Rebranding can be extremely risky. It can cause problems instead of solving any, and it can disrupt the company culture and the trust customers have in the brand.
However, if done right, and with the appropriate intentions, it can end up significantly improving your business – and make it a lot more money.
When thinking about rebranding your business, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to start from scratch. Identify what is and isn’t working, and then ask yourself, why are you rebranding?
If you’re trying to cover up a crisis, this can appear obvious to your customers, damaging your image and the reputation of your brand.
Instead, a rebrand should either occur when you are considering a brand refresh, perhaps when you are simply evolving to reflect changes in the marketplace whilst continuing with the same ethos and values.
Or, it should occur when you are looking to fully rebrand your business, perhaps with a change in structure, as a result of a merger or acquisition, because you are offering a new product or service, or because you are trying to reach new audiences, for example.
Below are 10 things you should consider when rebranding your business, to ensure it generates those all-important positive results...
1. Brand purpose and values
As mentioned, pinpointing the reasons for rebranding is necessary when making the decision of whether to make these changes to your business, and you should then consider your brand purpose and values.
What does your brand stand for? How would you define your brand? With such pertinent questions that link to your business and reputation, you must invest time into deciding how these answers might change should you choose to rebrand.
Since they are often centred around the core of your business, thinking about these questions earlier on in the process will help you on further down the line.
2. Market research
Of course, a vital step in your rebranding journey is market research. Without understanding the external environment that you currently, or hope to, operate in, and without knowing who your current or target audience is, you cannot successfully rebrand your business.
Conduct research and prioritise present and future customers, learning how to appeal to them with your marketing efforts. The needs and expectations may vary for different audiences, so it is vital you understand how to accommodate accordingly.
You must also invest time into researching your current and future competitors, and the industry in general, so that you can ensure you know how to differentiate your brand from others in the market.
3. Brand strategy
When rebranding, having a well-structured, relevant brand strategy in place can drive your campaigns to success.
This is the perfect opportunity to ensure you can push your new brand purpose and values into your marketing efforts, with messaging, brand positioning, brand voice, and visual identity all key to translate into your strategy.
With this, you must think about various options, how they align with your brand vision, and how you want to implement them into your new brand.
Below you can find more details on these factors...
4. Brand messaging
Your brand messaging is vital for successful rebranding, because behind every successful brand there is a strong, confident core message.
Your messaging affects multiple areas of your brand, from your logo and slogan to your voice across your marketing channels. Keeping it consistent, clear, and captivating, demonstrating who you are in with the right language, can communicate with your audience positively and effectively.
With your brand messaging, considering your tone of voice is another aspect to consider. How would you like to talk to your audience? How do you want them to perceive you?
These are important decisions that a strategic marketing expert, such as us, can help you make – ensuring your rebranding campaign has the expertise behind it to drive it to success. Read about our services here.
5. Visual identity
Your visual identity is key for helping your brand to be memorable, particularly if you create something unique. If you think about successful businesses, you can probably think of their logo, as it adds to their identity when creating a lasting visual impression.
If you’re changing your logo when you rebrand, ensure it matches your new identity and new aesthetic, so choose your colour scheme, typography, and other design elements carefully.
6. Brand guidelines
When putting together your brand strategy, creating brand guidelines that outline how your brand should be shared across communication channels is something to consider.
All areas of your business must abide by your new brand personality, from your messaging to tone of voice, to visual identity, and with so many factors to perfect when implementing your rebranding strategy, having these guidelines in place will make it a much more streamlined process when actioning such big changes to your operations.
7. Implementation plan
When all of the above has been decided, creating your implementation plan is the next step. Understanding what you are going to be promoting across your communications channels is important, and then how you will be doing so is just as crucial.
Your digital presence must be in line with your new brand, so updating your website, your social media profiles, your advertising methods, and your marketing materials is important to maintain consistency.
If your various outputs do not all align with each other, the credibility and professionalism of your brand will falter – so a strong implementation plan can ensure all communications work with each other, not against each other.
8. Employee training
Communicating your new brand externally to customers is important, but without ensuring that your internal structures understand and are aware, it is unlikely this will run smoothly.
Employee training could greatly benefit the process, with efforts focussed on understanding your brand messaging, tone of voice and visual identity, and how this will affect their work as a result.
9. Launch Plan
When the time comes for you to launch your new brand, doing this without a launch plan in place could generate poor results.
So, communicating with your target audience that you are rebranding is another step to consider. It can generate a buzz around your new brand, with a timeline that explains what is happening and when, with all communication channels in use to ensure everyone is in the loop about the exciting news about the launch of your new brand.
10. Brand Measurement
After the launch of your new brand, following the results with how it is performing is the next step. To fully understand whether it is generating positive results, tracking measurements such as website traffic, social media engagement, brand awareness, and sales are the key metrics to give insights into the success of your rebranding efforts.
And, with all of these 10 steps, it is likely that your results with be soaring to success, showing just how powerful rebranding can be.
Are you ready to rebrand?
The idea of rebranding on your own can seem daunting, which is why strategic marketing consultants such as Champions is the key to your success.
With experts in strategic and creative marketing in various teams across our departments, we can help you at every stage of the rebranding process.
Get in touch with us to discuss your rebranding vision, and we can help you bring it to life and generate positive results.