There comes a time when a company needs to rebrand. Maybe you’ve finally found yourself and discovered who you are, or perhaps after years of running a successful brand, it’s no longer resonating with the market.
Rebranding can be as simple as making a small change to your logo or name. Or it could be an attempt at reaching a whole new market or a new message you want to convey to your target audience. It doesn’t matter how big or small the change as long as you are doing it seriously. A rebrand gives you a fresh start, but you have to go about it carefully, or else it could also be disastrous.
Why Rebrand?
Rebranding is not something you do without a good reason because of the risks involved. Before doing so, you need to make sure it’s necessary.
The best way to know if you need to rebrand is to monitor your sales. If you’re losing customers to the competition, this is a sign that your brand is no longer resonating with them.
Changing market trends often force brands to rebrand. For instance, in the McDonald’s’ case, the company had to change its image from a burger shop to a restaurant with healthy options because a large enough portion of their target market wanted to eat healthier.
Market dilution is a reason many companies rebrand. It means that your original target market, which was very narrowly and specifically targeted, is no longer so narrow.
Over time, your message has gone from appealing to a particular segment of the market to no one specifically. In this case, it’s time to retune and work on your targeting.
Companies rebrand when they expand into new markets, merge with other companies, or acquiring other companies. There may be changes in target markets, products offered, or positioning that require rebranding.
You may rebrand to shift focus from negative to more positive aspects of your business. In recent years, oil companies have done this, rebranding themselves as providers of the future’s energy rather than greedy polluters. Hopefully, your image problems aren’t as severe as theirs.
Finally, there may be internal reasons. Your employees or associates may no longer believe in the brand and its vision.
In any case, something isn’t working or isn’t viable for the future, and this is why you need to rebrand.
The Process of Rebranding
1. Declare and commit to it, officially
Once you’ve decided to rebrand, draw up a plan and get everyone on board. It’s a challenging process, and you need to be serious about it. Create an in-depth strategy that details the changes you’ll make.
2. Go back to basics
Conduct market research and redefine your offering to meet your customers’ current needs. It’s crucial to make once again the customers the focus.
3. Consider hiring a branding consultant with industry experience to help you rebrand.
Rebranding is complicated, and its failure can be catastrophic for a company. A consultant can provide their expertise to make sure your rebranding doesn’t cost you.
Rebranding Best Practices
The changes to your brand should reflect the current market environment. They should also remember who you are now. Often, companies need to rebrand because their old brand isn’t relevant to what they’re doing now.
Here are the best practices that you can do:
• Tell your current story, your current vision, and your recent message.
Stay true to who you are today.
• Don’t cling to the past.
What you did that worked may not work in the future; that is why you are rebranding. Always look at the current landscape and current market research to make your decisions. Learn to let the past go.
• Start with small changes and move gradually to bigger ones.
As you make changes, be careful not to alienate your current customers. Tell your customers about the changes before they go into effect.
• Update all of your online and offline media to reflect your rebrand.
Don’t forget to update your mobile site as well. During the rebranding process and afterward, pay close attention to analytics so that you can monitor your progress.