Paramount Enablers for Rebranding The definition of rebranding stands individual for every organization; from updating a font for a product logo, to re-conceptualizing your brand's story
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What is rebranding? It encircles reengineering your organization's character and giving the outside world a crisp standpoint on who you are and what your institution champions in. The definition of rebranding stands individual for every organization; from updating a font for a product logo, to re-conceptualizing your brand's story. Over the years, we've seen industry leaders across sectors engage in rebranding. Lately, Sony introduced a peripheral refinement to the color scheme of its Playstation logo. Meantime, Uber's drastic 2018 rebrand focused on reimagining the company with a greater focus on "safety and ease of use'. For seasoned companies, rebranding proposes an excellent opportunity to outstretch new audiences and address entrenched perceptions. However, miscommunication is always a possibility. It's unfailingly a compelling plan to evaluate these factors when rebranding to mitigate risk and ensure that your rebranding effort doesn't misinterprets your intended message.
The Why of Rebranding
You should always have a clear objective in mind before undertaking a rebranding campaign. Understand that rebranding itself carries risks—are your rebranding objectives worthy enough to nullify these risks? For instance, rebranding might not be the wisest course of action to address a temporary slowdown in sales. When is rebranding the right option? Companies aren't static entities. As your company evolves, if you feel that your brand doesn't reflect your current objectives, vision, and desired perception, it might be a good idea to invest in a rebranding exercise.
It isn't enough to be comprehensible about why you're rebranding. It's crucial to communicate this to your customer base and other stakeholders. Why did you rebrand? What does the new branding represent? Engage all stakeholders and make them a part of your rebranding journey. It's especially important to communicate and justify the rebranding exercise to your staff. Your brand identity plays a critical role in corporate culture. If your rebranding effort involves a change in how things are done, it's critical to get your staff on board.
Cashing in on Existing Leverage Pointers
As the old adage goes, if it isn't broken, don't fix it. Before carrying out a rebranding exertion, it's important to understand your brand's current strengths.
What works for your brand? It could be something as simple as your color scheme or something as nuanced as customer perception of your attitude towards the environment.
Rebranding isn't about reinventing the wheel. It's about complimenting your brand's existing strengths and shifting attention away from its weaknesses. By keeping what works and replacing what doesn't, you'll retain your existing customers while attracting new ones.
Communicate your New Brand
It takes years to build a brand identity. If you don't effectively communicate your rebranding effort, you run the risk of losing out on years of already accumulated customer's goodwill. Deploy communication across all channels to make your rebranding exercise a transpicuous process. Run online and offline rebranding campaigns, invest in ad placements, collaborate with brand ambassadors: communicating your rebranding effort is as important as rebranding itself and the best way to appease rebranding risks.
Conclusion
Rebranding doesn't work every time and it doesn't work for all businesses. Understand the risks involved: the worst-case scenario is losing hard-earned patron's benevolence and brand awareness. Consider pinch-hitting to rebrand first. If you decide to go ahead, build a meaty strategy centered on stakeholder communication: let the world know what's new with you.
