Merger, She Wrote: Why crafting a compelling brand story is key to creating a unified firm
Professional services firms must integrate their brand identity as thoughtfully as their financials and data if they are to achieve lasting post-merger success.
The professional services sector, particularly in the UK, is experiencing a surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), driven by opportunities for growth, efficiency, and competitive advantage. However, while financial and operational integration often take centre stage, brand strategy is frequently overlooked, posing significant risks to client retention, business development, and employee engagement. A well-planned brand integration strategy can ensure a seamless transition, fostering trust, loyalty, and long-term value creation.
Deriving full value from a deal
M&A and investor activity in the £30 billion UK accounting and professional services sectors has risen sharply in recent years and looks set to continue in 2025. With more than 40,000 firms operating, the sector is ripe for consolidation and has a number of attractive characteristics: resilient demand for services, opportunities for cross- and up-selling, high client retention rates, skills shortages, and the potential to drive revenue and profit per partner through operational efficiencies.
Deriving full value from a deal requires a comprehensive approach to integration, including the often-overlooked area of brand. Too frequently, this critical element is treated as an afterthought, exposing the newly unified entity to a number of risks, including client exits, poor business development performance, and increased staff attrition.
By addressing brand as a central part of the pre-and post-deal planning process, a new entity can secure client loyalty, retain key staff, and position the integrated business as value-added for the broad stakeholder community.
Why professional services businesses resist change
Accounting and professional services firms possess a number of characteristics that make brand integration difficult to achieve:
Conservative in nature and resistant to change
Partnership structures which include the business founder, with leadership and employees emotionally invested in the legacy brand
Relationship sales model, with brand, reputation and trust key to existing clients and new business
Lean marketing teams that are distanced from strategic leadership and have limited ability to undertake strategic planning exercises
In this context, careful management of the integration process with deep engagement from both sides of the equation is key. Brand is about more than just the name and visual identity; it goes to the very heart of a business’s DNA, encompassing purpose, positioning and messaging, and is closely connected to internal policies and processes that affect the client and employee experience.
A robust integration approach will ask fundamental questions about the client and employee proposition, engaging internal and external stakeholders to generate insights and inform the process.
Five lessons to capture long-term value when integrating firms
For private equity firms looking at a consolidation play, overseas businesses acquiring regional firms as part of an international growth strategy, and established domestic businesses looking to expand their footprint, adopting these five lessons can help ensure post-merger integration leads to long-term growth:
Engage early, but don’t dive straight into implementation. Bring your marketing function into the process as early as possible so brand integration can be properly planned and resources allocated accordingly. Take time to undertake research and understand how clients view the merger, what the different brands offer, and where the opportunities exist for growth. Begin with a brand equity analysis to assess the strengths of each business and consider different options for market presence. A unified brand can alienate existing clients if not handled delicately while maintaining multiple brands can dilute marketing efficiency and confuse the market.
Empowerment and co-creation are key. Different organisational cultures can create friction during consolidation, especially in professional services where talent is critical. To mitigate risk, joint workshops can align on shared goals and values, change management specialists can guide the transition, and clear employee communication can alleviate concerns and highlight how the consolidation benefits them (e.g. access to more resources, opportunities for career growth, etc). If you’re the dominant party, resist the opportunity to provide the answer and invest in top-down leadership and bottom-up engagement to ensure key functions are engaged in the creation of a shared strategy. Localisation can be an important factor in retaining trust, so avoid consolidating resources into a single central location if it leaves regional markets under-represented and facilitates localised campaigns tailored to specific needs.
Build a consistent story around the unified value proposition. Each firm will have a distinct value proposition tailored to its client base, so a cohesive narrative is required that addresses why the new entity offers superior value. Highlight benefits such as access to broader expertise across multiple disciplines, economies of scale, better technology, faster turnaround times, and enhanced global or regional reach. Inconsistencies in branding and messaging can confuse clients and damage trust, so develop a brand and messaging guide to ensure all content aligns with the combined firm's goals and values.
Protect client trust at all costs. Clients often resist change, fearing disruption or a decline in service quality, so protect key account relationships and proactively communicate a compelling story about the power of the combined offering across multiple channels. Regularly update clients about the consolidation process and showcase early successes to reinforce confidence. Engaging client-facing staff is critical for success here, emphasising the need for a co-created solution to which all parties are committed.
Create and share common goals. Create brand and marketing plans and objectives in partnership with local leadership, other business functions and parent companies. Setting and monitoring measurable goals, such as brand awareness, share of voice, market share or cross-selling, will focus activity and ensure alignment across the business.
Conclusion
Successfully consolidating professional services firms requires more than just operational alignment – it demands a carefully crafted brand strategy that unites culture, messaging, and client perception. By prioritising early engagement, co-creation, and a consistent value proposition, businesses can navigate post-merger challenges and unlock long-term growth. In a sector built on trust and reputation, a thoughtful approach to brand integration is the key to lasting success.
Written by James Lloyd and Simon Case
See how Chromatic has helped address brand as a central part of the pre-and post-deal planning process:
