A rebrand could make or break your business. This article will discuss when a rebranding is needed and how to do it correctly. To help you find the right path, we’ll also look at past successes and failures in rebranding.
COVID-19 has made everything possible, from consumer preferences and business forecasts to a whole new level. Pandemic-induced lockdowns can be used by companies looking to reinvent their brand.
A brand is a collection of images, colors, and fonts that represent your company. These marketing elements may need to be modified if your business experiences internal or external changes.
This article will discuss when a rebranding is necessary and the steps you can take to ensure your rebrand succeeds.
1. Decide when a rebrand is necessary
Rebrands that have a clear purpose are the best. Coordinate a successful rebrand. You need to be aware of the importance of timing.
Here are the top four reasons you should rebrand.
Make changes to old images or brand
The world is changing at lightning speed, and consumers’ preferences are constantly changing. Businesses are often left behind by the rapid pace of change and end up stuck in the past.
A tired corporate brand can be a negative reflection on a company and make it difficult for customers to build excitement and loyalty. A rebrand is necessary for any business that has an outdated brand.
Get Rid of a Bad Reputation
Businesses might experience significant reputational damage. Many businesses will resort to rebranding in these cases to regain their brand’s credibility and get a new start. Rebranding doesn’t just cover up serious problems, it is an essential step toward reviving a company.
Facebook’s new empathy color scheme is one example. The social media giant has been spending a lot of time on Capitol Hill and in the negative spotlight in recent years, which inspired it to tell a new story through its branding.
Expand into New Areas
New opportunities can appear and disappear quickly in today’s connected marketplace. Businesses often decide to expand their reach or offer new products. This will often require a new brand.
Imagine a company that wants to move from the national stage to the international. This business will need to spend a lot of time on its rebranding efforts.
Stay ahead of the competition
A brand is more than a logo or set design guidelines. According to Circle Research, 77% of B2B marketers believe that branding is crucial for the growth of their business.
Many businesses will rebrand and adjust their corporate identity to stand out from the rest and make a stronger connection with potential customers.
2. Find out about your Audience and Market
A thorough analysis of your market and audience is the first step in any successful rebrand. Brand strategists can use a variety of tools and services to gauge the public’s perception of their brand.
These are some strategies you might want to consider:
Run Surveys
Surveys can be a powerful way to understand the perceptions of your customers. You could use market segmentation methods to better understand the views of different customer groups.
Do your research online
Online research can be used to perform sentiment analysis for brand managers. To assess the perception of your brand, you should visit key customer review sites.
Focus groups are a great way to get your message across.
Focus groups in person or virtual are great ways to get in touch with customers. You can easily discuss your brand and customer priorities with small groups using a variety of platforms.
Get Internal Knowledge
To better understand your customers’ perceptions of your brand, leverage your company’s internal knowledge. For example, hold workshops with sales and customer service teams. They will be able to share their knowledge from dealing with customers.
3. Create your new mission and values
Your business’s core values and visually communicate your company’s core to potential and current customers.
To guide your brand, first identify a compelling vision. This vision describes or idea of the ideal world you wish to create.
For example, the vision statement of the Alzheimer’s Association is “A world that doesn’t have Alzheimer’s disease.”
This vision is inspiring and clear. To guide all other decisions you make for your brand, you will need to have a similar vision.
Your vision is more action-oriented than your mission statement. It is the big-picture view of how your business will achieve your vision.
Tesla’s mission statement is, for instance, “To accelerate the world’s shift to sustainable energy.”
This mission statement is simple and memorable. Your brand’s mission should be encapsulated in a single statement.
Your values will guide you along your journey to realize your mission.
According to statistics, 89% of shoppers remain loyal to brands that share their values. It is therefore crucial to establish a set of clear principles that will help your brand come to life.
4. Make the necessary changes to your brand identity
Your updated vision, mission, and values can be brought to life by applying them to your company name and brand guidelines.
Name of the Company
It is crucial to choose the right name for your business. Your company name is important because it helps people identify with your business and help them remember it.
You can brainstorm and hold focus groups with potential customers to help you choose the right name. You should choose a name that is consistent with your vision, mission, values, and other stakeholder requirements.
Brand Guidelines
This stage is where you can get a better picture of the brand you are trying to create. This is also helpful when it comes time to rename your company.
Brand guidelines are colors, images, and icons that you associate with your brand.
Guidelines for Tone of Voice
Branding is as much about the words and messages as it is about the visuals. This is a great time to establish the strong tone of voice guidelines. They will help you bring your brand to life, and make it stand out from the rest.
5. Make updated design collateral
After you have a brand identity and guidelines set up, it is time to create collaterals that bring your brand to life. You can use collateral materials like:
Physical Media
Your branding and design team will need to create templates and marketing materials such as:
- Flyers
- Signage
- Brochures
- Business cards
- Banners
All merchandise you need for events, employees, or customers, should be updated with the new brand and design.
Digital Materials
A comprehensive set of digital materials will be created by your design team. These materials include:
- Logos
- Headers and icons for social media
- Images of high quality
- Fonts
- Website design
- Landing pages
When rebranding your company, logos are a good place to start. Consider what message your updated logo should convey about your business. then hire a team of designers who will update your logo.
It is important to think about how your customers will see your new logo. These are some examples of logos that were redesigned by brands in 2019. How did they be perceived by consumers?
These digital materials can be used to represent your brand online, and can also be shared with other stakeholders.
6. Coordination of the Brand Launch
Once everything is in place, it is time to launch the brand. To keep everyone in the loop, you should use team communication tools.
Businesses must be able to conduct a rebranding coherently and logically. You can confuse your customers and decrease the impact of your brand reveal by blending your old and your new brands at once.
Successful rebrands require patience and planning
We hope you found this article helpful in understanding the complicated and powerful world of rebranding.
You can see that there are many areas you need to master. A solid strategy is key to your success. To ensure success, you will need to be vigilant about your strategy and take a methodical approach.