Rebranding your business is a normal part of business evolution. Even 74% of S&P 100 companies have rebranded within their first seven years of operation. When done right, a rebrand can completely transform your business. Not only can rebranding improve your brand's value, but it can also attract new audiences and bring in more business.
While rebranding is inevitable at some point for many businesses, it can still be a long and challenging process. If your business is considering a rebrand, then you've come to the right place. Below, you will find a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to rebrand your business.
The decision to rebrand: When and why
First, we need to talk about why you want to take your business through the rebranding process. Intention for your rebrand is important to ensure that you are successful in your efforts. Here are a few valid reasons to consider a business rebrand:
Update brand identity
According to a survey from Bynder, the most common reason why businesses choose to rebrand is to update the brand identity. It's normal for your business to change and evolve, and to keep up with the changing world and consumer needs, an up-to-date brand is key for success.
Market positioning
The second most popular reason why even 45% of businesses rebrand is to reposition the business in the market. Your brand is what connects your business to your customers. If you are looking to reposition your business in the market by targeting new locations and offering new products or services, then a rebrand is a smart choice.
Change target audience
41% of businesses undergo a rebrand because they want to change the audiences they target. When you want to attract new customers and reach an untapped market, you want to ensure that your brand will catch their eye.
Brand equity
Brand equity is the value of your brand to your business. If you see that your current brand is not working as well as you would like it to, then a rebrand could be a solution. By making strategic changes to your brand identity, visuals and even mission and vision, you can improve your brand equity.
Mergers
If your business was bought by another business or if you have acquired a new business, it makes sense to rebrand. A rebrand will allow you to merge the two (or more) businesses and ensure that all businesses are aligned.
Defining your new brand identity
Customer perception
Understanding how your current customers see your brand can be very helpful in crafting a new brand identity. Tap into your audience through social channels, email, and online surveys to learn as much as you can about customer's perceptions.
Visual identity
Visual identity is the first thing your audience notices. It's the first impression of your brand, and it's extremely important. Visual identity includes things like:
- Logo
- Color palette
- Typography
- Visual assets like shapes and icons
So, when you are building a new brand identity, you want to make sure that all of your visual identity assets are on-brand, consistent, and professional.
Brand guidelines
Most successful brands have brand guidelines. Essentially, it's a document that holds all of your brand's visual assets, information on your brand's tone of voice, and even the mission and vision. It's not something you share with your audience, but it's essential for internal use. Being consistent with your new branding will help your business, and that's the key to success—consistent branding increases sales by 10-20%.
Brand storytelling
55% of people are more inclined to buy from a business if they like the brand's story. Brand storytelling is an essential part of your brand's identity, and you want to make sure that your brand's story and tone of voice are compelling. It will help you connect with your audience and build trust with your new brand.
The rebranding roadmap
Here's a simple and easy step-by-step roadmap you can follow when you are ready to rebrand your business:
Step 1: Brand management
Brand management involves analyzing your current brand's performance. It's an essential first step in rebranding your business. Do market research to find out how your competitors are doing and how you could improve your business with the new rebrand.
Before you can create a new brand, you must understand how your current brand is performing. Analyze your current and new target audiences and what type of brand you need to create to appeal to them. Once you have a full analysis, you can proceed to the next step of your rebrand.
Step 2: Brand positioning
Brand positioning is the key step in a rebrand. It describes the unique value your brand presents to customers. In other words, it defines your unique value proposition—what does your new brand have to offer customers, and why should they choose your brand over other brands?
Nailing down your unique value proposition will allow you to build a successful rebrand strategy. It will make it easy for you to create the brand's story, determine the tone of voice, and even create new offers for your customers.
Step 3: Visual brand identity
Your visual brand identity is probably the most important part of your business rebrand. It's also the most challenging part to update and one that will take the longest. On average, it takes marketers around seven months to update a brand's visual assets after a rebrand. Create a step-by-step plan for how you will implement the changes for your visual brand identity you and your team can follow.
Step 4: Corporate identity
A rebrand affects your business internally just as much as it affects it externally. If your brand mission and vision change with the rebrand, it will impact the company culture, too. So, the first step will be to align with your team on the new direction of your business, and the new vision of your brand.
You might want to create an in-house presentation with the Q&A session so you can fully translate the new strategy moving forward to your team and help them familiarize themselves with the new corporate identity and company culture.
Step 5: Organizational change
To ensure a smooth and successful rebrand, you want to have a detailed plan for how your company will transition into the new brand. Whether you are a small business or a medium-sized business, there are many moving parts. So, make a detailed plan for internal and external changes and assign the tasks to teams or people who will need to execute the changes.
Step 6: Digital marketing strategies
The last step, of course, is to overhaul your digital marketing strategies to fit your new brand. You want to make sure that your marketing efforts align with your new brand and that you have a solid plan for launching your rebrand and marketing the new brand after the launch.
Step 7: Market differentiation
After the rebrand, you might need to change your marketing strategy to target both your old and your new audiences. It will require you to understand both segments of customers well and create custom marketing strategies for each angle. While it requires more effort than targeting one audience only, this strategy can help you maximize the success of your new brand.
Communicating your rebrand to your audience
Creating a communication plan is essential for a successful rebrand. Work with your team to devise a strategy for conveying the most important message to your audience about the change and why you are rebranding in the first place.
Depending on the size of your brand, you might only use your own communication channels like your blog, email and socials to announce the rebrand to your audience. Or, you might send out official PR releases to the media and try to get the coverage of different media outlets (national or local) to help spread the word about the change.
Leveraging online platforms for your rebrand
Your online platforms will play a key role in the success of your rebrand. So, make sure you create a plan and utilize them.
