Company rebranding is not something many businesses owners want to do. A company’s brand is one of its most valuable assets. The brand you hone during the years is your identity, what makes you stand out from your peer businesses. Why change that? After all, the switch will take work, might be confusing for customers, and will cost money and time. Plus, you will lose the name and imprint in people’s memories of your business.
Yet at other times rebranding is a strategy. Here are some reasons to consider re-branding:
- New direction/innovation. A company may need to rebrand if it has steered the ship east instead of west. A drastic change in direction may mean the company is changing enough that it’s no longer the same company and requires a new identity. For example, the company may be offering completely different services or products. Even if the offerings are in the same field, such as tech, it might still be time to consider a new name, logo, tagline, mission statement, and more.
- Culture. Things people said and did many years ago are no longer considered appropriate today. The same might be true for your brand. If it smacks of a certain decade or feels outdated, consider a refresh. In this case, you may be able to retain some elements of the brand for continuity. Large companies moving to a new market might need to rebrand if the culture differs greatly in the new geographic area.
- Reputation. Whether it’s deserved or not, your brand may have developed a negative reputation. Now, people associate your company with bad things instead of the awesome work you do. That’s one certain time that rebranding is a good idea.
- Audience. For any number of reasons, your company’s core audience may have shifted dramatically. Maybe your product used to be favored among teenagers but now has a home in every senior’s living room. Time to rebrand!
Rebranding: Thoughts to Consider
Rebranding should not be taken lightly, of course. As you’re pondering whether it’s the right path for your company, be sure to consider the following:
- Are you considering a full rebrand or just a refresh of your current brand?
- What will your current clients think of the rebranding? Some brands lose trust with customers when they make changes. This infographic has some useful stories of re-branding gone wrong.
- How will you roll out the rebranding so the message is clear and people are not confused?
Steps To Re-brand
If your company is ready to rebrand, your marketing team should include the following steps in its plan. These are simplified, an overview of some steps you’ll go through as you rebrand, but remember that there are many more smaller pieces to each of these.
- Brainstorming/Ideation – As you work with your internal or outside marketing team, you’ll spend a lot of time discussing the company brand, what it is now, what you want to create. Don’t rush through this process; it is the foundation of the work ahead. For inspiration, check out 5 Examples of Rebranding Done Right (Forbes).
- Client Feedback/Participation – This may come later, after you have a few options to present to select clients. But it’s also nice to get input early on. How do clients think of the company? They can offer insight about your true brand in a way internal teams cannot. After all, as Jeff Bezos said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Plus, this may help you avoid stepping in it. Check out the not-so-great rebranding case of Hershey’s.
- Creation. Writers and designers will get to work. The most important part for you during this process is feedback. Without good feedback, your marketing team cannot produce the end result you seek.
- Rollout. After the character, tagline, logo, name, color scheme, fonts, words, and more are all figured out, it’s time to rollout your brand. This part requires some planning. After all, you don’t want to just change the name on the business cards and website one day. Instead, start letting people know in advance using all your communication channels with clients and potential clients. You might even offer a few options on social media and ask for feedback. There are many approaches to this; what you choose depends on the size of your business, how big a rebrand you’re doing, and your interaction with customers.
Curious about rebranding? Contact us for information on how our team can help with all aspects of your branding or rebranding process.