Do you struggle to keep up with modern trends? If you are looking to modernize your business, one of the most successful aspects can be a rebranding. Rebranding isn’t about making a new logo; rebranding is all about carving a new identity for yourself. A good brand is able to communicate what your business does and establishes credibility. The big problem with any brand is that it might not last forever. Many companies evolve with the times so their brand has to change as well. But when rebranding is on the cards what does every business need to know?
Reassessing Your Mission And Values
Before you leap right into the process and start to work with the logo design company, advertising agencies, and completely pulling everything out and starting again, you have got to know exactly where you are at this moment in time. A rebranding is not just about fixing the logo, it’s about the components that make your business special. When we start to change our imagery we have to make sure it comes from the original core values. As nice as it is to have a very eye-catching logo, if it doesn’t align with our ethos the rebranding will be in vain.
Making Sure The Strategy Works With Your Current Branding
Because changing your brand can seem like you are starting all over again this isn’t actually the case. In fact, it’s not something you would normally have the luxury of doing. Your budget is limited and when you are rebranding you’ve got to think about incorporating the existing brand assets. If your values haven’t changed but you feel the company could do with a facelift you may very well think that changing a few components can help to bolster your product. It may be for the benefit of a different target market, in which case, you may want to focus on a few simple alterations rather than completely altering the image for the sake of it. When you undertake a different strategy you need to make sure that it works with what you already have stylistically or in terms of your ethos. Consistency is crucial because this is what will reinforce your position within the marketplace.
Assess Your Competition
Many companies decide to rebrand as a way to retain relevance. As part of the rebranding process, you must research your competition. You’ve got to look at how you stand apart from your immediate competitors. Do you have a different value proposition? Sometimes we can feel that temptation to rebrand in order to stay on-trend. But if you do this and what’s en vogue now won’t be in 6-months time, will you be changing your image all over again? The big problem with updating any company is having the foresight of whether what they are doing is going to last a long time. It’s so easy, even for big businesses, to make a massive mistake. There are plenty of companies out there that have made changes to the company only to go back on them soon after.
Navigating The Rebranding Process
The process itself is complex and lengthy. Ensuring that you have an adequate period of time to plan and prepare is crucial but you must also remember the importance of collaborating with your team. The most important thing to remember when navigating the rebranding process is that it’s not an individual task. When rebranding it’s far better to have your company onside and make it a true team effort. Perhaps you’ve made significant inroads in your business since starting off and a few years down the line you’ve got different people on board and the work has gravitated in a certain direction. It’s important to remember that you capture the voices of these newer members.
Laying The Groundwork
In the most straightforward of ways, adequate project management will benefit everybody. Because of the time but it can take you must remember to set regular deadlines and have the right people on board to mitigate unforeseen circumstances. Problem-solving is one of those areas that small businesses don’t necessarily find themselves prepared for, either because they don’t have the budget or they don’t have the luxury of time. By managing the rebrand and keeping everything on task the process will be an easier one. If necessary have some form of project management software in place.
Launching The Rebrand
Of all the work that goes into a rebrand, it can fall flat on its face if it’s not launched appropriately. The most important thing to work through this process is minimizing customer confusion. You may have a number of dedicated customers already, and from their perspective, they might be perplexed as to why you have changed the business. The most important thing to do at this point is to develop a narrative that they can follow. You have to remember that you can’t throw their loyalty away. A rebrand is not about changing the image but it’s about strengthening the business in other ways. You are declaring your company’s commitment to growth and development. You have to be sure to explain your reasons behind the rebranding but also make sure that you communicate with your customers throughout every step. It may very well be something that could lose you some customers because they don’t agree with your new-found stance. Unfortunately, this is grist to the mill. We all end up losing customers at some point. Rather than fighting to retain them, make sure you do enough to keep them informed at every step of the process and if they decide to bail on you, so be it.
Rebranding has to be done for the right reasons. We have to remember that it’s not just about chasing the money or capturing something else within a specific target market; we’ve got to remain true to the values of the business. And if our values change this is why a rebranding occurs. But if you do it right it can be a great way to draw a line in the sand and start all over again.
