i have seen The same story is repeated over and over again. Prior to the company’s merger, his marketing and communications teams are working around the clock as he integrates the two brands and prepares for the opening day launch. Two years later, the combined brand was rebranded.

but why?

The answer is simple. No one knows what life is like on the other side of the door until they walk through it. But many times teams come up with a brand strategy before the companies have any experience working together, and they still don’t honestly know who brings what and where the benefits are. You can predict synergies and how merging as one entity will succeed in existing markets or open doors to new markets. Still, it would be helpful if you could work with us before fully understanding and branding it. There are many things to do first.

Editor’s note: This is part 2 of a two-part series by David Martin. Read part 1 here.

Step 1: Manage audience expectations

When companies merge, employees and customers wonder, “How will this affect me?” Will I lose my job? Will a product I know and love be taken away? ”

Most of the time, it comes with a lot of anxiety. So the first job is to provide reassurance to stakeholders. The only way to do this is to follow the first rule. “Always do no harm.” We need to understand what they want, what’s important to them, and then use that understanding to guide collective action once companies come together.

First, you need to ensure that no decisions are made or implemented that could lead to anxiety or fear.Remember, your goal is to reassure your target audience that nothing important to them will be lost and that you haven’t changed anything. Until then They had the opportunity to provide their opinions and insights on where opportunities lie. We can further communicate this commitment by giving an active voice through customer, investor and employee advisory boards.

This process can continue throughout much of the first year, once your target audience feels comfortable starting a positive conversation. In many cases, the customer is a customer of both companies, which means they are perfectly equipped to communicate where the synergies are and where to use one company and where to use the other. Masu. Think of this as a Venn diagram. It helps you understand where intersections and forks exist.