Integrate, Segregate, Reformulate? 2007 Qtr 1
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Integrate, Segregate, Reformulate? |
How to handle new brands gained through corporate acquisition is continuing to bedevil many marketers. We see it every day in the business press as Google buys YouTube, and as US Air attempts a hostile takeover of Delta Airlines. What’s a marketer to do?
The first question most brand people ask is: What does the acquisition mean to the customer? The next question is: Who’s the customer? In B2C, it is relatively easy to identify the customer — the consumer. But in the B2B world, the customer may include the distribution channel, the dealer, the franchisee, the economic buyer and the end user. So it’s important when evaluating brand hierarchy after an acquisition to identify all important customer groups first, and then determine their perspective of the new brand order.
Some issues that can arise include:
- Do former competitive brands continue to go head–to–head?
- Do the brands naturally segregate into good, better, best?
- Should you reposition one brand into a complementary role to another?
To answer these questions, one could benefit from the formulation of a simple “brand architecture” which helps prioritize from the corporate brand, down to the product brand. A brand architecture helps to visualize how the various brands interact and where they crossover. It can even help you formulate messaging by brand and audience. And remember, a brand architecture is not a business unit organization chart, but a view from the customer’s perspective.
For example, does the corporate brand have a reason to speak to the financial press, while the individual brands speak directly to distribution and/or customers? Is there a reason to co–brand using two brands within one message? All these questions are best answered by moving to the customer’s perspective and asking, “What does it mean to me?”
You can hear the questions now: Can I still buy my product where I normally buy it? Will the new brand replace the old brand? Will they kill off one of the brands? Will the quality change? Does pricing change? What is their go–to–market strategy?
Change can be hard on everyone, but it doesn’t have to be hard on the brand. Understand your audiences (and influencers) and their points of pain, determine who (corporate or brand) should speak at what level (corporate, channel, customer), and draw your own brand architecture to better manage your communications and build trust in each of your brands.
Remember the brand lives with the customer. So look at it through the customer’s eyes and ears and you’ll hear your brand’s voice.
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