Our top tips for rebranding your business
Creating the right branding can be crucial to projecting the right image for your company. It can help attract the right demographic of clients and building a strong reputation built on trust and quality. It is worth remembering that branding means more than just a logo, tagline or recognisable colour scheme. Whether your business offers a product or a service, is a local SME or a multinational company, the importance of creating a meaningful brand which conveys your company values is high.
You may have a strong brand which has served you well as your company has grown. But, there comes a time when every company great and small must rebrand or develop their brand further. If you’ve reached this point and aren’t quite sure where to start, our top three business rebranding tips should point you in the right direction.
Find your message
Rebranding your logo and colour theme is often not enough to signal a clear break from the past. Are you rebranding in order to boost sales, enhance customer relationships and create engagement with your ethos? It is important to find your brand message and convey it in a way that works for you.
In an interesting article by MarketingWeek, a number of FMCG companies have used brand messaging to successfully put their product back on track and rejuvenate their appeal for customers. CEO of BrandOpus Nir Wegrzyn points to Twinings as an example of a brand which successfully used its rebrand to boost much-needed sales and alter the company’s place in the mind of the consumer.
He says “Twinings suffered a sales decline but re-educated consumers on tea and rebranded its packaging, which has resulted in double digit sales growth. The whole point of identity and the way identities function is that a brand should be able to refresh the way people feel about it.” Twinings have shown this to be possible with a few simple but clever messaging changes.
Keep some continuity
The instinctive reaction to the need to rebrand may be to overhaul any existing branding and start from scratch. But, it is important to consider whether this is indeed the right move to make. Which elements of your current brand are worth preserving? How does your brand translate across traditional and digital marketing platforms? Could your brand evolve as your company grows rather than generating a new image?
In a recent article for entrepreneur.com, CMO of customer experience optimization agency InMoment Kristi Knight has argued that choosing the right brand elements to carry forward and integrate into your marketing strategy is crucial. She advises “be purposeful in creating pathways from the old brand to the new. Look for opportunities to bring elements that really matter, to your company and clients, to the new brand.” That can be as simple as the logo or typeface, or something more abstract such as a message or brand promise. Careful use of consistency can ease the rebranding transition and create a stronger, more durable brand in the future.
Time it right
There could be very few things worse for your company than to put the effort into rebranding, only to find that it doesn’t create the results you desired. Business rebranding can be risky, and getting it right is essential to ensure the destination is worth the effort required. Sookie Shuen, digital and social media specialist and Marketing Donut contributor has argued that “the important factors to consider when assessing the value of a rebrand include market differentiation and accessibility; brand awareness, relevance and vitality; and consumer personality, preference, usage, associations.”
With these elements in mind Shuen argues that ‘if your company can improve its relationship to its customer base in any or all of these key areas, you may want to think seriously about rebranding.’ If you can stimulate growth, expand your market or increase profitability, the return on investment of your rebrand could be worth the work.
Still not sure whether you’re right to rebrand your company? Contact OTB today to find out how rebranding could benefit your marketing strategy and boost your potential.
