Have you been thinking about rebranding? Rebranding a company is no longer as simple as tweaking your logo and slapping the new version onto your website. With so many online marketing channels available today, the process of rebranding your company image has become more complex.
In addition to updating your logo on your website, you will likely have to update it on several different online applications. There is a long list of additional and tedious updates that must be completed across all of your online facing applications. These updates must also be completed in a timely manner, and must be communicated clearly to existing and potential customers to avoid any confusion or inconsistency.
TIME FOR A REBRAND?
All that being said, there are times when a rebrand is in order. With a comprehensive rebranding strategy and the help of experienced brand strategists, the rebranding process can be smooth and efficient. However, it’s important to understand the pros and cons of rebranding. It’s also critical to recognize the importance of having a carefully developed rebranding strategy, in addition to having a well-organized timeline for implementing the rebranding process. You can also evaluate your reasons for rebranding, and whether it truly makes sense to go through the process.
REBRANDING PROS
The positive effects of rebranding a company are pretty clear. After all, the purpose of a rebrand is to improve your image in one or more ways, with the goal of becoming more relevant, more competitive and more profitable in your target market. If there aren’t many positive outcomes of rebranding, then why would anyone spend the time or effort to go through it?
1. ATTRACT NEW CUSTOMERS
After you’ve been in the market for some time, your image and company message may have become stagnant, and maybe even irrelevant to your audience. While your goals and mission as a company may have adapted over time to your customers’ unique needs and challenges, your brand may not clearly reflect that anymore. By rebranding your image, your company personality or your target audience you can attract new customers and rekindle an interest from your existing audience.
2. ACHIEVE NEW GOALS
Another benefit to rebranding is that you can significantly shift the focus of your efforts, allowing you to achieve new goals. Some of your new goals may be to develop new products or to improve existing ones. Or, you may decide to have your employees become more involved in advocating on behalf of your company, in which case a rebrand is a great excuse to get everyone in the company involved.
3. INCREASE ENGAGEMENT
Whenever you add something new and exciting to your product line, or make a change to your brand, you have the opportunity to make a big splash. You can use a rebrand as a chance to get people talking about your company on social media. Instead of fearing the change, you can show existing and potential customers what is great about the changes you are making, and why you are making them.
4. STREAMLINE MESSAGING
Somewhere along the line, your message and brand may have become diluted or inconsistent. A rebrand offers the opportunity to bring everything back to the main focus again. If getting your online reputation under control has been on the back burner this could be the perfect time to get to it, and kill two birds with one stone.
REBRANDING CONS
The difficult part about rebranding your company is that it involves change, and all at once. This is never easy for a company, employees or customers. When things don’t go as planned, there are a few possible issues that could result.
1. CONFUSION BRINGS CHAOS
Change is scary, mainly because no one knows for sure what the end result will be. People can become easily confused or frustrated whenever change occurs. By publishing press releases, posting announcements to social media and sending email newsletters you can keep everyone aware of what’s going on, and what’s coming down the pike. Communication is absolutely crucial during a rebranding project.
2. YOU MAY LOSE A FEW CUSTOMERS
If a proper rebranding strategy is not built and implemented in the right way, you risk losing some of your existing customers. Unfortunately, even if you do everything right, there is still a possibility that you could lose customers. Why? People don’t like change. By explaining your reasons for the rebrand clearly, and remaining true to your values and conscious of your customers’ needs, you can minimize the risk of losing long-time customers.
3. BE PREPARED TO SPEND SOME MONEY
Going through a complete rebrand is anything but cheap. Be prepared to spend money on developing a creative rebranding strategy, new content, graphic design, as well as marketing and advertising campaigns to support your project. While there are ways to save money during a rebrand, it is definitely worth investing some money to ensure that it is done effectively.
When done right, rebranding a company is absolutely worth it. However, it’s important to be clear about what you hope to accomplish before you begin, and to be as transparent as possible throughout the transition. Your customers will want to hear how it’s going, so be sure to keep them in the loop.
