Announcing a Merger? You Need a Game Plan
June 24, 2014
by Kristen Luke
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If you subscribe to the Wealth Management Marketing newsletter or follow any of our social media accounts, you’ve probably heard that we are merging with Angie Herbers, Inc. in July. I have quite a bit of experience announcing mergers, as a number of our clients have either merged with or acquired other firms in the past few years. Yet it wasn’t until I announced my own firm’s merger that I truly appreciated how complex this seemingly simple task really is.
Communicating to Key Stakeholders
Announcing a merger can be tricky, especially since there are many stakeholders who each need to receive the right message: employees, clients, prospects, referral partners, centers of influence, vendors, community and media. Your goal is to get each of these audiences excited about the change and address any fears they might have. This may mean developing different messages for different audiences while emphasizing the same themes across all communication. Not only do you have to do this for your own stakeholders, you also have to do it for the stakeholders of the company you are merging with, which makes the situation even more complex.
Merger Announcement Checklist
While announcing a merger or acquisition can be complicated, the following checklist can help you simplify the process and develop a game plan for making a successful announcement:
Employee Announcement
- Announce the merger in an in-person all-company meeting
- Develop key talking points for your employees to use when explaining the merger to others
Public Relations
- Write a press release
- Research media contacts and build an email list
- Develop talking points so you are prepared if you are interviewed by the media
- Publish the press release to a newswire like PRWeb
- Publish the press release to your website
- Email the press release to your media contacts
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Remember, if you have a question or comment, send it to [email protected].