Marketing strategy
Create a solid marketing strategy for your rebrand launch! Consider sending our email newsletters, hosting Instagram or Facebook Live Q&A sessions, and posting on all of your social channels on the official day of the launch.
Invest in paid media and advertising to announce the rebrand to as many people as possible. A strategic marketing plan for launching your rebranded business will communicate the change to your current audience and will catch the attention of a new audience.
Audience engagement
Invest the time to engage with your audience online. Answer all the emails, comments, and DMs. Encourage people to share your posts. To do that, you have to create content that's engaging and incites people to share and talk about it. Remember, all social platforms reward high engagement, so the more excitement from your audience you can generate, the more chances you will have to reach a broader audience.
Case studies: Company rebrands
Now that you have a clear roadmap for a successful rebrand let's examine some of the most successful rebrand examples from other brands. Analyzing them can offer inspiration and show you the right way to rebrand your business.
Dunkin'
Everyone knows Dunkin'. Before January 2019, they were known as Dunkin Donuts. After some testing, the company decided to drop the "Donuts" from its name so it could be known for more than its original product—donuts.
With over 60% of their sales coming from their beverages and not the donuts, it was a smart choice. They have positioned themselves as the key player and the go-to place for people to get a coffee and breakfast, not only a donut.
Weight Watchers
Even a company as big and influential as Weight Watchers needs a rebrand once in a while. To keep up with the changing climate in the health and wellness space and to reposition their product as more than simply a weight-loss product, they rebranded as "WW" back in 2018.
This rebrand allowed the brand to target a new audience and position itself as a company that focuses on health and wellness, which is an industry that's been growing rapidly in the last decade.
IHOP
IHOP, or International House of Pancakes, has been known as the best place to get pancakes for years. In 2018, they announced that from now on, they want to be known for their new product launch--burgers. So, they rebranded from IHOP to IHOB for the launch of the burger, and that got people talking.
While IHOP kept its new IHOB name and logo for a while, eventually, the brand announced that the rebrand was only a ploy to get people's attention and get them talking, and it would be switching back to IHOP. It's definitely a risky strategy to employ, but it worked brilliantly for IHOP.
Measuring the success of your rebrand
So, once you have finalized your rebrand, the next step is to measure the success of your rebranding efforts. How can you do it? There are a few key metrics that you want to pay attention to:
Consumer behavior
Your audience will let you know whether or not your rebrand efforts were successful. So, pay attention to your customer behavior. If people are engaging with your new brand, and you see better growth and increased sales, you can rest assured that your rebrand was a success.
Brand loyalty
Brand loyalty means that people buy from you repeatedly. Tracking how loyal your customers are can indicate success or failure. If you notice that after a rebrand, people come back to purchase from you more than once, it means you are doing the right job. It means your new branding efforts are capturing their attention and building trust.
Digital metrics
Tracking analytics across all of your platforms will also show you whether or not your rebrand has been successful. Keep an eye on things like:
- Website traffic (how many visits and how long people spend on your website)
- Social media followers, comments, and mentions
- Paid advertisement clicks and conversions
- Email newsletter sign-ups
- Google ranking
Brand awareness
Brand awareness is a key performance indicator to pay attention to after a rebrand. It means tracking mentions across social media to see whether people are talking about your brand and if they are interested in sharing it with their social circles. Your social media analytics allow you to see your reach and how well people are interacting with your brand.
Next Steps
Now that you understand what goes into rebranding your business, are you ready to take the next step? Whether you are only doing a small brand refresh or a complete brand overhaul, it can take your business to a new level and skyrocket your growth.
Business rebranding FAQs
Now, let's answer some of the most popular questions people have about how to rebrand a business.
What are the signs that my small business needs a rebrand?
You should consider a rebrand for your small business if you are considering targeting new audiences with new products and services. Or, if you want to target a new location, for example, expanding internationally.
Also, if you notice that your current brand is not speaking to your audience, meaning it does not bring in the sales you desire, or your marketing ROI is not as good as it should be, it could also be a sign that you might need a rebrand.
How do I develop a new brand identity?
To build your brand identity, you need to:
- Know your target audience: To build a strong brand, you need to know who you are trying to attract. So, make sure you put together your ideal customer avatar.
- Define your brand's mission statement: Your brand mission statement will be the key element of your brand. It can be short and simple, but it must clearly explain to people what your brand is about, what your values are, and how you can help them.
- Craft a compelling brand story: Storytelling is the way to connect with your audience. It moves people and helps build trust. So, ensure your brand story is compelling, honest, and authentic.
- Have a strong visual identity: When crafting your brand identity, you must consider how your brand appears visually. You want to have a consistent visual identity and ensure that people can easily recognize your brand.
What if my rebrand fails?
Rebranding is a complex process, which makes it very easy for brands to do it wrong. The first mistake brands make when they are rebranding is doing it for the wrong reasons. If you are trying to cover up an internal business issue with a new brand, it will not work.
The second pitfall is not communicating the rebrand with your audience. A rebrand should not be a surprise because people might not understand it and connect with it, which can result in people leaving and losing interest.
The third common pitfall is not being strategic with the rebrand. To ensure that the rebrand is successful, you want to do the research beforehand and create a clear plan you will follow. A chaotic rebrand can do more harm than good, and without a clear direction, it might not bring the results you were looking for.
How can I ensure my audience embraces our new brand?
Simple—communicate with your audience about the changes. You have to be comfortable with the idea that not all of your current audience will embrace the change. If your rebrand is extreme, you might lose some of your customers. But if you communicate about the rebrand and are clear about the new direction, you will minimize the losses.
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