What is Rebranding?
Companies or organizations use rebranding as a marketing project to change how the target audience perceives them. When you are selling something in the market, you will likely have a brand strategy and identity, which is a combination of a logo, slogan, brand colors, and overall presentation.
A strong identity is key to standing out from the competition and being easily recognized by customers. Rebranding is the process of making changes to the elements of a company’s brand identity. This includes changes to the company’s name, logo, tagline, and other aspects of the brand. The level of complexity in a rebranding project can vary depending on the situation.
On the one hand, it can be something as simple as tweaking the color palette, making a font change, undertaking a logo redesign, or adjusting other brand elements. At the opposite end of the spectrum, a comprehensive rebrand can involve changes to some or all of the following:
- Brand logo
- Slogans
- Brand/business name
- Target audience/new market
- Mission, values, vision
How Do You Know When It’s Time to Rebrand?
It can be expensive to change your brand story, especially if you update your primary brand strategy. You may have to spend a lot of money on new digital and offline marketing campaigns to get the word out about your new image.
Additionally, you will need to update visuals on your website, billboards, offices/stores, product packaging, employee uniforms, or any other places where your branding is displayed prominently. This is why updating a logo can sometimes be costly. Additionally, if you decide to rebrand and it is unsuccessful, you could see a drop in sales, which would lead to more losses for your business.
The point we are trying to make is that firms don’t rebrand very often. Maintaining stable and continuous operations is important to businesses. Rebranding can result in a lot of chaos. You would need some very strong justification to even think about changing your brand identity. Here are some scenarios where rebranding may be the best way forward for your business:
#1. You have a relatively bland or generic branding
Smart entrepreneurs understand the importance of brand identity. They usually invest a lot of money in making a recognizable and eye-catching look. Being able to play a pivotal role in helping new businesses gain traction in the market is important.
#2. Your branding is getting outdated
Society and culture are always changing. New trends appear often and quickly. What was once considered cool and hip in the 1990s now seems comical to modern audiences. If your business has been around for a few decades, it is probably time to consider a brand overhaul.
#3. You are moving into new product segments
Nokia was originally a manufacturer of paper, not mobile phones. Tiffany & Co was originally just a stationery store before branching out into jewelry. Xerox only started making copier machines in the 1960s. It was a photographic equipment company before that.
Many businesses have similar stories to tell. There are often opportunities for growth and expansion in new markets, products, and even different price segments within your old market. When you accept these opportunities, your business’s appearance and narrative will also change drastically. You need to change your branding to match the new customer profiles and your business strategy.
#4. You are moving into international markets
A rebranding may be necessary for companies selling their products in overseas markets. When KFC is selling its fried chicken in Quebec, it has to use its French initials, PFK or Poulet Frit Kentucky, due to local laws. Some brands names may not make sense or be offensive to people from other countries. In such circumstances, rebranding is highly warranted.
The Honda Fitta and Mazda Laputa had to be rebranded because they had negative connotations in Scandinavian and Spanish. Then there are those occasions where another company in the target market already owns the trademark to your brand name or logo. If this is the case, then you will have to come up with a new name or logo for your company.
#5. You want to go in a new direction or adopt a different strategy
Facebook is probably the best example of this scenario. The corporation that owns the Facebook platform has changed its name to Meta in 2021. The company is focusing on the future technology called “the metaverse.”
Metaverse will connect people to the internet in a completely new way that is based on virtual reality. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, wants to get a head start in the development of the metaverse, an immersive, online world that is architected as a space for people to meet, interact and do business.
Things to Consider When Rebranding
A rebrand can be cost-effective when you follow a few simple rules. Although it may be risky, you should still inform others about all processes. This is the only way that can help you achieve your goals.
It isn’t obligatory to change everything about your brand. You can probably improve some aspects of your business. As a part of your rebranding process, try to consider the following things:
- Do you want to make a partial or total rebrand?
- Has your target audience changed or not?
- Do you want a new style? How will it help to reach your brand’s goals?
- Do you want to create a strong statement?
- Do you need to update your mission, values, and vision?
- How do you differ from your competitors?
Branded considering during a rebrand social media, website, invoice forms, email marketing campaigns, digital newsletter templates, business cards, printed marketing collateral, store signage, branded giveaways, and branded apparel.
You should not forget about your employees during a rebranding period. They need to be educated on the reasons for rebranding, and enthused about the process, to make it a success.
Creating a long-term plan and avoiding regular major changes, like yearly logo changes, can help your business stay successful. That will make your customers confused about your brand.
