A brand is like the cloths that a company wears when it goes into the public. It is a means of communicating what the company stands for, the values it upholds, the feelings it wishes to evoke in consumers. Without a recognizable brand, a company would find it really difficult to differentiate itself from its competitors, which is usually really bad for business. Conversely, a company can get away with making a lot of business mistakes, provided it has a strong enough brand to carry it through the tough times.
However, there comes a time in the life-cycle of every company when rebranding becomes a sensible business move. Brands are usually built to last, but sometimes it makes sense to modify and/or replace them for the greater good of the company. To help you understand whether your company is due for a rebranding, and how it should go about accomplishing this, we have created a short guide, which you can find below.
The Why
The reasons for why a company might want to rebrand are manifold, and highly dependent on their particular circumstances. It is a unique situation for all companies due to countless variables involved. Nevertheless, these reasons can be roughly grouped into three main categories, which are as follows:
Change In Company Identity
Companies evolve over time, but not just in terms of their size, staff, and product lines. Their corporate identity is also subject to change. For example, some companies take a stronger stance on ecological issues, which leads them to adopt a different set of core values. Internal changes such as these are then accompanied by a transformation of their outward appearance, or in other words, rebranding.
Reach New Youthful Users
Sometimes rebranding is all about reaching new users, and that means appealing to Millennials and Gen Z. Building a fresh brand on major social media marketing platforms like Instagram and Snapchat are excellent ways to reach these younger users. Marketing on these platforms can help inject some youth and energy into your rebrand. And these younger customers can stay with your company for years or decades to come.
Appealing To A Different Audience
Brands are created in order to appeal to a particular audience. If the audience changes, the brand itself must follow suite. The reverse is also true – when a company is trying to acquire a new audience, it might want to adjust their brand beforehand to stand a better chance of capturing their attention. Whatever the case may be, if a brand at any time gets desynced from its intended audience, a negative impact on a company's bottom line is sure to quickly follow.
Disassociate From Bad Press
Sometimes companies have to engage in rebranding due to circumstances outside of their direct control. If a company comes to be associated with some controversy, as was the case for the Lehman Brothers investment bank and the financial crisis, the most sensible public relations move is to completely remake a brand from scratch. In this case, rebranding can give a company the fresh start it needs to recover its public image.
The How
How a company ought to proceed with its rebranding efforts is highly dependent on what it is try to achieve. With that being said, there are three beneficial branding procedures that all such efforts have in common:
Restructuring The Narrative
The essence of a brand is the story it tells to the audience. Rebranding often requires a change in the story being told. In practice, this means changing official company taglines, advertising copies, product and services names and descriptions, or even the renaming of the company. When creating a new narrative, it is helpful to preserve some elements of the previous one, to ensure a measure of continuity exists between the previous brand, and the new one.
Redesigning The Visuals
A change in the content of the narrative is usually accompanied by a change in the way it is presented as well. Graphic design agencies are usually hired to redesign the general aesthetic theme of a company, as well as its logo, website, advertising material, etc. Audiences react to visual changes more than they do to narrative ones, making this aspect of rebranding vital for its ultimate success.
Making It Public
Whether a company is giving its brand a new coat of paint, or implementing a full-on redesign of everything, it has to make the effort public. After all, the purpose of a brand is to appeal to a certain audience. Launch events are a great way to unveil a newly redesigned brand. Inviting the general public to such events is a great way to spread the word around without much effort or investment. Providing a photo-booth during such events will give attendees the opportunity to have some fun snapping photos, while at the same time giving the company free PR through image sharing on social media.
Conclusion
Hopefully after reading this branding guide, you have gained a deeper understanding of what the process of business rebranding entails, and how it can be accomplished quickly and efficiently. There is much to be gained by a timely rebrand, so keeping up to date with relevant information on the topic is of paramount importance for businesses that are in it for the long haul.
I hope you enjoyed this article about why rebranding is critical to your company and the strategies you can use to do it successfully and on a bootstrapped budget.
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