Businesses evolve. You launch to meet a need in the market, you learn your niche, and then your relationships with your clients and your industry grow as you build expertise. Time passes as your business thrives and your capacities expand and develop. Suddenly you find that your brand and your perception in your market are…
Our clients have delivered many bits of wisdom as we’ve navigated the pandemic era together. One, from consulting firm West Monroe, stands out in particular: 2020 was the year of the customer, while 2021 is the year of the employee. With so much focus on customer-facing pandemic pivots, employees went above and beyond…
Crisis can pave the path for reinvention. Few industries have been more affected by the global pandemic than travel and hospitality. During this sea change moment, Wyndham Destinations seized an opportunity to reimagine its business.
In 2020, DeSantis Breindel began working closely with Wyndham Destinations as it sought to diversify its business beyond vacation timeshares…
Branding can make or break your M&A deal.
A powerful, unified brand is critical to unlocking M&A value. You will need to leverage your brand power in order to ensure a successful merger outcome.
Not sure where to start? We’ve based this ebook, “The Secret to M&A Success…
Perhaps it goes without saying, but brand naming is important. A name is the public’s introduction to your brand; it’s the first word in its story. Although a name can’t do everything,it is your company’s first and fastest chance to communicate one or two vital messages about your products and…
It’s no secret that the most successful branding projects are soundly based in research. Quantitative and qualitative, employee and customer, internal and competitive—for strategists, research provides a comprehensive understanding of stakeholder’s perceptions of their client.
Identifying a company’s mission and competitive strengths is a huge part of brand research. Strengths and…
It’s not always easy to figure out when a new brand direction is needed. For many companies, the brand they build in the early stages of their business can often stay in place for years – long after the organization has evolved beyond its original offering and strategy. Which means that, down the line, they…
Let’s play a branding game. Consider the following M&A scenarios:
A global leader in payments technology makes more than 25 acquisitions on five continents to drive growth and innovation against emerging tech upstarts.
A major investment firm completes series of acquisitions to fortify its strongly stalwart parent brand with scrappier, more risk…
At heart, a lot of brand marketing is about recognizing patterns. Strategists note the associations clients have with brands, and we see correlations between behaviors and outcomes.
So when four DeSantis Breindel brands were honored at the annual Transform Awards, we weren’t content to rest on our laurels. Instead, we wanted to know what…
It’s every digital marketer’s nightmare: You open up Google Analytics and see your website’s traffic has taken a sharp downturn. Is the website broken? Did a competitor invest heavily in paid search results? Worse, is your brand losing relevance?
We’ve got good news and bad news. The good: a precipitous decline…
It’s a common question for newlyweds. Do they each keep their birth names, opt to use one name, or hyphenate? When B2B brands marry, however, the name game gets really tricky.
It’s even more acute when the merging enterprises occupy the same business segment and are merging equals. Sometimes it’s relatively simple…
Branding is an overlooked operational element when evaluating a target company and maximizing performance of a portfolio company. Yet it harbors the most leverage in optimizing marketing and sales, growing market share and increasing retention, and commanding price premiums.
Here’s why a focus on branding is crucial:
1. Strong branding increases profitability
A company…
“Disruption” is more than just a business buzzword or a marketing trend. For many organizations, it has become a true strategic mindset. Companies jostling in crowded markets, as well as start-ups entering slow-moving industries, are searching for the fresh idea or novel business model that will shake up the status quo — and help…
B2B buyers are more sophisticated than ever. They have access to a wealth of information about every solution to every challenge their business may be facing. Many technology solutions make switching vendors simple — if not entirely painless. Strategically minded and budget-conscious, prospects are juggling decision criteria and competing interests in ever-changing ways.
For…
Successful brands start with honest self-assessment — which may be hard to come by in a large company or an entrenched corporate culture. Enlisting the aid of an outside brand strategist can help, providing a clear-eyed window into the company’s strengths and weaknesses and offering agnostic, professional solutions.
But as in any relationship…
Each year, agencies and research firms publish the rankings of the world’s most valuable brands. More than an ego boost for the listed brands’ marketers, these valuations are important intangible assets, and they become especially pertinent during M&A activity. In fact, a study from Houlihan Lokey showed that among its sample, 70…
Content is king. Content is the new creative. Both true, but this is old news. It’s long been common knowledge that in a crowded, advertisement-saturated environment, content marketing gives companies an opportunity to stand out by providing compelling information or entertainment rather than additional clutter. Best-in-class B2C examples include Netflix’s…
Every branding engagement starts with a determination to stick to the schedule and meet every deadline. But many branding timelines go awry, leading to frustration and delays.
Most often, branding timelines are stalled by scheduling logjams, internal indecision, or last-minute executive bombshells. And delays can be costly. Not only do they represent missed marketing…