To those not in the business, rebranding might appear to be a kind of damage control. If a company is rebranding, it follows that there is something wrong with the brand as it exists.Perhaps it has attracted some negative associations, maybe market research has shown the brand to be uninspiring and ineffective, perhaps the brand name sounds too similar to some other company, and so on.
There are indeed many reasons why you might need to rebrand your company. The big insider secret, however, which anyone working in business knows, is that rebranding is a positive process laden with potential.
Yet there is no denying that rebranding is a daunting and complex process. And it’s one that will likely have to be carried out after brand identity has been established. The goal, therefore, is to ensure that rebranding isn’t setting things back to square one. There will be an inevitable period in which the new brand establishes itself, but the rebrand should not confuse existing customers or visitors.
There is one thing to keep in mind that can helpyou avoid this fate. The impressions should be a new brand, not a new company. Everyone witnessing the rebrand should be in no doubt that the company is still the same;it is just updating its operations and rebranding as a result.
This is in fact almost inevitable. It is rare that a company will find itself at the outset with a fully formed brand identity and everything that this entails, from logos to website design and marketing content. No, these are often things that develop. Sometimes things develop to the point where a rebrand is necessary. But if you can spin this to observers as the company taking a real step up, then your rebrand will be successful.
Benefits of Rebranding
As mentioned then, the great benefit of a rebrand is that it brings your company’s identity more into line with what the company has become. There are many things that change as a company grows. One of these is inventory – quite simply, you might suddenly find that you’re just not selling the same stuff as you did at the outset, and your brand needs to change to convey this.
A rebrand is also an excuse to improve your general brand aesthetics. Peak Design, a company offering web design and SEO services in Sacramento, say that the website is perhaps the biggest part of this. From the color scheme to the layout and the logo,many things that you’ll change as part of a rebrand is visibly represented on your webpage.
What to Remember When Rebranding
But it is a complex process – too complex and specific to fully set out here – and rebranding needs to be given a lot of planning and thought. The best advice is to know clearly why you’re doing the rebrand, and then to hire a team devoted to the rebrand. You might be able to afford some company downtime here too, which will allow you to focus your energies on the rebrand.
Another especially important thing to keep in mind is that the transition from old brand to new must be smooth. A good move here is to announce the rebrand well in advance, continuing to trade under the old name while announcing the new one.
Finally, some sort of grand return is also advised. When you launch your new brand, try to do so with some new products, an event, or something that announces the new brand to all the people familiar with the old one.
Rebrand, and you can very effectively frame the whole thing as a positive development for customers and employees alike.