When is it time for a rebrand? 5 signs

Things change. People, culture, the world; everything adapts to new surroundings, and that’s true for businesses, too. Sometimes rebranding is necessary to bring companies and marketing agencies bang up-to-date or to reach new audiences.

But what makes something a rebrand rather than just a refresh? In short, a rebrand is about changing your brand’s identity and voice to meet new demands, whereas a refresh could just involve changing colour schemes or products.

It can be difficult to figure out whether your business is in need of a refresh or a complete rebranding, so here’s five signs the company might benefit from a rebrand.

1 – You’re not connecting with your audience

Peoples’ thoughts and interests aren’t static (though that would make our jobs a lot easier!) so your target audience won’t stay loyal to your brand forever. Those who were teenagers  in the 80s liked mix tapes and colour-changing t-shirts. Today those people like recipe box meals and off-the-beaten-track holidays – so you probably won’t have much luck selling those neon leg warmers to them today!

Danish toy company Lego faced this problem in the early 2000s. After trying to refresh their brand with pre-built toys, they realised they were moving away from their target audience. They reigned in the unprofitable new franchises they were trying to create and got back to basics, rebranding themselves as the toy only limited by imagination!

2 – You’ve significantly changed your products and services

Let’s be honest: your audience isn’t going to follow you to the end of the universe and back. Consumers become loyal to brands because they offer a product or service which suits their needs better than anywhere else – if you completely change that, they’re probably not going to stick around.

In that case, you might need to consider rebranding to focus on your new business model. A bike company which has remodelled itself to focus on electric bikes might need to market towards a more amateur audience rather than lycra wearing sports-pros. Or, maybe they could aim for courier services who are looking for more efficient delivery options. That’s the great thing about a rebrand – there’s a lot to experiment with when you’re starting almost from scratch!

3 – Your industry is changing fast, and you need to keep up

No one sells their products and services without competition. There’s always someone trying to beat you at your game, so what happens if your entire industry is moving on and you’re still stuck in the past? A full rebrand might be just what’s ordered.

Your industry could be changing for many reasons, like new technology. Home automation is one sector that’s making some pretty futuristic strides – imagine your company is still selling faulty clapper lights against the competition’s exciting innovations… It might be time to rebrand yourself to put that old reputation behind you.

4 – You’ve moved on from your branding

We’ve talked a lot about changes coming from the outside – from audiences and the industry… But what about when the change is coming from within?

Everyone goes through personal growth (our personal growth for the day was being healthy and putting banana on our Coco Pops), including businesses. Say, for example, your branding tells people you’re focused on selling affordable clothing. But, you’ve recently decided you want to be a more sustainable and eco-friendly retailer. Your prices might have to rise, and it’d be misleading to keep telling your customers they can buy a blouse for the price of a Freddo!

5 – You’re suffering from identity issues

What made sense 100 years ago, might not today. It’s common for companies to experience problems with the identity that was established by previous owners. Whether that’s a nonsensical, hard to pronounce name or a now offensive logo, it’s one of the biggest signs you’d benefit from a rebrand.

Uncle Ben’s rice went through a rebrand for this reason recently, after criticisms that the name and logo were racist. Changing their name to Ben’s Original, they’ve remarketed themselves as an inclusive company who is aware of social issues. Robertson’s also dropped their iconic golliwog logo in 2002 because it was no longer popular with their audience.

There you have it – five of the best reasons you might need a rebrand. Is your business currently going through one of these problems? If so, get in touch – we can help you rebrand – or refresh – and take your company to the next level.