During the recent Q2’22 investor presentation, Straumann Group (SWX: STMN) announced that it will discontinue the recently acquired PlusDental brand and merge the latter’s operations under its DrSmile brand.
This comes as little surprise, especially knowing that the merger of brands will not only enable marketing synergies to be realized, but also drive the brand’s marketing effectiveness – ultimately improving new patient acquisition and margins.
Based on the PlusDental’s relative lackluster performance in last 18 months, the decision to discontinue the brand and focus entirely on DrSmile as the company’s flagship brand would rather have been an easy decision for Basel-based brand leadership teams.
Based on the ‘stronger horse’ strategy for brand mergers, Straumann Group clearly identified DrSmile as the brand for company’s future. Inarguably, PlusDental neither demonstrated the revenue growth-rate nor the brand potential to grow in the future. On the other hand, DrSmile clearly possessed better brand equity, higher potential and a stronger customer base (even though DrSmile was valued at USD 53 M in FY 20 whereas PlusDental deal was valued at USD 140 M in FY 22).