Brand Development: How to Know When It’s Time to Rebrand
February 21, 2018
Your company’s brand is one of its greatest assets. The world today is very image-driven and people will make snap judgements about you based on your brand’s visual identity. It is essential that you have an attractive and informational design that will draw in customers. Brand Development and Rebranding are topics that need to be carefully considered.
Your logo is important but branding goes beyond just your logo. Your brand development must involve all aspects of your marketing. From campaign videos to social media posts, printed material, newsletters and product packaging.
Rebranding is a common move even for big brands. In recent years companies like Instagram, Uber, Pizza Hut and Airbnb have all rebranded their businesses. Some rebranding can be subtle that customers may not even notice them. It could be something as simple as a change in colour.
You may regard a change in the logo as no big deal but rebranding can be a really big move. It could signal a change, a commitment to upward growth and evolution. Rebranding may be done to change the market’s perception of a business or show a company’s progression with the evolution of the market.
Most companies would have to rebrand at a point. The market is always evolving sometimes your old identity cannot carry into the new phase.
Here are some signs that tell you if you need to rebrand.
Launched a new product
Your brand and brand development are supposed to represent your product and services. When you launch a new product that is dissimilar to your current offering, it can be misleading and muddle up your brand image and identity.
When you have a new product that conflicts with your brand image, here are two ways you can go about branding this new product.
– You can brand the new product separately.
This may be the safest method to use especially if the new product is big and can cause confusion among your customers. Launching this new brand means that even though it may carry the name of your old brand, it stands alone and the customers see it like that. This means it will be marketed separately, will have its own website and other promotional materials.
– You can rebrand the whole business.
Sometimes the new product is a major shift in the philosophy of your business. It may even change your target demography and business methods. When the new product has this much effect, it may be okay to rebrand the whole business around the new product.
Company mission has changed.
One of the things that inform the message of your brand is your mission. Your mission is the purpose of your business, it is why you started your business in the first place. During the course of your business, it is possible for the mission of your business to change. This could be as a result of new services you provide or a new line of products.
The change in the mission can be as a result of several reasons.
– A change in products or services.
A business that sells concert tickets online may need a rebrand it wants to start organizing concerts for travelling artists and bands. Its main service has changed and its target customers have also changed. This warrants a change in the mission of the company and rebranding will be needed.
– When you acquire diverse businesses.
Google is an example of a business that started with a simple mission; to organize the world’s information and make it universally available and useful. We all know Google does way more than that now. Although instead of changing the mission statement, Google created a parent company; Alphabet and that took off some the businesses that contradicted the mission.
Your business may not need to create a new company though, a rebranding process can solve that problem cleanly.
The needs of your customers have changed.
As the world of business evolves, the needs of the market change. The demands of your customers for certain services may reduce or even cease totally. This change may require your business to pivot to other services. Innovation in technology is a key driver in changing market demands which will demand you change or be left behind.
Marketing companies, for example, who have spent years advertising on billboards, magazines and TV have to respond to the new wave of digital marketing. Such a company responding to market demands may need to rebrand itself to remain relevant to their customers.
New companies spring up every day who are filling the void created by advancements in market expectation. An older company may be perceived as so; old, even if they now offer the new products and services needed by their customers. Instead of spending a lot of money trying to convince your customers you have caught up with the times, a total rebranding and new brand development plan may be a simpler choice.
You do not stand out from competitors.
In a market flooded with companies offering the same products and services as yours, it is easy to get drowned in the noise. It is even more difficult if some of these companies have the same messaging as your or worse, the same name. It becomes difficult for customers to find you. This is a very good reason to rebrand.
One of the ways to know if you need to rebrand is to google your company name. If you find you are not even on the first page of the search results, your brand name may not be unique enough. This may lead to you losing website traffic and frustration for customers trying to find you.
Your name may not be the problem, it could be the phrasing of your copies. Your copy has a lot of influence on your ranking on search engines. If your website copy is similar to what other websites in your niche or market have, you may struggle to stand out in that market.
Deciding to rebrand can be a daunting decision because of all the time you have spent on your current brand development. but it all comes down to one thing. The purpose of branding is to differentiate you from others in the market. If your current brand is not doing that, it may be time for rebranding.
If you’re ready to work on your businesses brand development, here are some of the ways we can help:
https://www.medm.ca/services/brand-strategy/
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