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avocent
Challenge: Transform a merger into a flawless launch in four months.
In February 2000, BrandIntent was retained by Cybex (Huntsville, Alabama) to prepare for a potential June 2000 merger with Apex (Redmond, Washington), the other leading player in the network switch market. The mandate was to create a new company and a new competitive position for this merger of equals that would inspire and assure customers, investors, analysts, partners and employees.
Solution: Turnkey launch supported with full executive support.
Central to the new brand was getting agreement, from all sides, on a new name (Avocent) and a new business proposition that reflected where the merged entity was aimed for the future. A flawless launch and an accelerated product development schedule would convince all stakeholders that there would be no time lost on integration and no gap created for competitors. We also had to elevate the position from building high functioning “black boxes” to focusing on what vital, higher-level business advantages the brand delivered to customers.
Memorable Detail: Chinese wall between companies.
As the FCC had not yet approved the merger, a Chinese wall had to be maintained between the companies, while the executive teams had to begin acting as one. We worked independently with each executive group to create a shared vision and develop a brand strategy that would position the new company to rapidly enter new market sectors and international markets.
Result: Stock appreciation, line expansion and repositioning of company as services and solutions leader.
The new organizational messaging convinced the investment community that the merged entity possessed the vision, strength and intent to successfully expand into new market segments. We unified five corporate cultures, product offerings and market positions into a single-voiced strategically driven brand.
In 2004 we developed the strategy for integrating a $100M acquisition, OSA Technologies, to elevate Avocent to a network management leader. | 