How to Rebrand Your Company
Redefine Your Target Clients and Market
The launch of new products, services, headquarters, or technologies can evolve your target market and customers for your brand. When you plan for a rebrand, it is important to do extensive market research to re-establish your new clients and market focus.
What is the age of the people who purchase from you? The next step is to take notice of any competitors in a new market who have products or services that directly compete with your company. The objective is to understand the discrepancy between how your brand is currently perceived and your newly updated skills. Without this advanced research, rebranding can’t be done correctly.
Re-evaluate Your Company’s Mission, Values, and Vision
When you define your new target audience and market, it is essential to answer the following three questions:
What are you doing? How are you doing it? Why are you doing it?
After you answer these questions, you can change your company’s goals, values, and mission. When you’re trying to grow your company, you should take keystone steps to make sure of your success.
The vision for your business is what drives each action that it takes. This means that it’s important to have a clear understanding of the situation before making any decisions. If your vision has changed over time, that is okay. The main thing is to redefine it on time. How you see things can impact everything from your website redesign to your hiring process.
The mission is your “how”. It serves as your company’s roadmap. If your company’s goals have changed, make sure your branding reflects that to avoid confusing your customers. ” A new Chobani mission statement might be something along the lines of “Our biggest accomplishment is making a difference.” The company has always been about more than just selling yogurt. They have always been focused on nutrition and health in their ads and new products.
Values come with the “why” behind your company. Why are you directing towards your vision? During a rebrand, some values can be irrational. Your new values should reflect the current actions and goals of your company.
Make sure you know how you want your brand to sound before you start your rebranding process. If everything mentioned above has changed, make sure your voice, tone, and vocabulary fit your message. You need to change the way you deliver the key aspects of your business.
Rebuild Your Brand Identity
A rebrand is only successful if you completely rebuild your brand identity. All marketing materials should include consistent visual elements and brand features. Your brand identity is what customers can see in your products.
To successfully rebuild your brand identity, keep the following things in mind:
- Rename your company : This is an integral part of your rebrand to support your long-term business growth. Your company’s name should align with your brand’s mission, vision, and values. To improve your renaming process, make sure to include a location, a new word, or an old word in new ways and add a suffix or prefix.
- Create a good slogan : It will make your brand quickly recognizable among others. To create the perfect tagline, try to stay metaphorical, use poetic language, make a claim, provide instructions, and compliment the target audience.
- Redesign your logo to reflect the significant changes for your brand. For a logo design, show confidence with a simple logo. Be adaptable for different channels and applications.
- Select a new color palette . As you know, colors have a great impact on your brand. Probably, your competitors use similar colors. With competitor research and color psychology, look at your brand with fresh eyes and evaluate whether they are compliant with your brand image.
- Re-evaluate your typography . Check out whether your original fonts are compatible with your messaging and brand and why your old fonts don’t work anymore for your business.
- Reconsider your imagery and shapes to keep everything solid after a rebrand. They should support the key aspects of your brand identity.
- Build new brand guidelines that are very important for logos. For example, consider the following elements for your logo guidelines: color variations, logo elements, clear space, scaling, and rotations.
- Rebrand your videos to humanize the brand and stay in the minds of your customers. Therefore, they preferably engage with brands that deliver a great experience and evoke emotions using videos.
Conduct a Content Audit
A content audit is an essential part of a rebrand. This process allows you to review all of your existing content on your website. The above text is saying that all of the content your company creates should be in line with your company’s values, mission, and vision.
A content audit can help you declutter your website and repurpose valuable but outdated information. The tool can also help you see where you need to make improvements in your content and marketing strategy. It is important to ensure that everyone on your team is aware of the goals of the audit and that they understand their role in completing the action plan. This will help to ensure a successful outcome.
Design for Accessibility
One of the most important factors that affect your rankings and user experience is accessibility for a rebrand. A website that is easy to use should follow the ADA guidelines. Design your website using the W3C Accessibility Principles to make sure it meets accessibility guidelines.
Track Brand Sentiment
Before you refresh your brand, find out what your customer wants to see. You can then get feedback from focus groups or surveys to see which branding images and messages align with your brand’s mission, values, and vision. Even if you get negative feedback from customers, you can improve your company to ensure that customers’ needs are met.
Launch Your Rebrand
Launching a rebrand is the final step. After completing all the necessary steps, it’s time to inform others about it. To get your message across, use as many channels as possible, including social media, newsletters, paid ads, TV, radio, and others.
You can make your rebrand official by writing a press release and sharing it on your website and social media channels. Highlight what changes you’ve made, what new elements you’ve integrated, how the rebrand will benefit your customers, and how to use a new website.
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