What is a Rebrand?
Rebranding, much like branding conjures up ideas of a quick logo change or updating your visual presence. Whilst both these methods can give your company a better external presence, internally if your company is built like a house of cards, pretty soon, you’ll be back to square one—frantically trying to figure out why people aren’t buying your products or finding your website.
So, before considering a rebrand, have a look at internal operations and what could be improved.
Rebranding is an important decision for any company, small or corporate.
This blog post will help you to understand what a rebrand is, and decide whether your company is ready to take the plunge.
So What is a Rebrand?
Trying to sum up what a rebrand looks like is a difficult task for any designer, but we will try our best to un-jumble the jargon and get straight to the important points.
To emphasise the point made earlier, a rebrand is not a quick update of your visual assets. Although this is a part of the process that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Rebranding involves all aspects of your business, both internal and external.
Although processes can differ from agency to agency, the principles are basically the same.
That’s not to say however that all agencies are equal in quality. Rebranding is a serious investment and is not something that can be done over the course of a few weeks.
Rebranding can take months, any agency that suggests otherwise should be avoided.
But don’t be disheartened, a good branding agency will ensure the process runs as smoothly as possible and ensures stress levels are kept to a minimum.
What Does The Rebranding Process Look Like?
As we said previously, processes can differ, but principles tend to stay the same, a basic rebranding process can look something like this:
- Research
- Plan
- Execute
- Audit
When looking for an appropriate agency to help you with your rebrand, ensure that these steps are all mentioned in their process.
Each stage has an important role to play and generally informs the next. Remember what we said about some businesses being built like a house of cards? Well, rebranding done poorly can have a similar effect when done without establishing the foundations.
What Does Each Stage Do?
Research
Research is arguably one of the most important aspects of a successful rebrand, after all, how can you develop something new if you don’t know the current business situation. If a branding agency suggests you can skip the research process, or doesn’t mention one at all, this should be an instant red flag to their credibility and skills.
In-depth research is integral to any rebranding strategy.
Plan
“Failing to plan is planning to fail”.
Alan Lakein
A plan of action should be focused and aligned with your business goals, without a plan, you are throwing it at a wall and waiting for something to stick. Not a good idea, especially when time is money in business, and wasting your time waiting for something to work is not a good investment of your time, nor your money.
Any good agency worth their salt will present to you a detailed plan of action and the expected outcomes before any creative work or execution begins. That brings me nicely onto the next part of the process…
Execute
Execution is where the creative stuff happens. This phase is where designers come up with an in-depth knowledge of your business situation (research), and a detailed brief (plan) to follow. Designers can create something truly unique to your brand and its values.
Collaboration is key here, execution is only successful when everyone is singing from the same song sheet.
The execution process may even include some staff training to ensure a smooth delivery of the new concept.
Audit
In order to measure success, you will need to audit and compare the before and after statistics. Allowing your rebrand to settle in for a couple of months is a good suggestion, as nothing in the branding industry is an overnight quick fix.
How do you know when your company should consider rebranding?
Here are some signs that your brand may need an update:
- You have seen a decline in sales (worse than a seasonal decline)
- Small, newer companies seem to be making better progress than you, even though you have been around for longer
- You feel like your business message has become diluted over the years, maybe due to staff turnover
- Internal communications are confusing, and structure….what’s that?
- You feel like your business is so far behind on the times that naturally, you are losing competitive advantage
- You find that the methods that used to bring you success are no longer proving a good ROI
- Your audience is confused about what it is you offer
- You have lost sight of your goals
If any of this sounds familiar to what you are experiencing, a rebrand may be worth considering. With that being said, a full rebrand, which is the process of overhauling your business from the ground up, may not be necessary.
Rebranding is a big commitment, from you, and anyone that has a stake in the success of the business.
Businesses are individual; they are built by individuals, and unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
It is important to remember that a brand is made up of many different elements, all working in synergy. It may be that only certain parts of your brand are hindering your success or it might be multiple elements.
The researching process answers these questions and identifies areas of concern.
A good agency will recommend the best course of action to help you achieve your goals and relieve any pain points.
Categorised in: Branding
