Rebranding the business is a tough decision. It’s important to consider and determine that it will be the best move for your business in the long run before you start working on it.
Rebranding the business at the correct time can rejuvenate the marketing strategy, helping you connect with the customers and widen your reach in new market areas. Launching a rebrand when it is unnecessary can cost you a lot and may have a negative impact.
In reality, companies should regularly check the pulse of their brands to ensure productive constant change that helps your business to evolve.
Here are some key signals that indicate it may be time to rebrand your business.
- You want to attract a new audience
- You want to stand out in the market
- You want to keep up with changing market trends
- You want to leave a certain message behind
- To represent a change in ownership or merger
- Your business is losing the target
- You want to take your brand globally
- You want to improve the performance of your business
- How do you know that your current branding strategy is not working?
- Questions that you can ask yourself in this situation
- How can we help you with rebranding?
- Bottom-line
You want to attract a new audience
Brands are designed to attract a specific group of people. The visuals and messaging are formulated that resonates with the target audience. As your business grows and when you decide to expand or change the market that you are targeting, you might as well have to change the messaging and brand.
For instance, if a company sells flavoured drinks to restaurants but now wants to sell packaged drinks directly in the grocery, you might have to go back and draw your brand. The perspective of the brand needs to change with the change in the targeted audience.
You want to stand out in the market
If you find your brand is camouflaged by other companies that you compete with, then it may be the time to bring a change. It is important to look for ways to differentiate yourself from the competition. If you think that your brand identity is not inspiring or different, you might be missing out on a lot of prospective customers.
While you shouldn’t go all out or brand in a way that doesn’t work with your audience or services, look out for authentic ways to rebrand yourself that aligns with the core vision of the company.
You want to keep up with changing market trends
As time goes on, technology advances and the market changes. For instance, your business logo can be graphically improved. The designing and messaging may be “behind the times”. It is important to stay innovative with the messaging and appeal.
You want to leave a certain message behind
Maybe your brand was misinterpreted by the audience or attracted negative reviews and bad word of mouth in certain demographics.
In certain cases, justified criticism needs to move away. This may call for certain changes in your business and branding. It is a great idea to rebrand to shed away the negative image and business.
For instance, Uber was involved in numerous controversies and scandals from toxic working culture to taxi protests. Sentiments of Uber were at an all-time low and it could have ended their business.
Learning from the mistakes and experience, Uber designed a completely new brand with a new logo, intending to transform itself into a globally relevant brand. From their success since then, this strategy works!
To represent a change in ownership or merger
If your business has merged with another one or is purchased, then rebranding would suit the collaborative goals and management. It would help you align with collective goals that are different from original targets.
Your business is losing the target
Maybe you are not able to attract enough clients or customers than you originally intended. You are losing grip of the original aims from what you created before. This is very common in business, especially when companies are scaling. With the day to day operations, combined with the added pressure from the competitive market, it is easy for a company to lose focus from the intended.
A rebrand is a definite way to refocus the energy towards the goal and eliminate what’s unnecessary. As you start rebranding the business, make a comeback. Build the new business strategy so it aligns with the original goals and will position you right on track.
You want to take your brand globally
Local business strategy and branding works completely different from a global brand. If you want to grow your homegrown brand internationally, rebranding becomes an essential step. You might have to rebrand the business completely, or simply create a new branding strategy for the international division.
You want to improve the performance of your business
The brand is the face value of your business. Part of business (or most of it) depends on how well your brand is accepted by the audience. If you are not satisfied with the current performance of the business, you can consider rebranding as a definite strategy if the business is working smoothly. This will help you identify flaws in your branding and rectify them immediately.
How do you know that your current branding strategy is not working?
Are one of the above-mentioned points killing your brands? Here are some signs of danger to look out for,
- Decreasing market share/ Higher demand of competitors
- Stagnant or declining sales
- A decline in audience engagement
- Old fashioned branding
- Negative reviews
- Confusion and chaos internally and externally
- Industry gaining a fresh perspective
While all the above signs do not guarantee that branding is the problem, it is something that depends from situation to situation. A close inspection and analysis are essential to come to a conclusion.
Questions that you can ask yourself in this situation
- Are you positioned where rebranding can give you an advantage in the market?
- Do you have a good following and community of customers around your brand?
- Is your brand’s marketing strategy easy to refer to and measure?
- Is your brand relevant in the current time with ongoing trends?
If the answer is no, it is time for your business to get a makeover. To help you decide, we have listed some definitive steps including competitive research to brainstorming the plan in another article mentioned below!
How can we help you with rebranding?
People like to do business with the brand they can rely on. This means that your rebranding strategy needs to be on point, which can be quite a time-consuming process. But there is a great way to speed up this process.
At Vowels, we have marketing professionals with years of experience in branding strategy. We will help you get creative and design a brand that resonates with your business and appeals to your target audience. Contact us for creative branding for your business.
Bottom-line
One thing is without a doubt – entrepreneurs can undoubtedly disregard branding when they are too bustling zeroing in on the everyday assignments of maintaining a business. Yet, it’s something that ought to consistently be kept toward the rear of your brain, as your company’s branding is regularly the main openness a client has to your business and your image will stick to them.
