How companies can successfully promote their new brand
Federated swallows up other department store chains. Procter & Gamble acquires another consumer products company. The wireless phone industry is consolidating. Merger mania is in full swing.
Of course, sometimes the easiest part of the process is inking the deal. The real challenge comes when two companies – and two brands – have to become one.
Not the least of those challenges is bringing together two separate marketing programs and merging them into one. That requires some upfront discussions about which products and which personnel, especially when it comes to the revamped marketing committee.
That’s exactly what happened with the recent combination of Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless, a merger that looks like it could pay big dividends over time.
A CLEAR CONNECTION
The deal that brought together Cingular and AT&T Wireless was announced in February 2004 and finalized in November of last year.
The combination of the two brands was the perfect blend of strengths and weaknesses, says Allan Steinmetz, chief executive officer of Inward Strategic Consulting.
AT&T Wireless had the largest network; Cingular had terrific plans and great customer service, Steinmetz says. In addition to making Cingular the nation’s largest carrier (based on number of customers), the merger increased the coverage area and created the biggest mobile-to-mobile calling community in the United States.
To prepare for the merger, a special task force from Cingular began work in February 2004 on a new marketing campaign. Due to federal restrictions, the company was not allowed to communicate with its marketing counterparts at AT&T Wireless before the deal was approved in November.
The first task? Define the customer benefits of the new company, says Marc Lefar, chief marketing officer for Cingular.
“We wanted to have advertising and marketing offers ready the moment this deal was complete,” says Lefar. “So we developed a list of potential consumer benefits and put each through a comparative cost/benefit analysis. From there, we began developing our messages.”
Lefar had to present that cost/benefit analysis to his board of directors to demonstrate, from a marketing standpoint, how the merger would allow the new company to attract new customers and reduce customer turnover.
NEW COMPANY, NEW ADS
Two days after the merger was finalized by regulators – and deep into the key holiday selling season – Lefar and his team presented the new marketing campaign to high-ranking members of both companies.
The new campaign also included a new logo – combining the orange “jack” associated with Cingular and the signal bars used by AT&T Wireless – as well as a new tagline: Raising the Bar.
