Redesigning a brand
Redesigning a brand is generally done when a business feels that their positioning is not working in the market. There may be more competition, a product may have been launched unsuccessfully or technology may be driving changes in the marketplace and market share is being lost. Whatever the reason there are six fundamental components to consider when redesigning a brand.
1. The first thing to do before you even decide to rebrand is to sit down and write out all the good things about the brand so you can build on them. Clearly define what the equities of the brand are. These are the aspects of the business, the design and the team for example that make the product or service successful. I heard years ago a term that has stayed with me that really sums up the importance of this step, “you don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water”.
2. Clearly define how you will benefit from the rebrand. I see too many people rush into the rebrand without thinking about how they will benefit and how they will measure if the rebrand has been a success. Set a goal for each of the key benefits you want to achieve and make them SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timeframed).
3. Be sure to support your reasons to rebrand with some market research. Analyse the changes in your target markets, do a mystery shop on your team or ring a few clients and ask for feedback.
4. Find and brief in an agency that can help you roll out your rebrand. It is important to engage an agency that doesn’t have previous experience with your industry sector as they can then be objective and offer unique solutions for the new brand.
5. Team Involvement. Where ever possible engage as many of your team in the rebranding process, as building a brand as a team will always result in a strong culture in which to support the brand and will ensure all team will be brand advocates.
6. Have a formal launch for your brand. You are investing not only a considerable part of your marketing budget but also your time and resources in order to develop the new brand so set a launch date and work to it. Treat the rebrand as you would any other marketing initiative. Invite the people you are wanting to attract by rebranding and your key clients to share in the journey with you. Give a simple speech and reveal the new brand. Remember to give some information about why you changed and what your new brand will mean. Most of all make it fun.
At Brio Group we do branding and rebranding for clients and it is important to have a business with a brand what will expand and support your team culture and product /services. We have had experience with a rebrand first hand when we changed from RED-i Design to Brio Group in July 2010. We followed these six points and it has been really successful for us and we hope these points help you too if you are considering a rebrand. Have a look at the launch video we produced for the night on our website.
Finally if you are a business owner I want you to always have in the back of your mind the bigger picture for your business… consider how the rebrand forms part of an exit strategy, it could be how you are positioning the business to attract a potential future buyer / investor or how you could attract a manager to run the day to day activities for you.
All the best when redesigning a brand.
Yours in brand and design,
Belinda
