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Rebranding is a complex process aimed at changing your brand's identity in the minds of consumers, employees and other stakeholders. On the surface, it is easy to think of rebranding as simply developing a new logo or slogan for your organization.
However, true rebranding exercises go deeper and have the power to change the trajectory of your entire business. Brands of all sizes choose to refresh their identity to grow with existing audiences, reach new customers or acknowledge mergers and acquisitions. No matter the reason for your rebrand, follow the steps in this guide to complete the process successfully.
Related: When to Consider a Rebrand (and How to Do It Right)
Understanding the need for rebranding
There are both obvious and more subtle signs to tell brand teams that their brand is becoming dated. Changes in your product or service offerings, shifts in the entire industry and competitive pressures are among the more obvious signs that it's time to rebrand. Declining sales or market share are two more reasons to consider updating your brand.
In addition, rebranding can help your company expand into new markets and reach new target audiences. On the other hand, your need to rebrand may be driven by less obvious causes like an outdated brand image or negative customer perception. The latter two can be harder to identify.
Assessing brand health
Assessing brand health is often the first step in deciding whether or not you need to rebrand. Start by analyzing overall market trends and considering how competitors have positioned themselves. How does your company compare?
To better understand customer sentiment about your brand, conduct surveys and focus groups, and use social media listening to gauge your standing among existing audiences.
Best practices for rebranding
Once your team has committed to rebranding, follow these best practices to ensure the process works smoothly and successfully.
Step 1: Define your objectives
Like other aspects of strategic marketing, effective rebranding begins with defining your objectives and ensuring they are aligned with your overall business strategy. Without clarifying what you want to achieve, it becomes impossible to reach your target.
Step 2: Research and analysis
Conduct research to gain a clear picture of industry trends, customer preferences and competitor strategies in your field. A SWOT analysis, detailing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, is another useful tool to inform the next steps of your rebranding process.
Step 3: Involve stakeholders
Engage with employees from the beginning. Their insights can be invaluable, and fostering a sense of ownership right from the beginning will help the entire team embrace the new brand identity. If your business has been established for some time, ask loyal customers for feedback to understand their views of your brand and potential expectations from the changes.
Related: The Strategic Guide to Successful Rebranding
Develop a comprehensive brand strategy
A comprehensive brand strategy is the cornerstone of an impactful rebranding exercise. Start by crafting a positioning statement that clarifies how you want to be perceived in the market. This statement will become your North Star during the rest of the process.
With the positioning statement in place, your team can work on a marketing and communication plan. This plan outlines how you will communicate the rebrand to internal and external audiences to ensure everyone is not only kept up to date but remains engaged with the plan.
Craft a unique brand story
Your brand story needs to lie at the heart of all marketing messaging. Check your existing narrative to see whether it connects emotionally to your audiences and communicates both your brand values and your mission.
Make sure your brand voice and personality are consistent across all channels and resonate with your audiences.
Visual identity redesign
Most rebranding processes include redesigning your visual identity. When it comes to updating your logo and other design elements, you're looking to bring the brand's heritage into the present to create a modern, cohesive look that reflects the brand's essence.
Implementation and rollout
With all the rebranding building blocks in place, it is time to plan your launch strategy. For most brands, a phased rollout works best — this allows audiences to prepare themselves and builds excitement before the actual launch date. Both teaser campaigns and well-publicized launch events can work very effectively.
Internally, it is important to provide employees with resources and the appropriate training to help them implement the new brand effectively and avoid the continued use of the old brand identity.
Monitoring and evaluation
Once your new brand identity is in circulation, it is time to monitor the effectiveness of the rebranding. Consider tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), like brand awareness and customer engagement, and compare the results to the previous identity.
Create a feedback loop for customers and employees to simplify continuous feedback gathering. You should also be prepared to make small adjustments if necessary.
Challenges
Rebranding can represent a big change, especially for brands that have not changed their identity in a long time. Considering potential challenges and planning for them will help your team navigate them smoothly.
Internal and external resistance
Both customers and employees may be resistant to changing a much-loved brand identity. Addressing their fears and clearly communicating the reasons for the rebrand can be very effective at minimizing resistance to change.
Financial constraints
Rebranding can be costly. Set your budget from the beginning and ensure every step of your rebranding process is covered, including research, design, implementation and communication.
Maintaining brand equity
One of the most critical aspects of rebranding is maintaining existing brand equity while updating your identity. Try to honor the brand's legacy and history while striving for a fresh look.
Legal considerations
Work with your legal team to ensure compliance with existing trademarks and avoid infringement issues.
Rebranding can give your company and your brand a new lease of life. This process has the potential to attract new audiences or reignite existing customers' enthusiasm. Following this step-by-step guide will make for a smooth and impactful rebranding process.
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