Banking M&As: What About the Brand?

There is a throwaway line in the film American Psycho. The movie's demented central character, Wall Street executive-turned-serial killer Patrick Bateman, is describing what he does.

"I'm into murders and executions," he says without pause. His fellow characters seem to hear "mergers and acquisitions" and aren't privy to his Freudian slip.

Set in the rah-rah 1980s, American Psycho satirizes a time when mergers and acquisitions made daily business headlines and were perceived as somewhat mysterious and underhanded.

Today, M&A activity is hot again, with billion-dollar deals instantly altering the competitive landscape of multiple industries—think P&G and Gillette, AT&T and Cingular, Manulife and John Hancock.

Despite Hollywood's darker musings, today's mergers and acquisitions are neither mysterious nor about murder and executions. They are about creating shareholder value, competitive advantage and synergy, and they are closely followed by millions of investors, analysts, media and customers worldwide.

Brand often plays a central role in creating this value. As recent McKinsey & Company research observes, while "intangible assets make up most of the value of M&A deals...brands account for a considerable portion of these assets."

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Joseph Benson (benson.consulting@rcn.com) is a brand strategist with over 25 years of experience designing and implementing brand and marketing strategies for financial services, healthcare, high-tech, entertainment and retail clients.