If you have been in business for a while, then changes in your business over the years may mean that your initial branding is now out of date and no longer relevant.
Rebranding is not as uncommon as you might think. You might be surprised to learn that many major brands have successfully rebranded in the past (and some not so successfully).
What is rebranding?
The Economic Times defines rebranding as “the process of changing the corporate image of an organisation.”
This can be a new name, new logo or new website design to develop a unique identity in the minds of consumers.
Why do businesses rebrand?
As you can imagine, rebranding is a complicated business, and it does carry risks.
Even when big brands rebrand, it doesn’t always go well. For example, when Uber changed their logo in 2016, research showed that 44% of those surveyed didn’t know what company the new logo represented, with nearly 20% thinking it was a logo for Lyft or Chase Bank.
Knowing the risks associated with rebranding can help you decide whether it is worth taking the risk for your company or not.
If you are thinking about rebranding because your brand awareness efforts aren’t panning out or sales have been slow, this is not a reason to rebrand. Things like this can be dealt with by conducting market research to understand why this is happening or refocusing your marketing strategy.
Some of the other reasons businesses might consider a rebrand are:
- Communicating new mission and values to customers
- Covering up a crisis
- Feeling restless with the existing brand
- Letting customers know about acquisitions and mergers
- Repositioning themselves in the market
- Seeking more attention from customers
What makes up a successful rebranding strategy?
If you want to move ahead with a rebranding strategy, you need to decide whether you will do a total or just a partial rebrand.
Then you need to think about the exact target market you want to attract with your rebrand – and do some market research on them.
Finally, redefine your company’s mission, values and vision with your new direction in mind – and use these as the foundations for your new strategy.
Partial rebrand vs total rebrand
Let’s make this clear – the more established your business is in the market, the more you stand to lose from rebranding.
In this case, a partial rebrand may be more effective as it can help you hold on to your customers’ existing brand loyalty while allowing you to refresh your image to keep up with the changing times.
On the other hand, a total rebrand will be best if your business is undertaking a complete shift in identity – and its vision, values, and mission are also changing. This could be due to product overhauls, mergers and acquisitions or many other things.
Think about it like this. A partial rebrand is like a touch-up for your business, whereby a total rebrand is more like a complete makeover.
What do you need to think about when rebranding a company?
There are seven important things we think about when rebranding a company, and they are:
- Brand audience and market.
- Company’s mission, values and vision
- Company name
- Slogan and one-liner
- Brand identity
- Brand sentiment
- Successful relaunch
We will cover these in more detail in future blogs – so keep your eye out for those.
Now that you are a bit clearer about what a rebrand is and what we need to keep in mind during the rebranding process, it is time to think about whether it is time for a rebrand of your business.
Get in touch with the team at Zool to see whether you need a rebrand or whether your marketing strategy needs to be refocused.
What is rebranding and what is its purpose?
Branding Rebrand / May 29, 2022
If you have been in business for a while, then changes in your business over the years may mean that your initial branding is now out of date and no longer relevant.
Rebranding is not as uncommon as you might think. You might be surprised to learn that many major brands have successfully rebranded in the past (and some not so successfully).
What is rebranding?
The Economic Times defines rebranding as “the process of changing the corporate image of an organisation.”
This can be a new name, new logo or new website design to develop a unique identity in the minds of consumers.
Why do businesses rebrand?
As you can imagine, rebranding is a complicated business, and it does carry risks.
Even when big brands rebrand, it doesn’t always go well. For example, when Uber changed their logo in 2016, research showed that 44% of those surveyed didn’t know what company the new logo represented, with nearly 20% thinking it was a logo for Lyft or Chase Bank.
Knowing the risks associated with rebranding can help you decide whether it is worth taking the risk for your company or not.
If you are thinking about rebranding because your brand awareness efforts aren’t panning out or sales have been slow, this is not a reason to rebrand. Things like this can be dealt with by conducting market research to understand why this is happening or refocusing your marketing strategy.
Some of the other reasons businesses might consider a rebrand are:
- Communicating new mission and values to customers
- Covering up a crisis
- Feeling restless with the existing brand
- Letting customers know about acquisitions and mergers
- Repositioning themselves in the market
- Seeking more attention from customers
What makes up a successful rebranding strategy?
If you want to move ahead with a rebranding strategy, you need to decide whether you will do a total or just a partial rebrand.
Then you need to think about the exact target market you want to attract with your rebrand – and do some market research on them.
Finally, redefine your company’s mission, values and vision with your new direction in mind – and use these as the foundations for your new strategy.
Partial rebrand vs total rebrand
Let’s make this clear – the more established your business is in the market, the more you stand to lose from rebranding.
In this case, a partial rebrand may be more effective as it can help you hold on to your customers’ existing brand loyalty while allowing you to refresh your image to keep up with the changing times.
On the other hand, a total rebrand will be best if your business is undertaking a complete shift in identity – and its vision, values, and mission are also changing. This could be due to product overhauls, mergers and acquisitions or many other things.
Think about it like this. A partial rebrand is like a touch-up for your business, whereby a total rebrand is more like a complete makeover.
What do you need to think about when rebranding a company?
There are seven important things we think about when rebranding a company, and they are:
- Brand audience and market.
- Company’s mission, values and vision
- Company name
- Slogan and one-liner
- Brand identity
- Brand sentiment
- Successful relaunch
We will cover these in more detail in future blogs – so keep your eye out for those.
Now that you are a bit clearer about what a rebrand is and what we need to keep in mind during the rebranding process, it is time to think about whether it is time for a rebrand of your business.
Get in touch with the team at Zool to see whether you need a rebrand or whether your marketing strategy needs to be refocused.
