There comes a time when you may want to consider whether you should do a company rebranding effort. Maybe it’s been years since you’ve updated your brand or messaging, or your competitive landscape has gotten really competitive. Whatever the reason, in this blog we are going to go over the reasons why you would do a company rebranding effort to refresh your company brand,as well as how you go about getting that done.
Understanding Rebranding:
Rebranding your business is not to be taken lightly, it can be a great thing for your brand or an adventure filled with potential pitfalls. Let’s take a look at some of the elements of a rebranding effort:
Full or partial rebrand: There are different types of rebranding efforts, a full rebrand or a partial rebrand. Depending on the research you have performed, this will help you to determine how far you need to take these efforts.
Creative elements, content elements, or both: When we look at rebranding efforts we look at how far we need to go, is it only a creative rebrand, meaning a logo redo or refinement, developing a new brand look and feel, including color palette update. Or do we need to also include revising all on the strategic messaging and positioning as well for a full rebranding effort.
Name, brand and logo: There are even times when we need to update the brand name for a reason. This could be because of a merger or you may not have protected your brand’s IP(intellectual property), in which you would need to develop a whole new brand name, brand and logo.
Value Points and Value proposition: When you are doing a rebrand, we like to look at the competitive positioning and determine if we need to revise our differentiation, value points and value proposition to really separate ourselves from the competition.
When to Consider Rebranding(Reasons to Rebrand):
Brands that need rebranding: Companies that go through a rebranding process is a very common occurrence, in fact most all brands should keep and maintain their brands fresh, vibrant and up to date.
Your start-up brand needs refinement: We see start-ups that need to hone in just what their brand and value proposition is, how best to communicate it and package it for utilization in your brand and marketing communications. We also see the need to use this for your Investor Outreach For Startups and how best to rebrand to communicate with your stakeholders, partners and potential investors.
Merged or business has been acquired: Another main reason we see firms rebranding is the fact that they have merged or been acquired. Especially with the merger and acquisition market going strong, this will continue to be a major driver for a rebrand.
Everyone looks the same: When a company is successful, we competitors develop a similar look and feel as to what you are doing, the copy for success program. Because of this factor we see the need to separate yourselves and do this through a rebrand effort.
Differentiation has been diluted: Similar to the above item, this factor towards rebranding is due to competitors starting to utilize similar products, offerings, differentiators. Because of this it is time for the rebranding effort to separate you again from the competitive landscape.
Stale, bland and boring: Another major reason for a rebrand campaign is to spice things up, because your brand has become stale, bland and boring, time to shake it up.
How to Rebrand Effectively:
Let’s take a look at how you would/are going to effectively take your company through a rebranding effort.
Review your strategic positioning: We like to start a rebranding effort through doing some strategic research, looking at your competitors, new offerings and your niche as a whole. We ask, are you achieving your goals and objectives, what can we be doing better and what do we need to do to get to our desired outcomes.
Research competitive landscape: When looking at your competitors, we like to look at their website, sales decks if we can acquire one, look at market research analytics, magic quadrants, etc.
Re-align your goals and objectives: We look at how your company has been performing with your current brand and ask ourselves what could happen through a strategic rebranding campaign. This would include looking at and potentially revising our value proposition, positioning, packaging, messaging and marketing strategy.
Revise or refine your messaging and positioning: As mentioned above, another huge factor in your rebranding effort can and should be refining of your messaging and positioning. This effort can substantially help differentiate you from the market place and your competitors.
Why Rebranding Matters:
Rebranding is vital to your company’s success, it significantly helps position you to being able to accomplish your goals and objectives. Let’s look at why rebranding matters.
Stay ahead of the pack: This is one of the top reasons for doing a rebrand effort, is to stay ahead of the pack and make sure you are effectively communicating how and why you are better than the competition.
Keep your brand differentiated: As mentioned above you need to make sure you are communicating how your brand’s differences and why those differences matter to your target market.
