The steps you should be undertaking involve defining the role of the brand you have merged with/recently acquired — with that, a few questions should be answered:

Is your ownership short-term or long-term?

Is it a natural or unnatural addition to your portfolio and as such, can it generate(rapid) growth by itself or does it need your support?

Is it a strategic ownership to outperform competition and could it operate“hidden” as a flanker brand?

Is it a completely new offering, that extends your current services, solutions or products and fits your current offering as an organization and as a a total?

Or is it something so new, that you will have to transform your own business to make it fit?

Is it in a new region/country and with that, will new rules and regulations apply (culturally/regulatory)?

Will the merger/acquisition move your company into a new position, and, is that a position you desire?

Based on these strategic questions, one should evaluate the next scenarios based on actual ownership percentage. A joint venture leaves less room for managed transformation compared to a majority ownership. A minority ownership may still leave some room for influence, but you will not be able to push solutions onto your new partner.

You have to know how the products are sold, how the services and solutions are brought to the customer, and how they are marketed. A combined brand and marketing audit will tell you the exact state of the brand, how it is perceived in the market, and what the internal culture looks like. It provides a factual helicopter view of the current status and what opportunities and challenges the organization, and it’s products are facing mid-merger/acquisition. You may want to add a financial brand equity audit to establish actual brand value — but that is probably already done during the preceding due diligence process.

This audit creates a leadership toolbox that can and should be used to further decisions, decide on directions and eventually, holistic strategies for the brand challenges and opportunities at hand.

You can read a bit more about brand audits right here. In an architecture scenario — you should always add the dimensions of sales and marketing to ascertain actual brand value in the market, as well as how customers actually are exposed to the brand in both a sales and marketing situation.

Create the new organization. Preferably a liquid, moving, changeable organization. This helps to ensure your ability to change it once the dust has settled, market movements have accepted the change, and your organization has set the pace with the new brand“on board.”

Don’t fool yourself. Merging or acquiring a new brand or a portfolio of brands will demand a change of routines, leadership, and cultures. These changes need to be addressed, preferably in a transparent, proactive and communicative manner. That’s a different project, but don’t take it lightly. Some inspiration in terms of transparent leadership can be found here. Some organizations actually use mergers and acquisitions to review and alter their brand strategy, and with that, their brand platform.

This internal, cultural change may very well be the hardest one to execute. Imagine two sovereign countries merging, or one country taking over the other — all the while in a friendly manner, it will not be likely that e.g. the English suddenly would become French over the first baguette.

Integrating two cultures and belief systems needs to become a different project all together, with top management responsibilities, HR execution power and the relentless creation and support of great brand ambassadors and internal change agents. Eliminate the barrier builders, build on the motivators, and always remember — people do not want change given the choice. At the same time, we all know by now that the seven most expensive words in business today are: “we have always done it that way.”

Mergers & acquisitions and consolidations are parts of everyday business life. Make the investments count. Go from gut to facts and scientific development.

Be aware of cultural pitfalls and go for the win.