Gargiulo + Partners || Merger and Acquisition Communications || Case Studies

This company, headquartered in France, was seeking to sell its U.S. processed-food subsidiary. Gargiulo + Partners joined with the investment bank handling the divestiture to advise on and develop the selling story for the subsidiary.

After intensive due diligence, including interviews with division management, plant and supermarket tours, customer research and competitor analysis, we developed key selling points to describe the business and highlight its strategic attractiveness to potential buyers. We then compiled a corresponding suite of marketing materials for the investment bankers, subsidiary management and parent-company management. These materials included talking points used by bankers when contacting potential buyers and presentations given by subsidiary and parent-company management to short-listed buyers.

Following the combination of four executive recruiting firms spanning three continents, the resulting firm faced complex challenges. They needed to crystallize messages about the new firm's attributes; standardize the presentation and distribution of key information such as rankings, biographies and case studies; and maintain a consistent look-and-feel on all marketing materials. Gargiulo + Partners was engaged to recommend and help implement firmwide standards for marketing presentations and to develop a library of adaptable presentation materials.

After interviewing management and practice leaders and conducting competitor analysis, we recommended distinctive brand positioning and developed standardized presentation slides. We then partnered with a design agency to develop and install a new presentation template on the firm's PCs. The resulting marketing standards, launched four months after the project's inception, were embraced by management and have enhanced the rate, efficiency and consistency of the firm's marketing efforts.

This second-tier beverages company found itself catapulted into a category-leading competitive position following the acquisition of a large portfolio of premier brands from the industry-leading competitor. For all practical purposes, the transaction had reinvented the company. Gargiulo + Partners joined with an international PR firm to study the optimum positioning and communications for the "new" company.

We analyzed internal and external views of the combined company, interviewing management, employees, media outlets and numerous external constituencies. The analysis revealed post-acquisition communications challenges, including a significant gap between internal and external images of the company.

We recommended several communications initiatives, each with multiple phases. Our recommendations sought to reinforce the positive expectations of external audiences while instilling a similar level of confidence in employees: they included a name change; a new brand positioning that married the entrepreneurial values of the smaller heritage company with the power and strength of the new brands; and a comprehensive corporate communications plan. Management accepted all of our recommendations and is using the new positioning statement to guide external and internal communications.