Professional BLOG

The Zealoop project was an acquisition scenario based upon a fictional tech company called Zealoop. Ben devised a procedure to deal with the acquisition, which included such marketing materials as the infographic on the right, a press release, a blog article (found in the blog tab of this site) and a website. The links below will lead you to these examples.

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Zealoop’s Facebook Page

 

Website

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Press Release

 

Background:

 

The situation that I have constructed revolves around the fictional enviro-tech company, Zealoop. Zealoop’s current main function is leasing out rural land from farmland owners to build wind turbines that supply the local power grid with renewable energy. Farm owners have a further incentive to take part, as they will receive discounts on their energy bill to offset their ‘clean’ contribution to the grid. To date, funding of the Zealoop program has relied on capital contributions from investors, and businesses looking to positively contribute to the environment

 

Zealoop’s technological innovation lies within its integrated system that synthesizes data from each wind turbine to produce relevant financial and energy-related statistics. These statistics can then be used for accounting or general business purposes. Recently, Zealoop has been looking to rebrand as not just a wind-energy provider, but also a company that can help a consumers/businesses to manage a diversified pool of renewable energy sources.

 

As you will read in the press release, Zealoop has recently acquired another completely made up company called LightSupport. LightSupport is an app that tracks the efficacy of solar panels. The app connects via Wi-Fi with its patented remote solar device, which when placed beside a user’s solar panel, analyzes the surrounding atmospheric conditions. Based on user configuration of the app, users can track how much energy their panels are producing, amongst other metrics. Essentially, Zealoop’s plan is to transform LightSupport’s technology to a point where it can compete with other solar energy providers, like Solar City. It is also looking for additional ways to monetize its service.

 

Marketing Plan:

 

The marketing plan for this acquisition is designed to enthuse three of Zealoop’s key stakeholders: employees, customers and the media. The content that will be used to achieve this will be discussed below.

 

1. Employees

 

A strong factor that affects the success of an acquisition is the company’s approach to integrating company cultures. The coming together of two distinct companies means potential for culture clashes that can inhibit progress. Therefore, it is absolutely imperative for employees on each side to:

 

 

• Know that the acquisition is actually happening

• Understand why the acquisition is happening

• Have an opportunity to interact with each other on a social basis

• Have an opportunity to discuss company cultures with each other

 

To fulfill the above conditions, employees of both Zealoop and LightSupport will receive an email that points them to the press release on the Zealoop website. It will extend to them an invitation for an evening Q&A session with Zealoop executives, taking place at the Zealoop headquarters. Prior to the Q&A, Zealoop and LightSupport executives will present a brief overview of what the companies are about, and what sort of culture they have. LightSupport employees will then be given the opportunity to mingle with Zealoop employees, and take a tour of the office. Free drinks will be provided as bribery to attend. This meeting will put faces to the company, and a heightened sense of reciprocal respect will ensue.

 

As the first concern for employees is usually whether their job is safe, each company will have its CEO conduct their own individual Q&A sessions on the same day that the email goes out. During these internal meetings, it is important that management is quick, approachable and honest about their employee concerns. This will allow management to explain why the acquisition is happening, and ensure that potential employee backlash is minimized.

 

To complement the above strategy, a blog post entitled “How Acquisitions Are Like Christmas Dinners” (see on Zealoop’s website à blog) will be amplified through social media channels, Facebook and LinkedIn. This will use a light-hearted analogy to communicate actions employees can take to make an acquisition as mutually beneficial and enjoyable as possible. The post will demonstrate thought leadership on LinkedIn, as well as being entertaining enough to be positively received on Facebook.

 

 

2. Customers

 

These can be split into two categories: existing and future clients.

 

Existing clients of the more sophisticated technology, Zealoop, will be invited to a breakfast Q&A by phone and email. Part of this Q&A will be to be transparent, but will also act as an opportunity for both companies to cross-promote each other's services to the same audience.

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​Future clients are best reached through online channels. It also is important to engage them as much as possible, as they don’t want to read big long press releases on account of their low elaboration likelihood. Therefore, an infographic (see attached to email/on Facebook page) covering key stats that Zealoop’s acquisition entail will be released on social media.