The Benefits of Rebranding Your Company, and How to do it!
If you have landed on this post then rebranding must be something that’s on your mind. But why?
We are sure you know the importance and power of brands and branding. With more people discussing brands on a day to day basis than anything else. From the comfort of the shoes they wear to the environmental impact of a new oil spill created by a massive corporation. But you only need to go back a few years to discover that branding wasn’t always as highly recognised as it is today…
Companies like Apple have used branding over the years as the powerful marketing tool it is, significantly accelerating sales and increasing customer brand awareness.
Although branding isn’t a new thing, a lot of companies have simply glossed over its importance of it in the past. Resulting in the situation where numerous companies, possibly even yourself, have ended up in today:
Assessing their brand, it’s identity, and considering whether they need to rebrand.
The Importance of Branding
If you take a second and look around you. What are the first brands that you notice?
When I look around the office I can see:
Apple
Samsung
Alfa Romeo
Each wildly successful in their own fields and each with branding that is undeniably strong. In fact, most are so recognisable you could tell what they are from just a part of their logo.
For example, if I say to you “fruit with a bite out of it” I am sure you know what brand I’m talking about. The most famous companies in the world have grown, in no small part, thanks to their brand. Building up something that is so trustworthy and ingrained in there customers minds that whenever they need something, that brand they are used to is the only thing they can get. Need a computer? Get a mac. Need a car? get a VW. Need a hotel? Go on Airbnb.
When your customers think about the industry your in, does your company come to mind first? If not then starting to think about rebranding was a great start.
Branding is an important marketing tool because it helps people associate your products with your business. In turn, building brand awareness.
The definition of branding can be a little loose at times, but for simplicity’s sake we are going with the following explanation for the purpose of this post;
With your brand, you’re giving people something to buy in to. You’re making sure people recognise you, and want to be a part of what you’re all about.
Is Rebranding the Right Thing for You to Do?
This is the big question. There are several points you should consider before rebranding.
Below, we’ve listed out some key things that might throw up the question of a rebrand, as well as the benefits a rebrand can bring to your business.
Your Target Audience Has Evolved
In the world of business things are always changing, and the more you’re in business the more you get to learn about the people who buy into your brand and continue to do so.
An example situation where your target audience evolves and you need to adapt to that is:
If you started a vegetarian-friendly restaurant 3-5 years ago, you were probably in quite a niche space.
However, with the growing popularity of veganism, you’re probably finding yourself switching to more vegan-friendly food.
At this point, it might be worth re-evaluating your brand.
Your brand values, mission, and story may not change completely, it might just need to be made clearer and updated in order to keep up with your target audience and stay relevant to them.
There’s New Competition or Technological Shifts
There is always new competition appearing or technology advancing within every sector and keeping up to date could be what sets you apart or keeps you afloat.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting you run out and rebrand every time a new competitor enters your sector. However it’s good to think of it like this, when Airbnb entered into the travel industry it caused a huge amount of noise because it was a monumental change to how everything could be, and people loved it.
If you owned a hotel or a booking website when Airbnb entered the market, it would’ve been a good time to take a look at your business and your branding efforts and decide whether your branding still works when faced with this new competition and technology. Or if you need to think of a new way to make sure your still relevant to your target audience.
When a new competitor enters the arena, the benefit of rebranding at that point is that they’ve already shown you how they are going to operate and you can work around this, but the question becomes how?
Will you align with them?
Are you going to go in a completely different direction?
Or are you going to attempt to work with them?
Or maybe, you just want to stand out completely and overthrow their upcoming fame.
Your Business Has Changed Significantly
This is the biggest reason that most companies will start to think about rebranding and the one we see most frequently.
As we’ve said already, things change rapidly when you’re growing and scaling up your business. It can be easy to forget about your brand but that can be a fatal mistake. If you take only one think out of this post then remember to never let your brand fall behind!
If you look at your brand and can’t see it working for the next generation, or even the current one, then it’s at that point where you need to step in, work on a rebrand, and use that to catapult your business into the future.
If you’ve made no effort with your branding it’s time to stop, take a look at where you are now and discuss where you want to be in the future, then see if rebranding is on the table for you.
You can benefit in a number of ways if you rebrand once your company has already started seeing success. You have more insight into what does and doesn’t work within your business. You also have a better understanding of your customers, allowing you to rebrand and create a structured and cohesive brand identity. In turn, this gets noticed by your customers, and allows you to “re-launch” the business, taking one step closer towards your long term vision.
