The Executive's Guide to an Effective Rebrand

Brand camouflage doesn’t happen overnight. The relevancy of your brand’s identity fades over time when the distance between the story you're telling and the story you’re selling drifts further apart. This is especially true when your existing brand identity isn’t relevant to who you are or your audience to begin with. Your brand is a lot like an oil change. After a certain amount of miles your brand’s communication deteriorates and as a result, your growth stagnates.

If your business has undergone a change in leadership or direction, or your target demographic has shifted, then your brand needs to reflect that. The identity of your business should remain authentic and concentrated at the core of how and why you reinvent your brand.

4 Core Questions Worth Revisiting

Don’t embark on the exhausting task of rebranding in-house or consulting an agency to take on the heavy lifting yet. Ask yourself these questions first

1. Why are we rebranding, and what problem are we solving as a result?
2. Who is the current customer profile that our business is targeting, and how do they define their needs and desires?
3. How will we help our audience get to where they want to go or fulfill their needs/desires, in a way that only we can provide?
4. What are some other brand identities we admire, and why?

You may already address some of these questions within your company’s vision, mission, and core values. But, many companies haven't revisited these core statements in a while. It's also likely stakeholders and prospective customers may not be wholly aware of these things. The clarity provided by your answers will make your branding and communications authentic to who your company is, and will ensure that you are correctly connecting with your audience. Don’t make the mistake of creating a new brand identity without doing some of this important soul-searching.

The 3 Secret Ingredients of a Strong Rebrand

1. Take the Time to Perfect Your Story

Your brand is essentially your story and how you help your audience with their story. A rebrand is a great time to update or perfect your origin story (aka your “backstory”). Whether that story begins in a garage or on a prestigious campus, it lets the people know where the magic within your business began and builds your brand affinity. Your origin story is more than sharing why and how the company launched in the first place. It allows your customers to see themselves as part of your brand story and gives them meaning to follow, not marketing to forget.

2. Maintain Your Search Ranking

Beyond your brand’s voice and visual identity, it’s important to maintain SEO when updating your company’s website. By all means, don’t let your brand fall out of the good graces of the Google gatekeepers. No matter how shiny and amazing your new rebrand is if it's not accessible to your audience than you're not going to get any traffic.

3. Don’t Forget Your Existing Customer Base

If you are expanding into a new market or demographic, keep your loyal base of customers at the top of mind (email campaigns are great for this). For example, your early adopters may be more agreeable than millennial prospects with ironclad opinions, but they’ll be quick to note if they get ignored during the transition.

Stick the Rebrand Landing

Communication is vital for any successful relationship, especially between your brand and your customers. To stick the landing for any rebrand, it’s vital that you plan out the communication of your rebrand. The brand rollout campaign should share your story and the story of your customers, using every available marketing channel you can afford. This is a huge opportunity to get new exposure and gain market share, so don’t jump the gun and rush your rebrand to market. A good rebrand rollout campaign supports both the ambitions of your company and the expectations of your customers.

Over-communicate your rebrand to all audiences beginning with staff, board members and shareholders. Then work your way outward to your vendors, the media, and your customers. All need a clear understanding of your brand story and the answer to, “why should I care?” Introduce them to your rebrand according to their level of involvement in your products and services.

An effective rebrand is a powerful way to reduce the distance between you and your current audience while attracting and engaging new audiences. No matter your market, a rebrand gives you the opportunity to address the problem that your customers want you to solve for them in a new and fresh way, with intentional purpose. Learn more what it's like to work with us.