59% of customers prefer to buy products from familiar brands!

 

And if that number doesn’t showcase the importance of branding, then here is another one – 82% of investors want companies they invest in to have a strong brand.

 

Across generations, buyers have time and again proved that brand loyalty is a tangible thing with a quantifiable impact on bottom lines. In today’s virtual economy, it is even more important – according to Fundera, 89% of shoppers stay loyal to brands that share their values and 43% of these customers will spend more money on brands they are loyal to.

 

The bottom line is that you can’t afford to miscalculate your branding.

 

However, the reality is that for many new businesses, branding happens on the fly. There is so much going on in setting up and running a new business that only the basics of logo and tagline get done… sometimes that too happens in a hurry!

 

So it is no wonder that when the dust settles, and the business stabilizes, managers often realize that their brands are not in sync with what they are doing or aren’t fully conveying their full potential. What worked once isn’t cutting it anymore and might actually be holding you back. Here a Brand Refresh or Rebranding makes an entry!

 

Well, rebranding is not for the faint of heart. You have to be prepared to let go of a lot of stuff from the past, and many of these will have an emotional connect.. and it’s not just you; over 65% of people have formed an emotional connection to a brand. The change is bound to affect existing customer relations. A thoughtful rebranding exercise will make sure this impact is a positive one!

 

Whether you are doing a mini brand refresh or going the whole hog and committing to a deep-cleanse rebranding process, the basics remain the same. And it all starts with establishing the REASON for the rebranding.

 

 

How to be sure you need a rebrand

 

You might have a sneaking suspicion (or more) that your brand is looking dated or isn’t really conveying all you stand for, but ordering a full rebrand (or even a partial one) requires time, effort, and financial commitment, and you need more than your gut feel to take the plunge.

 

Here are some common scenarios that would entail a rebrand solution; if any of them sound familiar, then you should follow your instinct.

 

1. Mergers and Acquisitions

If your company has recently merged with another or has been bought over, or if you have acquired a new company, then rebranding is an absolute requirement.

 

2. Changed Competition

If you are taking your company into new sectors and industry segments where you face a different type of competition or if you need to catch up to evolving and innovating rivals, a new brand look and message might be in order to catch up and stand out.

 

3. Changed Audience

If your target audience has undergone a change, for example, either a completely different type of people are emerging as big buyers, or if a generational shift has changed your target demographics, you might need a new look to entice the new TG.

 

4. Your Company Has Evolved

With time it is possible that your business has changed significantly, specifically in its customer offerings. If new products, services, and experiences have been added over the years, but your brand is still stuck on selling the old You, a rebrand would update your look and feel and send the right message to the market.

 

5. Expansion

Whether you are expanding into new industries or a new country,  a rethink of your brand would be in order to position your business in these untapped markets.

 

6. Changing Philosophies

If your core values, mission, or vision is evolving due to new leadership or natural business evolution, a rebrand almost becomes essential.

 

Do keep in mind that rebranding is costly and carries big risks, so consider if your problems – such as low sales volume or customer engagement – can be solved with less drastic changes such as a different marketing or sales strategy. NEVER jump into a rebrand unless there is a business or profitability imperative for it.

 

Once you have green-lit a rebrand, the next big step is to revisit the core steps of a traditional branding process. The aim is to find gaps and center your (re)branding exercise on a new foundation.

 

 

Research and Realign your Core

 

The very center of every brand rests on discovering, identifying, or articulating details such as its core values, its purpose, its key target audience, and more. We recommend you put aside some time to focus on –

 

1. Redefining your business’s vision, mission, values, and purpose. Changing circumstances, new partners, and years of accumulated business decisions can change the company slowly over time. Ask yourself what your business stands for? What are you trying to achieve and why? If you see clear differences between your original mission-vision statement and the new one, then you are on the right track.

 

2. Re-establish your target audience. Relook at your target customers. Consider how your existing customer demographics play into the new customer groups you are now creating. With a detailed map of TGs, it is now time to map them to detailed customer personas. You will eventually need a brand identity that targets both your existing customer base as well as your newly discovered pool of potential customers.

 

3. Listen to your customers. Your current customers have been part of your company’s journey, and a rebrand should start by listening to their voices. In a rush to move forward, it is important not to leave behind loyalists. We recommend a focus group or a survey to test your ideas with existing as well as potential customers. The history of rebrands is littered with branding misfires that left companies backpedalling to their old logos in a hurry; best to avoid such a fate with some judicious market testing.

 

 

Once the basics are in place, it is time to roll up your sleeves and get down to the actual rebrand.

 

 

Final Rebranding Components

 

1. MVV statements

Write out your new Mission, Vision and Values document to crystalize your thoughts and formalize them.

 

2. Develop a New Strategy

Use the MVV and target customer personas as a base to develop your new market positioning strategy and messaging. How do you want to be seen and perceived by your TG in your Version 2.0?

 

3. Visual

No rebrand is complete without a fresh new look. This is often the risky part, too, as for most loyalists, your logo and aesthetics is the most personal touchpoint or recall feature. Many companies have floundered here; notable logo disasters are GAP, Weightwatchers, and Tropicana.

 

In today’s online world, the visual changes reflect across a multitude of touchpoints in various formats. The first layer you have to get right is, of course, the logo, tagline, colors, etc. Once these are fixed as a brand style guide, you can move to implement your new look consistently across all of your marketing materials.

 

Apart from your print collaterals such as business cards, office redesign, brochures, pitch decks, and more, you also need to pay attention to and update your website, social media, and other online collaterals in line with your new look.

 

Here, we would like to reiterate the need to test your new look with a closed group of the target audience to understand expectations and catch problems before a full launch.

 

4. Relaunch strategy

 

Rebranding is not about the company; it is about customers –  existing or potential. The real measure of the success of a rebrand is how it is received and perceived by your TG. It is critical to work within a plan to unveil the new you to get buy-in from existing customers. A negative response could snowball into a big PR disaster and could even lead to loss of market value (case in point: Tropicana, which lost close to 20% on the back of a fudged packaging refresh). You must keep your customers in the loop and build a narrative around your rebrand to help them understand the rationale behind your choices.

 

Other Dos and Don’ts of a Rebrand

 

Do Be Authentic And True To Yourself –  even online people can smell a fake easily. It is vital to remain accurate and clear about the business value and offerings you are presenting to the world.

 

Do Design For The Future – While your current needs drive your rebranding, your actual outcome and efforts should focus on the future.  Use the rebranding process as an opportunity to chart the future course of your business.

 

Don’t Change Everything –  it is easy to get carried away with the concept of transformation, but some restraint is essential here. Don’t Marie Kondo your brand completely, keep what’s working, and make sure to integrate the history and achievements into your future vision.

 

Don’t Forget to Test – rebranding is all about the customers, and it is critical to break silos and incorporate consumer feedback. Do conduct control group tests at EVERY level to ensure that any negative points are ironed out well in advance.

 

 

The Bottomline

When done right – that is for the right reasons and with the right research-based and strategic approach – a rebrand can breathe new life into the business, giving it a big boost in revenue generation and opening up new sales streams for the long term.

 

The key is to give the process the time and attention it deserves. Avoid shortcuts and work with an experienced branding and design agency to achieve the results you and your company deserves.

 

Ready to Rebrand?

If you have decided to take the plunge and start the rebranding process, then may we recommend our services? Whether you need a simple visual refresh or a complete brand overhaul, our team of experts have the tools and the experience to help you get to your goals. Contact us to know more!