rebranding

rebrand /riːˈbrænd/ verb (transitive) to change or update the image of (an organization, service or product) - simply said by dictionary – but actually, this process in depth analysis will show you that it’s not that simple. Let’s imagine that you want to change your look after a long time of having the same image that you thought was fashionable and inspiring for others. You think you are cool, fashionable, trendy. But one day you realize that the others look much better than you do, and people don’t look at you as they used to, maybe you were not that cool after all. You mistakenly thought that you will always remain on top without any effort and being afraid to step out of your comfort zone you became complacent, lazy, to put it bluntly. You were sure that your style is relevant to your public, but in fact you slowly became outdated. Now is the moment to change your image, to align yourself to the new trends, and even detect new opportunities that arise. The same thing happens to brands as well – as time passes they tend to become settled and the owners don’t invest in updating their look. The downfall of this reality is that your public will slowly migrate towards other brands whose identity and look seem to be more relevant to them. Now it’s the moment to analyze your business and your brand in order to keep them relevant on the market. Let’s not hurry this process! First of all you have to do your homework: Research Identify the main problems your company faces, find out what aspects are not working properly, find out what are the public’s expectations, identity your direct competition and the position they hold on the market. After you have discovered all this necessary information, you can think about the budget you will need for the rebranding process and also create a clear vision of the end results. What do you want to obtain at the end of your rebranding? What will be your new identity? How is the public going to respond to the changes? Strategy In short, you create a strategy! You will have to test your ideas first and then evaluate them to see what works best for your brand. After you have established your new identity you will have to test it on a small group of individuals (part of your core public) and see if you have made the right choices. Their response to your new ideas will guide you on the right track so pay attention to the way they react, ask for their opinions and remain open to their suggestions. Evaluation Meanwhile, you will continue the process of evaluation using every medium at your disposal: chart the public’s opinions, sales numbers, keep your eye on the relevant web pages and most important, don’t stop! Investigate the reaction to your brand makeover and don’t forget to promote it! All this effort will be in vain if you don’t promote your rebranding: make yourself known, brag about what innovative ideas you bring to the market. Wear your new clothes with pride. It’s custom made and tailored! Your brand and the organization it represents will gain notoriety after the rebranding and it will re-enter into the spotlight, attracting your public’s attention and maybe convince a new segment of customers to invest in your products. This is just an example of a reason for rebranding, other than this problem of outdated image, a rebranding may be needed when a vital change occurs in your company. For example, if there is a merge between two companies, or there is a change of management and the new managers want to show that they also updated their views or simply prove that the company is active and constantly bringing new ideas and innovative products to the market. You can also think about rebranding if you want to attract a new segment of the public or introduce a new product or service to the market. All these are good enough reasons to start talking about rebranding and investing in adapting the brand image to the new realities of the company. You don’t always need a radical change for your company, your product or your brand, but you don’t want a superficial one, either. The most important aspect in order for your rebranding to be efficient is to come from the inside, if your employees believe in the new identity, your clients will do too. So, after we have changed our clothes, we’ve done the rebranding, everything is revived and aligned to the latest trends, it’s time to step into the street with our new look. It’s time to present ourselves on the market full of enthusiasm and proud of our achievements. But keep in mind that rebranding doesn’t work as a solution for every problem your company may face, so you have to research thoroughly if you think your brand may need a change of look. Luckily, there are a lot of experts in branding and there are tons of do’s and don’ts that you can learn from. Look at all the available examples of successful and failed rebranding processes and draw your own conclusions that you can adapt to your brand’s particular needs. If a logo design is subjective, then the whole image of the brand it represents should be objective, direct and clear. A lot of well-known companies’ logos were criticized by the consumers after they were rebranded. So do not expect that everyone will love your new look. On the other hand, a successful branding/ rebranding process was the one created by Saul Bass for BELL. The design is unique, timeless and visually strong. It’s terrifying to think that the rules created in the ‘60s are still valid today. Watch this video and be amazed.

rebranding

3 important steps in the rebranding process