After a triple merger, SIX Group was left with more than 70 sub-brands across three core businesses and employees spread across functions and markets. Vivaldi Group used the merger as a clean slate to design a unified hybrid brand architecture, and paired it with deep employee engagement through targeted research, cross-functional workshops and a large-scale immersion program. The architecture brought cohesion across the group, and 93% of immersion participants reported strong enthusiasm for future brand activities.
Following a triple merger, SIX Group emerged as a complex organization of more than 70 sub-brands across three core businesses. The task was to consolidate that fragmented structure into a coherent brand architecture and align employees across functions and markets behind one vision.
With the merger offering a clean slate, Vivaldi developed a unified hybrid brand structure to clarify value, simplify touchpoints and build a shared identity. It paired strategic clarity with deep employee engagement through targeted research, cross-functional workshops and a large-scale immersion initiative.
SIX gained a clearly defined brand architecture and a large-scale employee immersion program. The architecture brought cohesion and clarity across the group, and 93% of participants reported strong enthusiasm about future brand engagement activities.
| Client | SIX Group, operator of Swiss and Spanish financial market infrastructure |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Region | Switzerland and Spain; headquartered in Zurich |
| Starting point | 70+ sub-brands across three core businesses after a triple merger |
| Vivaldi scope | Brand architecture (hybrid model), research, cross-functional workshops, large-scale employee immersion program |
| Outcome | One defined hybrid brand architecture; 93% of immersion participants strongly enthusiastic about future brand activities |
Mergers combine organizations faster than they combine brands. SIX came out of a triple merger with more than 70 sub-brands across three core businesses, each with its own touchpoints and loyal employees. Customers saw complexity, and employees identified with their legacy units rather than with the group.
Post-merger brand architecture matters as much as operational integration: without it the new organization keeps behaving like the old ones. SIX needed a structure that clarified value for customers and a way to bring employees with it.
Vivaldi treated the merger as a clean slate and designed a hybrid brand architecture: one SIX master brand where it clarified value and simplified touchpoints, with selected sub-brands kept where they carried real equity. Targeted research and cross-functional workshops shaped the decisions, so the structure reflected how the businesses actually served customers.
A large-scale immersion initiative then brought the architecture to employees across functions and markets, turning a brand decision into shared identity. Vivaldi’s guide to house of brands versus branded house explains when a hybrid model fits.
SIX is one of the brand architecture case studies Vivaldi has published with their outcomes.
SIX Group engaged Vivaldi to consolidate the fragmented structure that emerged from its triple merger, with over 70 sub-brands across three core businesses and employees scattered across functions and markets. Vivaldi developed a unified hybrid brand architecture supported by targeted research, cross-functional workshops, and a large-scale employee immersion initiative, with 93% of participants reporting strong enthusiasm about future brand engagement and the new architecture bringing cohesion across the group.
SIX Group is the operator of Switzerland's and Spain's financial market infrastructure, headquartered in Zurich. Formed from a 2008 triple merger, SIX operates the SIX Swiss Exchange and BME Spanish Exchanges, as well as securities services, banking services, and financial information businesses, serving banks and financial institutions across Europe.
A clearly defined hybrid brand architecture for more than 70 post-merger sub-brands, and a large-scale employee immersion program. The architecture brought cohesion across three core businesses, and 93% of participants reported strong enthusiasm about future brand activities.
With a hybrid model: one master brand where it clarifies value and simplifies touchpoints, and selected sub-brands kept where they carry real equity. At SIX, research and cross-functional workshops decided which was which, so the structure followed how the businesses serve customers.
Because without it the merged organization keeps behaving like its predecessors. Customers see complexity and employees stay loyal to legacy units, while a clear architecture gives both a single picture of what the new company is.
Pair the architecture decision with employee engagement from the start. SIX combined a hybrid architecture with a large-scale immersion program, which is why 93% of participants came out enthusiastic about the brand rather than resistant to it.