As the world continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, businesses must adapt quickly or they will get left behind. To ensure this doesn't happen to them, many companies keep growing through the acquisition of established firms.

Whether a company buys another company or is the one being bought, this type of transition creates many challenges throughout the organization, particularly with respect to marketing, which is often overlooked. Moreover, when the branding of the acquiring company does not mesh with that of the target company, it can create all kinds of problems.

Case study: Regional Hose and Hydraulics acquisition of Canaflex

Canaflex has been our client for many years and has a well-established presence in the Quebec hydraulic hose market as well as a strong brand image. Regional Hose (RH) has a big presence in Ontario’s hydraulics industry, and with the purchase of Canaflex, they plan on expanding into Quebec. RH turned to us for help to create some marketing materials announcing the acquisition, which is when we noticed that their brand image was not a good match for Canaflex. To complicate matters even more, they recently bought Big Rock machine shop to expand into the world of machining. However, the three brands, which would often need to be presented together, did not have a desired visual impact when combined.

After some brainstorming with the new owners of Canaflex, it was decided that the Canaflex brand would be used to determine the future visual elements of RH and Big Rock. With this in mind, we created two brand-new identities and tweaked Canaflex a little to better fit all three together. The end result is three unique identities that use the same color palette and similar visual elements, all while retaining each brand’s individuality.

As RH evolves over time, we will make sure their marketing materials always have a clean and unified look for all three brands and for any other future acquisitions. They will remain true to this direction and become easily recognizable as a national leader in the hydraulics industry. Take a look at this project and let us know your thoughts!