Brand Program

As this financial company expanded worldwide, its brand became more difficult to manage. Executives knew this presented problems as well as missed opportunities. How could they better the leverage the brand and make it clear and consistent wherever Merrill did business? And how could the firm better articulate its strategy and value proposition, so that all audiences, internal and external, understood what the brand stood for?

Solution

As trusted advisors, we worked closely with Merrill to better manage the global brand and strengthen the story behind it to clients, employees, partners and investors. The first step was the development of a simplified brand architecture and signature system. We followed this with clear brand and acquisition guidelines that enabled marketing departments worldwide to promote a unified Merrill presence. Our teams also carried out a wide range of branding, naming and communications assignments, including a brand resource website as well as employee, philanthropic and product brand campaigns, and marketing programs. Additionally, we executed four issues of the Merrill Lynch Annual Report, all of which emphasized Merrill's focus on meeting the needs of its clients.

Results

With our help, Merrill Lynch clarified and leveraged its most valuable asset — its global brand — allowing the strength of the brand to be shared across all the businesses as well as ensuring that every individual touchpoint brought reciprocal value back to Merrill Lynch. Additionally, this work created efficiencies that substantially reduced time-to-market for new products, programs and campaigns.