In recent years, you may have heard of Google, Uber, Burger King, and other brands making considerable changes to their logos or slogans. While it may seem like yet another viral marketing technique, the act of rebranding is actually nothing new and has consistently been employed by brands in order to stay attractive in the changing minds of consumers. 

Though it is often equated with these minute (or, perhaps extremely large) visual changes –  such as an updated logo or color palette – at its core, this is not what rebranding is. The point of this process is not to show off how new and modern your brand can be. Rebranding aims to reposition your brand in the eyes of consumers, evoking specific emotions you want people to feel during every interaction with your brand. These changes will also seep into the internal company culture, resulting in a transition of everything from a social media channel to the way you sign off company emails. So, why do we need rebranding?

Do / When / Why You need rebranding?

A company can spend a great deal of time and effort establishing a brand identity, yet what matters at the end of the day is not how the brand is viewed internally but how it is perceived by the consumer. When may rebranding be necessary for your brand?

Communicate wisely

For instance, say your company produces healthy candy bars that are made of natural ingredients. You may think of your brand as “innovative” and “cool”, but your audience may be unaware and still perceive you as “unhealthy”. As consumer tastes constantly change, a careful examination of your brand and its audience reception can be extremely helpful in better relating to your customers. Rebranding can bridge this gap and help reach your desired audience.

Adapt communication to your offer

Another signal for rebranding is when your very business has altered. For example, your company used to make leather accessories such as boots, bags, and wallets, but you have now added clothing to your product offering. Therefore, your previous branding elements may not match where your company stands now. In this case, a rebranding would be extremely helpful as it would make customers aware of your growth and evolution as a company. 

Stay ahead of the competition

Perhaps a rebranding may be needed because your company is falling behind the competition and you need to differentiate amongst the marketplace in order to meet business goals. Despite your high quality of service, product offering, and devoted team, consumers are still not coming to you first. Maybe they have trouble remembering you or picking your business out amongst the large selection of competitors. Rebranding can help you maintain the same strong and developed business dealings that you have always had, but make your brand stand out and better reach the audiences you are going after. 

Your branding is not as good as it can be

It could be that you have decided you would like to reposition into a more luxurious market, but your logo is too comical. Perhaps the user experience on your website is too complicated and too slow. Maybe the communication strategy is resulting in visits from older demographics when it is actually a younger audience that you really want. 

Many elements may need revising. It is important that your brand remains distinct from the rest and responds to the evolving needs of consumers.  A rebranding can help to evaluate all of your brand elements and bring your company up to current standards, optimizing your business for better results.

Check the Differences Between Branding and Marketing. We wrote about it in THIS article!

Summary

Rebranding is a process that allows you to evaluate where your company currently stands and where you would like it to go. It involves examining what the prevalent associations with your brand are, researching everyone from customers to internal employees, and creating a strategy to unify all of these opinions and narrow down to a definitive image so that everyone is on the same page. It signals to consumers that you are a company unafraid to look critically at its past actions and improve for the better. You listen to customers and pay attention to ongoing conversation, but are simultaneously oriented towards the future.

This is an operation with many parts, which is why it may be helpful to bring a qualified branding agency on board. They can lead you in the right direction, making sure that every decision is carefully thought out and serving a specific purpose. This way, the rebranding process will solve your company’s problem without forgetting the core values and mission of your brand.