A group from Liquid just returned from attending the Silicon Valley Brand Forum held on October 16, 2007 at Microsoft in Mountain View. The theme discussed by a group of experienced panelists was “Navigating Your Brand Through Mergers and Acquisitions” - a theme that is very appropriate in Silicon Valley, given the number of companies that are growing using M&A strategies. The panelists included Russ Meyer, the Chief Strategy Officer for Landor; Patrick Moran, the Sr. Director of Marketing at WebEx (now part of Cisco); and Jim Rose, The VP of Brand and Global Marketing at Symantec. The moderator was Ron May, the brand guru at UPEK, a leader in fingerprint biometrics whose experience with Mattel, Synopsys, Tandem and Logitech added a great deal of color to the conversation. The event was presented by the Kevin Heney, the founder of the Silicon Valley Brand Forum, a man whose commitment to the practice of branding is exemplary.

The panelists described the M&A process in terms of several distinct phases:
1. Courtship
2. Acquisition
3. Integration
4. Denial (Sometimes)

For the benefit of the company’s long term success, each of these phases can benefit from a brand perspective. Much of the discussion in the first half centered around the considerations behind which name is kept and which is not – and the answer depends on many factors. The panelists urged the audience to consider whether the acquisition was driven by a desire for the acquired company’s products, people, customers…or whether it was simply a way to stop a competitor from buying the company and become more of a competitive threat. Russ Meyer from Landor advocated doing research that helps identify the strengths and weaknesses of each name from the viewpoint of the audiences (customers and other stakeholders). In the words of the Patrick Moran who is still in the midst of the Cisco WebEx acquisition, “It’s all about the business strategy”. A statement that was reinforced by Jim Rose from Symantec who added “Brand needs to enable business strategy”.

For more information, visit the www.svbrandforum.com – and make a point of trying to attend the next event. They are definitely worthwhile!

Author: Alfredo Muccino
Category: Brand Management, Brand Promise, Brands in general