Good question, why rebrand? Your company has been around for a while, everything seems to be doing well, customers know who you are, what you do and the value you bring to the table. . . or do they?
This series of posts over the next two months will focus on the branding process. It will focus on why and how to. Our goal is to take you through a series of questions to ask yourself and those working with you, before, during and after the process. We believe that the goal is to Create a LIVING brand. One that will allow you to morph within a set of circumstances, but give you the framework to always know what is important to you, what your value is and what makes you unique in the market place.
Today, we start with the question, WHY REBRAND? After all, it is a arduous process, time consuming, expensive and if not done right, it leads to confusion amoungst your clients and disassociation.
However, if done right, it provides a clear idea of who you are, what you stand for, what makes you unique and valuable and engages your preferred audience in a way that they want to do business with you.
For the purpose of this series of articles, we will speak to the B2B (Business to Business) brand. However, most of the principles are the same and will cross over to not for profit or consumer based brands.
The first thing to understand is that a brand is not a logo!
A logo is merely the representation of the brand in the market place. It helps people recognize the brand and provides a visual representation, but it is not the brand itself.
What a brand is, is the ideals of the company. What it stands for, the company culture, what makes them unique, their value in the market place and their vision for the future.
These are the things that people need to consider when they are forming a new brand!
So back to the original question, WHY REBRAND? There are two major reasons why companies rebrand. The first is that their brand no longer tells the story that they want to tell. Perhaps, the focus of the company has changed dramatically, product offerings have changed, the name of the company no longer represents what they do, or a multitude of other reasons all stemming from the thought of change is needed, but not sure why?
The second reason is crisis of confidence in a brand. A brand has lost the confidence of its preferred audience for some reason or other and a brand change is needed to refocus and tell a new story.
Both of these reasons require a lot of time, planning and buy in from all levels of the company.
Our next weekly article will focus on what you need to think about before you set out to rebrand.
We hope you find this valuable and if you have specific questions, please feel free to contact us at any time.
