Your business’s brand is its identity which sets it apart from the competition and makes customers recognize and remember it. This recognition enhances the brand’s value, sets expectations, provides insight, and makes acquiring new clients easier. But a brand can become outdated with time; that’s when rebranding becomes necessary.
Rebranding is a marketing initiative that involves changing a brand’s identity to influence how consumers and stakeholders perceive the brand. No matter the size of your company, rebranding can help breathe new life into your business and keep it from becoming obsolete. You can consider rebranding when your company’s values, mission, market, and vision are no longer reflected in your brand.
You can also consider rebranding when you’re repositioning your business to target a new customer profile, expanding to a market in a new location, merging with another company, or adopting a new philosophy. Some companies opt for a rebrand for the wrong reasons. For example, if you’re rebranding to create a buzz for better sales, because you’re bored of the old brand, or because you want to cover a crisis, you may not be rebranding for the right reasons. In such cases, the rebrand might work, or your customers might see through the rebrand and recognize it’s a cover-up. This can make your brand lose the recognition it already has and set back your sales efforts.
So, before rebranding, think thoroughly about why you need a new identity. That way, you’ll be sure you’re in it for the right reasons, and you’ll retain the loyalty of your existing customers while gaining new clients. This article will show you how to successfully rebrand your business and get the best outcome.
Look at Your Current Identity
The first thing to do when brand consulting firms is to look at your company culture and brand to figure out the aspects that are running smoothly and those that need changing. This will give a solid base upon which you’ll build your new brand. Without this foundation, your rebrand will not be successful.
Think about your company’s vision, mission, and values. Then, ask yourself what makes your brand special and why it exists. Consider your brand voice and tone and ascertain whether they match your message.
Research Your Target Market and Competition
Since you plan to make changes to your brand, it’s essential you look into your target market to determine whether rebranding resonates with their needs. Research your customers’ age range, economic status, occupation, interests, educational level, and personal (or business) affiliations. This will help you know if your target demographic has changed.
Also, look at the competition and study what works for them and what doesn’t. You may be able to pick up cues that will influence your rebrand. Remember, you should only draw inspiration from the competition and not copy them. Your new brand should be unique so that it can stand out from the crowd.
Evaluate the Proposed Changes
After identifying the aspects of your brand that need change and looking at your target market, it’s time to draw your action plan and set a timeline for the changes. You can opt for a complete rebrand or partial rebrand that involves changing your visual brand identity to suit new markets.
List out all the marketing components of your business that need updating, such as your logo, signs, social media, and website. Consider changing your website’s domain name if the current one doesn’t reflect your business or if it doesn’t set the right tone for your brand. You can secure your desired domain name yourself or get a professional to help you.
According to Saw.com, a domain selling and brokerage company, ”An entrepreneur considering starting a new business, launching new products, or rebranding, will need a domain that speaks powerfully for their brand. A domain broker can help make domain buying efficient, effortless, and stress-free.”
If you decide to change other components of your brand like your values, brand voice, mission, vision, or slogan, write out the new ones you’re looking at switching too. If your company name doesn’t suit your brand identity, you may need to change it. Renaming your company during a rebrand is a huge undertaking that can cost you organic search traffic and recognition. So, if renaming is part of your rebrand strategy, develop a plan for recovering from the possible downsides of adopting a new name.
Get Everyone on Board and Launch
Bring all your team members up to speed on the changes to be made so that they can live up to the new brand identity. Schedule your official launch date and announce the proposed changes in a press release on your social media or in the paper. After conveying your new identity to the marketplace, it’s time to launch.
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