Your Brand Has Become Dated
Here are a few things that can make any brand become dated:
It was poorly conceived from the start, based around design trends, rather than business logic. This is something we see a lot from smaller companies and can lead to issues down the road.
Technological advances have left your brand in the dust.
Your customers have moved on, and you’re failing to attract new customers.
One of my favourite examples of a dated brand changing for the better is greetings card company, Moonpig. I’m only talking about their brand identity, rather than the underlying values, mission, or story.
Moonpig’s old logo design and website were designed at the back end of the ’90s and launched in 2000.
The new Moonpig identity ditches the tired “pig in a spaceship” logo in favour of a clever typographic solution that utilises the “double O” like a pig’s snout. Combined with a vibrant pink and green, Moonpig really brought their brand identity up to date.
Their new website design is a lot easier to navigate, as well as being a lot more user friendly.
The Moonpig rebrand was well received with their customers and made a lot of noise in the design community when it launched. The benefit of rebranding an old, tired company, is that it injects a new lease of life into the company. It also brings new customers to the brand, as well as reminding existing customers that you’re there.
How to Rebrand Your Company
So, if you’re still reading this then I would assume you are seriously thinking a rebrand would do your business some good. But how do you successfully rebrand your company?
Well, as you’ll have gathered by now, it’s not as simple as having a new logo designed and slapping it on all of your branded goods.
Branding is so much deeper than a logo design. When it comes to rebranding, the first thing you need to do is lay all of your cards on the table. And you do that, by conducting a brand audit.
The Use of a Brand Audit
The first thing to do when considering a rebrand is to stop.
Yes, stop. Stop and think about it. Think really hard as this is not a simple task that will be able to be done after a weeks worth of work and a few pints to your mate whos made a few graphics.
Be sure to ask yourself these important questions:
Why are you rebranding? There are 5 good reasons above to go through a few times.
On what scale are you rebranding? Will it be a light refresh, or a complete overhaul?
Have you put any research together? What is your current audience’s thoughts on your brand, not your friends or people you know but the actual target audience that you are looking to attract.
Does our brand convey the story you want to tell?
What exists in the way of a current brand identity?
For a deeper dive, you can request a brand review from us that will evaluate everything from what you have to where you want to be.
Once you’ve finished your brand audit, you have a few different choices that need to be made.
Are you going to push this rebranding further on your own? Or…
Are you going to hire a professional to help you?
Let’s explore both options.
Pushing Your Rebrand Further On Your Own
If you’d like to push further into the rebranding process on your own, then keep reading.
If you’re prepared to hire a branding agency at this point, feel free to contact us, or scroll down to the “Hiring a Branding Agency to Help”.
Start With Your Brand Values, Mission, and Story
Your brand values, mission, and story are the foundation used to rebrand your company. If your brand hasn’t been well considered in the past, then you might not be clear on what each of these are.
To make sure your rebranding project gets off to the right start, you need to nail down each of these brand pillars.
Brand Values
Your brand values are a short list of about 3-7 values that your whole company ethos is based around.
It’s what you tell new employees or first-time buyers, to instil your brand in them.
And it’s what you use to make decisions and hold yourself accountable.
Brand Mission
Often called a mission statement, or brand statement, your brand mission is a short paragraph that talks about what you’re setting out to do, and how you’re going to do it.
At Re:View, our mission statement is simple:
“We’re all about engaging people within organisations for the long term, building strong relationships and supporting them creatively. Whilst delivering outstanding results by delivering creative and innovative graphic solutions.”
It outlines what we do, and how we do it. What’s yours?
Brand Story
Where your Brand Values and Brand Mission tend to be inward-facing, your Brand Story is how you communicate that with clients.
A perfect example of a brand story is Toms Shoes, who tell their brand story through a page on their website.
Your Brand Story, is how you communicate your business to your customers.
It’s Just as Much About What your Keeping?
After going through your brand audit you should’ve collected all existing material that your brand has. You now need to decide what you feel works and what doesn’t, not just from a purely visual perspective but from every perspective.
Do you need branded mouse mats? Do people even use mouse mats anymore? Bin!
Is there something that makes you think “Our customers loved it when we did that!” If so, keep it!
