Rebranding a business to one new name

How do you decide how many brands to retain in a business – and then rebrand the business to one new name?

Fellow of The Marketing Society Ruth Saunders from Galleon Blue and Simonetta Rigo, CMO at Tilney Smith & Williamson, share the story behind a successful initiative and outlines the implications for anyone looking at similar challenges.

In today’s world, name changes are rare. The time, cost and complexity of moving to a new brand name make it something to avoid if possible. 

That was the mindset we had when looking at the brand portfolio created by the merger of Tilney and Smith & Williamson into Tilney Smith & Williamson, the U.K.’s largest integrated wealth management and professional services business. The merger resulted in a new corporate brand, Tilney Smith & Williamson, supported by 3 client-facing brands:

• Tilney, a brand that operates in wealth management
• Smith & Williamson, a brand that operates in wealth management and accountancy
• Bestinvest, an online do-it-yourself investment platform

Given the cost inefficiencies of running multiple brands, we were...