When/why is it time to rebrand

Scared of change? You’re not alone.

We’ve all been guilty of choosing exactly the same dish at a restaurant. It’s fairly good, not too expensive, the safe choice. Maybe there’s a better option but you can’t be sure so the risk doesn’t seem worth it.

It can be a struggle to pivot, but in a world where everyone is beige, be orange. When you try to use someone else’s recipe that just doesn’t suit your way of doing business you’ll appear fake to your audience, which won’t help your cause. Brands evolve, people evolve, life evolves, it's all a natural part of the process which is why I would never put a specific time frame on when brands should consider rebranding - I would bring it back to these four reasons.

1. When there is a shift in your business strategy

• New owners of the company (which means a new leadership style)
• Direction change in the business (which means a new goal the business is progressing towards)

Why? You need to unite your team through the vision and direction of the company, in order to clearly communicate that to customers.

2. When your needing to attract or retain talent

• As it builds credibility, trust and alignment
• Branding is a reflection of what it's like to work at the business - so people want to get those insights before they trust

Why? Now more than ever, it's important to build a brand that employees and potential employees are proud to be apart of.

3. When products or services have changed

• If you haven't clearly defined your new value, or what sets you apart from the competition, why should customers buy from you? They need a reason to align to, trust and buy your brand.

Why? It can get confusing for customers or clients if your branding doesn't clearly articulate your product or service.

4. When your business is better than it looks

• Branding is more than a logo, and if your business has grown beyond it's existing identity it's time to re-evaluate.

Why? People do judge a book by its cover. Your visual. branding not only helps you stand out in the market but it helps communicate relevancy to your target audience.

Branding is a vital part of building a longer term, sustainable business.

What is included in a rebrand

1. Updating your mission, vision and values

2. Redefining your audience

3. Repositioning yourself in the market

4. Rebranding your identity (colours, fonts, logo, photography, pattern)

How to rebrand without loosing your audience

1. Know the reason why you are rebranding (ensure the entire team knows)
2. Identify what's working and what's not working with the existing brand, do a brand audit
3. Planning the pivot (this involves the brand strategy) before designing
4. Anticipate questions or concerns
5. You can bring your audience into the process
6. Announce the rebrand, don't just slyly start putting new colours and logos in

When to avoid rebranding

• Unwillingness to rebrand all your visual assets. If you just want a new business name and new logo and are not prepared to update all of your company’s visual assets to the new brand, you will simply confuse your customers and prospective customers.
• You get bored with your existing brand. Boredom is rarely a good reason to rebrand. Like Coca-Cola, some of the world’s most successful brands have maintained a consistent brand for many decades. Consistency is one reason customers fall in love with a brand, so be careful to change things simply because you want to see something new.
• New management insisting on a change. A new CEO might think that a rebrand is a quick solution to showing that the company is taking a new direction. But this is rarely helpful unless the rebrand is accompanied by big institution changes that actually reflect this new direction.

Partial rebranding vs full rebranding

The more established your business and brand are, the more you have to lose from a rebrand.

If your business is more mature, a partial rebrand can help you retain the brand loyalty you've built, while refreshing your image to keep up with changing times.

Partial rebranding can be very effective - take Old Spice as an example. They redefined their place in the market and has seen massive growth every year since repositioning the brand - all while retaining what made Old Spice cool in the first place.

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