Are you thinking about rebranding? If so, there are a couple of things you need to consider first. A rebrand must be a deliberate and well-researched undertaking. If it’s not, you could lose part of a very loyal following, especially today when companies no longer own their brands. The public does.
Rebranding without considerable research and customer pulse-taking can be no different than those old commercials where someone switched out a favorite brand without telling the person on camera. For some customers, it can feel like a betrayal because today’s customers are an integral part of the creation and sustaining of brands.
Why Should You Rebrand Your Business?
Before undertaking a rebranding you need to think about what’s behind your desire to rebrand. The most common reasons companies rebrand are:
- A merger or acquisition with another company
- the desire to showcase a new product or service as the primary one
- a design refresh of an outdated image or branding
- a desire to escape a lackluster reputation (the idea of “If it looks different it is different.”)
- bringing things more in line with customer expectations (such as a rebrand to appeal to a new target market)
While these are all good reasons for rebrands, you don’t need to rebrand just because you’re experiencing one. The definition of a rebrand is a complete and total abandoning of the former brand. It is not the same as redesigning a logo. A rebrand encompasses a new look, feel, personality, and tone.
That’s why if you’re going to go for a rebrand you have to understand the ramifications of doing so. It’s certainly easier not to so before rebranding make sure you have a business reason to undertake one.
Is a Rebrand Necessary?
Before undertaking a rebrand, let’s go back and review the most common reasons people rebrand and see if a rebrand is necessary in all of the situations.
A Merger or Acquisition
A merger or acquisition can be a difficult time when it comes to branding particularly if both companies are well-regarded and have loyal followings. In those situations, you have to make a decision as to whether one brand will become dominant and the other brand will fold in under it or you create an amalgam of the two brands (this is likely possible only if they are similar in design and tone. It would be very difficult if the companies merging used two vastly different color palettes and tones in their marketing like a trendy start-up and a traditional accounting firm).
If you’re not going to fold the one brand into the other or combine the two, you likely will be rebranding both of them into one new rollout. The benefit to doing this is also a con because instead of keeping one successful brand and its happy audience, you are potentially alienating two audiences by creating something neither has seen before.
Which option you select most likely comes down to the details of the merger or acquisition. Are the companies on equal footing or did one purchase the other? If one purchased the other, what are the purchaser’s goals for that brand? Are they sun setting it or are they trying to build it? In the case of a brand that will be going away or phased out, there would be little reason to retain its branding. However, if the company wanted to grow that side of the business or play down the fact that it was purchased or merged, they may want to retain the Branding of the company.
We saw this when Facebook purchased Instagram. Instagram had such a strong following that Facebook chose to appear as a separate entity. Even now with the storms Facebook has weathered, some people quit Facebook and yet stay on Instagram as if the two are different companies, which is likely exactly what the ‘book wanted. In this case, retaining separate branding was beneficial for both companies.
Showcasing a New Product or Service as the Primary One
Sometimes companies realize what was once a secondary service or product in their business has more of a future than the original product. In those situations, it sometimes benefits the company to rebrand in a way that puts the focus on that secondary offering (that they want to make primary).
In these situations, a design rebranding is not necessary. They simply rework content and focus. We saw this when Netflix moved from a mail-order DVD rental company to an online streaming one. They didn’t need to redo their logo but they did concentrate on redoing their product offerings, their pricing, and their content and design display.
Design Refresh of an Outdated Image
If your company has been in business for many years, you may be looking at some of its design branding and thinking that it looks out of date. Yes, even design, logos, colors, and fonts can age to a point they no longer effectively appeal to your target market. When this happens, before undergoing a complete rebranding, ask yourself if you simply need a makeover or a lifestyle change.
Just like our individual lives, sometimes the only thing needed is cosmetic, a new look. Other times our brand’s lack of attraction for the audience is deeper then the way the business looks. In those cases, you may need a complete brand refresh that not only updates the look but the perceptions and content as well.
That’s a rebrand. The cosmetic stuff is simply a redesign. It’s important to know the difference before you decide you need to rebrand. After all, a rebrand is much more labor-intensive and disruptive to your audience. If you don’t need one, there’s no reason to take the extra time and energy.
Escaping a Lackluster Reputation
Have you ever known someone who has reinvented themselves? You know that kid who goes away for the summer and comes back a completely different person? Some companies use rebranding as a way to escape a bad reputation. Maybe they had a PR mishap or maybe they need to differentiate themselves from another company that their audience is getting them confused with. Either way, this business is using rebranding to reinvent themselves.
This situation is slightly different than the other ones mentioned because in this case, the company is likely trying to escape its old brand. So retaining a loyal audience may not be a driver for them. Only in some cases, like where they’re trying to differentiate themselves from some other lackluster brand, is there reason to worry about that loyal audience.
Sometimes companies will even rebrand in the hopes of piggybacking off of another successful brand. If there’s a successful brand in its market space that uses the color orange, for example, the company may change its color and font to closely resemble the other. That way, at first glance, a loyal audience of the competition will project their positive thoughts about the one brand onto the rebranded company.
The idea of if it looks different it is different
Sometimes companies rebrand in order to make people think that they’re making positive changes in their company. For instance, they may have entered the marketplace under the claim of being the cheapest company out there. After several years of business, they may decide that there aren’t many profits in being the cheapest person out there and they may want to switch their business model. In doing so, they may wish to shed their reputation as the cheapest. In order to do so, companies often rebrand creating a more upscale design, more educational content, and a focus on a more discriminating buyer. Even if their services aren’t changing that much their marketing does and so rebranding is a good fit.
Meeting New Customer Expectations
As mentioned above, sometimes companies are interested in changing how they’re viewed. Often the starting point for this is the desire to appeal to a new demographic. For instance, an established company may decide millennials are a good customer for their product or service. If they’ve never marketed to Millennials before their branding may not appeal to that group. In these cases, they will need to revisit all aspects of their marketing and see if it is in line with the interests of their new target audience. If it’s not, they’ll need to rebrand.
There’s one hesitancy in doing this. If the company rebrands to attract a new target audience, they should understand this rebranding may not appeal to their current market. That is why it is essential that the company be ready to make that leap to the new target market without looking back.
If they’re still testing the waters on this new demographic and they’re unsure as to whether they can capture a decent market share, they may want to consider creating a brand underneath the umbrella parent company that would appeal to this target audience. For instance, when Ann Taylor wanted to reach a new market, it didn’t change its original stores to reach them. It created a new line under its LOFT brand.
Before going with the expense and effort required for a complete rebrand, decide whether that’s truly necessary for your product. You may just need a new focus or “mini brand” underneath your main branding.
Is a rebrand still what you need with your company?
At Think Quik, we are branding experts. We can help you communicate and share your new brand with the world. Call us today. We can help walk you through some ideas for visually sharing your new brand with the world.
Leave a Reply