Multiple firms.
One stronger identity.
As the owners of HAB Law acquired a number of smaller law firms across Hertfordshire, they faced a familiar challenge: how to turn a collection of established businesses into one recognisable organisation.
Each acquired practice brought its own clients, reputation and history. The ambition was to create a single brand capable of bringing them together.
The challenge
Consolidating multiple law firms under one name meant more than developing a new visual identity.
Existing clients needed to understand the change, feel confident in the new organisation and recognise that the relationships and services they valued would continue.
The approach
We created HAB Law as a new, unified brand, developing its positioning, identity and supporting design materials.
Alongside the brand development, we helped shape a communications strategy to introduce the new identity to existing clients, explain the transition and build confidence in the combined business.
The outcome
A single, recognisable legal brand bringing multiple acquired practices together under one identity.
A coherent platform for the growing business, supported by communications designed to make the transition clear and reassuring for existing clients.
New ownership.
Same identity.
When Land Improvement Holdings (LIH) was acquired by Telereal Trillium, one of the UK's major property businesses, the intention wasn't to absorb LIH into the parent brand.
LIH had its own market position, expertise and established identity. The opportunity was to retain that independence while benefiting from the credibility of its new ownership.
The challenge
How do you communicate the strength of a major acquisition without losing the identity and reputation of the business being acquired?
LIH needed to continue operating as a distinct entity, while making its connection to Telereal Trillium a source of confidence and credibility.
The approach
We refreshed the LIH visual identity and developed a set of brand values that captured the business's existing character and future ambitions.
We then translated that positioning into a range of communications materials, including corporate brochures, presenting LIH as a distinct business supported by the strength of its new parent company.
The outcome
A refreshed and clearly positioned LIH brand that retained its independence while communicating the benefits of its new ownership.
A brand that could stand confidently on its own, with the additional credibility of being part of a much larger organisation.
Talk to us about your situation
What happens to the brands?
That's the question at the centre of every Brandfused project.
And the answer will be different every time.