This is a guest post contributed by Tony Hardy of Canny Creative
Rebranding a company is tricky. You need a clear plan of action.
By understanding exactly why you’re rebranding, what you want to achieve, and how you’re going to implement it, you’ll increase the likelihood of success.
Rebranding is exciting and can present new opportunities, from expanding your customer base, to breathing new life into your existing brand identity.
In this blog we’re going to walk you through the rebranding process to help you get it right. Use this post as a checklist to make sure you’ve considered everything before getting started.
Why You Might Need to Rebrand
There are many reasons why companies choose to rebrand, including:
- Changing market conditions
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Repositioning or reaching new audiences
- Negative brand perception
- Outdated visuals
Remember, you shouldn’t rebrand for the sake of it!
Often, new marketing managers want to rebrand to ‘put their stamp on things’. This is not the best reason for rebranding unless there is a genuine need for it.
Instead as a new marketing manager, you should start by immersing yourself fully in the business. Knowing what to do in your first 90 days ensures you hit the ground running, and are ready to embark on a rebrand, if and when necessary.
How to Get Your Rebrand Right
Knowing the steps to follow when it comes to your rebrand will ensure you approach the process with careful consideration.
Before you jump in, you need to identify who is going to work with you…
Partner with a branding agency
If you have the budget, you should partner with a branding agency.
Make sure you submit your rebranding brief to your chosen agency as this tells them everything they need to know about the project. We’ve got a whole post about writing your rebranding brief so give it a read to help out.
When it comes to choosing the right agency, you have two options:
Small and Mid-Size Agencies
For startups and SMEs, this is usually the best choice as agencies of this size often have a few points of contact making it easier for you to reach out.
Startups and SMEs typically come with pressing requirements and deadlines, and will appreciate being able to get a response quickly.
Choosing an agency with multiple designers and developers can help ensure deadlines are met and nothing is missed.
Large Agencies
If you’re a larger company, you’re going to want to work with an agency that can accommodate you such as Pentagram, Landor, or Design Studio.
However, this comes with budget implications so it’s important to consider affordability.
Regardless of which you choose, you need to understand their branding services and deliverables so you understand exactly what you’re getting for your money.
Conduct a brand audit
This lets you ‘take stock’ of your everything before jumping straight in.
It involves a thorough evaluation of your brand elements, including brand strategy and visual identity.
By analysing the effectiveness of these components, you can weigh up their strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. A brand audit might include surveys, interviews, and market research to gather feedback from customers, employees, and stakeholders.
Develop a rebranding plan
Your rebranding plan details how you’re going to make your rebrand a success. It should also outline what is involved in your rebrand including:
- Brand strategy
- Brand identity
- Visual elements
- Brand guidelines
Ultimately, having this plan ensures a smooth transition and allows you to effectively manage resources, timelines, and stakeholder communication.
Involve stakeholders
Engaging stakeholders is key to a successful rebrand, ensuring brand alignment.
Internally, involving employees fosters ownership, enthusiasm, and valuable feedback, generating buy-in for the new brand identity.
Externally, involving customers and partners gathers feedback, helps you understand their perceptions, and ensures the rebrand resonates with the target audience.
Roll out the rebrand
This involves carefully planning and executing the launch of the new brand identity across various touchpoints.
There are lots of steps to consider including:
- Update all visual elements with the new brand identity, including logos, typography, colours, and imagery.
- Align the brand’s messaging and tone of voice with the rebranding strategy. Update all communication materials, including website content, taglines, slogans, and customer-facing documents.
- Develop a communication to promote the rebrand including press releases, social media campaigns, email newsletters, and targetted advertising.
- Consider implementing the rebrand in phases to manage the transition smoothly. This can involve prioritising certain channels or locations for the initial launch and gradually extending the rebrand to other areas.
- Offer training and resources to internal teams to ensure they understand the new brand identity.
By following these steps you can successfully roll out your rebrand, create excitement, and establish a strong brand presence in the market.
Measure success
Measuring success after rebranding is important to evaluate the effectiveness of the rebranding effort.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) should be established to track the rebranding outcomes such as:
- Brand awareness
- Customer perception
- Website traffic
- Social media engagement
- Lead generation
- Sales revenue
Carrying out surveys, focus groups, and customer feedback analysis can also provide useful insights into the brand’s perception and customer satisfaction.
Getting Your Rebrand Right
Follow the steps above to make sure you get your rebrand right.
Go through each step systematically to ensure you’ve covered each part of your business so that no aspect is overlooked.
Thank you Canny Creative for providing this post on rebranding.