Fresh and vibrant: Rebranding campaigns keeps your brand and image fresh and vibrant. These efforts keep your brand results going strong.
An on target brand helps you raise capital: Another huge factor in why you would undergo a rebranding effort is when you’re implementing a capital raising strategies and campaign. A rebrand can bring into focus the winning look, message and formula you need to be successful in these efforts.
Great experiences stand out: Another little known factor of a rebrand is to define and develop what we can brand experiences. A part of a potential rebranding is giving you a chance to define what a new and improved brand experience would look like.
Recognized brands produce results: A rebrand also allows you to refine your brand into one that is recognized and connects with your target customers, they are the ones that produce results.
Maintain your brand value: A refined brand helps to improve and increase your brand value that is a highly valuable part of your corporate value.
Risks of Rebranding:
Rebranding your company should not be taken lightly, we’ve seen more than a few challenging rebranding efforts go awry, let’s take a look at some of the common risks associated with a rebranding campaign.
Change is hard, and deciding to change is even harder: We have been a part of many rebranding campaigns where the management team has a hard time moving forward and letting go of the past. And if there are hard decisions that will need to be made, these can be very difficult to make and move forward in a quick and decisive fashion.
Your new brand may not resonate: Not all rebrands resonate. Take New Coke which was to be a huge upgrade that people would love and accept. New Coke was a huge disaster that Coke customers weren’t buying it, and it forced Coke to revert back after only 79 days into the new product launch, talk about a calamity.
If you change your brand name, it may cause confusion: Brand name changes are typically a challenge, even on a good day. Your new brand name may not resonate without a well defined brand roll-out plan that is effectively executed.
May not be recognized: Your new brand may not be recognized right away, it takes time, energy, education and effort for a proper brand roll-out. Make sure you develop a plan and roll-out your brand name in an effective and efficient manner.
Loss of sales: Your brand like New Coke, may go over like a lead balloon that may cause your brand to lose steam and revenue.
How to Execute a Successful Rebrand: Here are some simple and effective ways to ensure you have a successful rebrand:
Determine your desired outcomes: Know from the get go just what you are trying to get accomplished. It helps point your strategy, tactics and campaign in the right direction so you can get to where you want your company and brand to be.
Develop your brand strategy: Develop what you are trying to get accomplished with your rebrand, new logo, look and feel, new positioning, messaging, etc. Layout a strategic plan of what this new brand will get accomplished, how it will do so, who’s going to make it happen and by when.
Project timeline: As mentioned above, make sure you have a project timeline for your re-banding effort, with milestones as well as quality control and an effective launch plan.
Creative brief: Turn your brand strategy into a creative of what is going to be revised creatively as well as what the content will look and read like.
Brand development: Lay out a brand development plan and timeline for your company’s brand, logo, color palette and brand look and feel development. This can be fun and exciting, so lay out a plan and make it happen.
Brand pitch deck: Another great way to refine your brand and message is to put it into a pitch deck. There are several ways to package your pitch deck, so of the best pitch deck software, the most common form is people utilize PowerPoint, others like Keynote or Google slides, it’s mainly personal preference for which works best for you.
Brand launch Plan: This is where you are going to want to map out how you are going to roll-out your new and improved brand internally within your own company as well as to the marketplace. You’ll spell out which communication and marketing mediums you’ll use, when and what this is going to look like.
Set up brand measurement plan: You will also want to make sure you put into place how you will be tracking and measuring the effectiveness of your new branding efforts. With this powerful information you’ll be able to refine, revise and fine tune the campaign into producing one that is producing maximum results.
Conclusion:
Rebranding can be a fun, fulfilling and fruitful event that brings in some new and improved brand imagery as well as compelling content that connects, engages and compels people to take action with your new and improved brand. Take control of your brand’s destiny, rebrand with confidence, consider hiring a strong brand partner with plenty of experience like us here at Brand Iron, we’d be glad you did and happy with the outcome.