From a visual perspective, most things will end up going on a journey. But, you’re bound to have had some good ideas and thoughts along the way, so make sure they’re not discarded.
Who and What are Your Market and Competition
No matter what sector you are in the market is always changing.
What’s different now to when you entered the space? Who else is now operating in the same circles as you?
Take a look at the first few pages of Google results for your space and see what comes up. You’ll discover a lot of new things about the industry you’re in, and new companies that have broken into the scene and made an impact.
Once you’ve conducted your research, you will then need to decide how to use this new information.
One of the options could be to go head to head with these companies, another could be to try and partner with them. Or are you could try and pivot and change what you’re offering. All these could be a way forward, but what is most beneficial to you?
If you’re going to go head to head, it’s important that your brand conveys why you’re unique.
If you’re going to try and partner with them, then you need to speak their language.
If you’re going to change your offering, then you need to communicate that.
Competitor and market research can be a daunting task. But don’t get overwhelmed!
Compile notes and thoughts as you go, and keep relating them back to your brand, and ask yourself “how are we going to react to that?”
Collaborate With Everyone!
It tends to be the Marketing Department and Executives that work on rebranding a company or are involved in the rebranding process.
But it’s important to bring in other voices from within the company. HR will have a completely different view on the brand, to the Sales team. The accounting department will view things differently from the Engineering department, and so on.
Try reaching out to 5-10 of your best/most desired customers, and ask to bring them in for lunch, bend their ear about your rebrand and see how they react to what you say. This can be hard to determine what they are saying to please you and what they really mean. If you need any tips on this please contact us and we can help you out.
By creating a trusted feedback loop of people within the company combined with your best customers, or desired customers, you can really steer your rebrand in the right direction.
Launch Your Rebrand
The big moment! Launching your rebrand to the world!
As a quick primer, you don’t just want to quietly float your rebrand out into the public.
You want to launch with a bang so that no one can ignore you!
Here are some things to consider when launching your new brand to the world.
Start teasing your rebrand before it launches through all social channels in a variety of mediums and forms.
Write posts on your own blog or website about the rebrand.
Invest in PR or try to generate enough buzz that you get press coverage without it.
Leverage paid ads to target existing customers and new customers alike.
Send out mailshots to your existing customer base.
Rebranding your company is a big deal, and you should treat it as such.
You’ve put in the hard work, be proud of it, and stand by it!
Conclusion: The Benefits of Rebranding Your Company
The importance of branding to a company cannot be overstated. The world’s top companies are successful because they use their brand to communicate their products.
If your branding isn’t right, then it’s important to consider rebranding your company. It might seem like a long and difficult task now, but by following the pointers in this post, you should find it a lot easier!
Your brand is the core of your business, and it’s important you get it right.
Whether you push ahead on your own, or work with a branding agency from day one, getting your branding right will play a key role in the success of your business.
Now that you know the benefits of rebranding, and how to run your rebranding project, what do you think? Let us know your thoughts and if you agree or disagree with any of the points made above.
Hiring an Agency to Help You
Hiring an agency to step in and take the reins on your rebrand can be a daunting task. However, it’s a vital step if you want to get your rebranding right the first time.
There are always questions when it comes to the rebranding process. Especially if your company has never gone through a rebrand before. From how much budget to put aside, the timeframe you have, how the branding process works and the questions about rebranding are never-ending.
Budgets are subjective, as are timeframes. Each and every project is going to be completely different and tailored to the needs of the company in question. Be clear to the agency what you are after, how long you need it to take and what your budget is from the start. This will make both your yours and there life a lot easier.
It’s natural to have questions.
Here are the top questions we see on a regular basis, please don’t ever feel like you should be scared to ask any of them. They are vital to know for both parties involved:
How Much Will It Cost to Rebrand?
How Long Does It Take to Rebrand a Company?
How Does Rebranding a Company Work?
How Do We Choose the Best Branding Partner for Our Company’s Project?
What Information Does a Branding Agency Need From Us?
Will Our Company Rebrand Improve Our Bottom Line?
The agency you choose to help you rebrand, should have your best interests in mind and be supportive for the entire journey.
At Re:View, we act as an extension to our clients, rather than a separate entity with our own goals. We make sure you’re needs are the priority. This collaborative process lets us stay true to our own Brand Mission, building strong relationships and supporting them creatively.
