There are many reasons a company might conduct rebranding, most of which have to do with the need to change its positioning in the market.
It could be because the two businesses merged or a major strategy vector changed to take over a new market niche.
Whatever the reason, a business always faces the question of how to change its brand to keep its audience and produce the desired business result simultaneously.
What Is Rebranding?
Rebranding is the process of changing the image of a company or product with the intent to make the new image more attractive or suitable in case of major changes.
It involves changing the name, slogans, logo, symbols, and everything else related to the brand image to change or modify the identity of the already known business.
This process usually means creating a whole new look both for the company and the goods they provide. Rebranding is usually done to reach these two goals:
- Create a new identity that makes them stand out in the market among their competitors.
- Reconnect with customers.
How To Rebrand Correctly
Speaking of positive examples of good rebranding, let’s look at how these essay writers changed their online assets and vector of operations and improved their situations on the market. Their site and statistics only show a positive growth tendency, while a couple of years ago, the results were much humbler.
To carry out your rebranding strategy in the most successful way, you will need to follow these steps:
1. Re-establish your brand’s audience and market
After conducting extensive market research and data analysis of the target market, you have noticed that your knowledge of your customers and competitors is entirely different from what they really are, do, and want.
Maybe you just need to change demographics, as the current group you are targeting has lost their interest in you, or a new competitor emerged in the market whose goods and services are way more appealing to the customers.
Researching your customers once again will help you identify the real market you should target, so do it thoroughly to make fewer mistakes.
Once you have figured out the real picture, you are ready to start rebranding your business and connecting with your true target audience.
2. Start with the business case
Any rebranding strategy must start with understanding its reason and a suitable business case to follow to succeed.
Some business cases are slightly faster, such as merging two companies, while others are more long-term oriented and require more proper planning, such as a total rework of your business image. If you are unclear about what case to follow, it may cost you lots of time and money.
Other reasons why you might want to rethink rebranding are:
- You are getting to the higher level of the market and need to compete with stronger businesses.
- Your company spun off from an existing brand.
- You have a legal reason to change.
- Your message is too complicated and needs to be simplified.
- Your marketing team changed.
- You are launching a new product line.
3. Redefine your company’s vision, mission, and values
When assessing your vision, mission, and values during a rebrand, you need to think about how, why, and what you will do.
Here are some important components of your business that you will want to analyze to decide which parts of the business need change or improvement.
- Vision
- Mission
- Values
Vision
Vision acts as a guide for every action a business takes, so you must understand your vision before doing anything else. Also, keep in mind that it may change over time.
Importantly, when you define your vision, make sure that all employees share it and make their decisions based on it. When rebranding, the company’s vision affects everything from website design to the hiring process.
Mission
If the vision means the “what” of the company, the mission is a “how.” You may still be following the same direction but with a different intention. The mission is the roadmap of the company.
When the mission changes, the message must change, too, so analyzing it is also critical for your rebranding.
Values
Your values are the “why” of your brand. They are the reason you are working to achieve your vision and the reason you are dedicated to your mission.
With expansion and change, some core values may become outdated or out of place. If your business has changed its priorities, you’ll need to update them to reflect what your company really values.
4. Know your target audience
When you have figured out a clear business case, the next step is to conduct independent research on your company and its customers.
If you are changing the market niche, that research should also include your new target customers and maybe even compare the possible effect of rebranding to the situation you have now. This is how you can understand how your brand is perceived by its current audience and build the best strategies to reach the new one.
5. If necessary, change your company name
This step is very serious, as it also involves changing registration documents. Be sure to make a backup plan to restore the name if it does not go as expected.
If your name is still fine and has no problems with customer perception, it is best to keep it as it is. But if you are eager to change your brand name anyway, here are some initial ideas for you
- Change the spelling of your old name
- Say what you do (literally)
- Make a new word
- Add a suffix or a prefix
- Transliterate or translate your name into another language
- Put two words together
- Create an acronym
- Use a location
If you are reviewing your name, think about its alignment with your vision, mission, and values – it matters far more than just a word that sounds good. This way, the new name will more likely support your growth and long-term goals.
6. Develop your new brand identity
This is where you develop the visual elements that will communicate your brand. Think about the company name, logo, colors, business card, and package design if needed – it all needs to be planned beforehand.
These elements are often described in a brand style guidelines document, which provides a set of parameters to ensure that the brand is implemented consistently across all marketing materials.
Consider the following points before putting it all to practice to ensure that all visuals reflect the brand identity you are looking for and are not just based on attractive visuals:
- What is my story now?
- How adaptable and future-proof is my design?
- Who is my audience?
- How am I different from my competitors?
- What is my long-term goal?
Creating a truly unique brand is crucial: embarking on rebranding can help your business stand out in increasingly crowded markets and attract customers’ attention.
Logo redesign tips:
If you are looking to do a logo redesign, don’t forget to make sure it meets the following requirements:
- It should be simple. Overloading a logo with symbolism doesn’t work very well. Although some young and inexperienced companies tend to ignore this rule and make the same mistakes, try not to follow their lead. Simple is better.
- It should make an impact. Don’t just create a generic icon, it will easily be forgotten. Try to stand out with something remarkable.
- It should be adaptable. Your first logo shows you the limits of your customer perception. Analyze what shapes or styles might not suit your company’s channels, and keep them in mind during the redesign.
- It has to exist longer. As fun and creative as this process may be, you don’t want to do this every year. Just like with any other element, look at your vision, mission, values, and purpose and consider whether the new logo represents them well.
7. Work on your online presence
In the Internet era, your website is your most important business development and communication tool. It is where you can tell a compelling story to the whole world, the first place a potential customer or employee will go to learn more about you.
While being caught up in all the rebranding fun, don’t forget to implement crucial changes in your online presence:
- Update web links.
- Revise web page metadata (titles, descriptions, tags, etc.) where necessary.
- Send updated logos, descriptions, and slogans to affiliate partners who link to or mention your site.
- Update SEO terms and keywords in accordance with brand strategy.
- Update search directory listings.
In addition to the website, you should also update other digital assets owned by the company, like:
- Social media profiles
- Online reviews
- References and backlinks
- Directory listings
- Email marketing
- PPC ads (banners and search)
The more elements you change in your rebranding strategy – the more work you need to do with your online presence. Companies that execute successful rebranding strategies always have a checklist of all their digital assets, update deadlines, and people in charge.
8. Promote a brand-building plan
The final element of the rebranding strategy is your promotion and brand-building plan. How will you launch it internally? In professional services, employees must embrace the new brand.
You can easily familiarize people with your brand by making a post that will explain your new values, visuals, and operations vector on social media, or share some information on this in a set of emails you will send out during the first few months after rebranding.
So, why should I rebrand anyway?
Sometimes we have no idea why we should change our brand assets at all. Here are some reasons to consider rebranding in the first place:
- Internationality. You may need to update your brand image if you are expanding internationally, as some countries may not understand or accept your assets.
- Changing the niche of operations. Brands exist to connect businesses with customers, so any major change in your market segment orientation should be followed by a change in your brand assets.
- New philosophy. The company’s mission, vision, and values are never stable, so your branding decisions need to follow these changes to avoid confusion.
- Mergers and acquisitions. A merge of companies means a merge of brands. If the two companies decide to merge, their brands cannot continue competing with each other. It is wiser to create a new brand identity and aim at both customer groups simultaneously.
Additionals:
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- How To Launch An Effective Multichannel Marketing Strategy
- Facebook Ads Library – How To Use It To Spy On The Competitors?
- What Are The 10 Best Free SEO Tools Suitable For The Beginners In 2022?
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