Many companies have rebranded their well-known business without developing the success that they assumed they would find. Businesses need to tread a fine line when attempting a rebrand, and must exercise careful consideration when creating a new persona that customers will resonate with.
In the excitement of entering a new phase, brands can forget to ensure that their new message and style emotionally and intellectually appeal to the target audience. They may also jump ahead too quickly with changing logos and slogans, losing customers who are suddenly unsure what happened to the company they were keeping track of.
So what do you need to know? Below, eight members of Forbes Communications Council share some of the elements that are absolutely crucial to watch out for when rebranding, and how they can be handled with care. Here’s what they had to say:
1. Balance Between Innovation And Consistency
I think brand evolution is critical. However, it is so important to consider and keep key elements that retain part of the identity at the same time. I believe finding the balance between innovation and consistency is the best way to move forward long term. - Sunny Landeros, Jetex
2. Don't Be Casual About It
Too often, when someone suggests a "rebrand" to Marketing, they are thinking on a superficial level: change the logo and jingle. Branding is a powerful tool to connect with your audience and should be treated that way. The target audience, reputation of the company, style and voice should all be considered when thinking about a rebrand, not just colors and fonts. - Beth Shivak, Union Bank & Trust
3. Remember Who You Are While Planning
When rebranding, it can be common to get wrapped up in defining a "new you." While refreshing your image is important, it is equally critical to hold on to your unique value proposition and maintaining fidelity to your core mission/values. - Colby Reade, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust
4. Consider The Emotional And Intellectual Appeal
Brands must appeal to both the emotional as well as intellectual drivers of your target personas; all too often an organization focuses on "what" and "how," and forgets the "why." Even more important is recognizing how to develop a self-selecting conversation for your messaging which should progress your audience through context, problem, promise, as well as the difference — how does your solution uniquely deliver on this promise — and the enabler — what are you offering to accomplish this. - Brian Anderson, POPin
5. Clearly Articulate Your Reason For Rebranding
Ensure you can clearly articulate why you are rebranding: Will the rebrand provide additional benefits to the customer? Expanded service? Centralized customer service? Another consideration is the time it takes to complete a rebrand. It will take many exposures to seat a new brand in someone's mind, so try co-branding for a time and slowly move to the new look, so that people have enough time to get accustomed to it. - Caroline Lyle, TMW Systems
Read more in When Brand Strategy And Corporate Culture Collide
6. Stay Original Among Competitors
Remain mindful of the subtle pull to seek aesthetic acceptance among the matrix of your competitors. A lack of awareness here is part of the reason why many brands jockeying for control in the same space end up using similar fonts and color palettes. The process of a rebrand should feel like a continuous dance between discovering and giving form to your new you and standing out from the crowd. - Cameron Conaway, Solace
7. Be Clear About Mission, Vision And Values
A mistake many organizations make is equating a brand to a logo or tagline, but it's so much more than that. When rebranding, it is crucial to ensure that your organization has a clear mission and vision statement, as well as cultural values. Ask the question, "What is true about us now that we want to maintain or change as we expand or renew our brand?" Having clarity around who you are and who you want to become as a brand is critical. - Holly Tate, Vanderbloemen Search Group
8. Ensure Your Audience Knows It’s Still You
Ensure your target audience is able to associate it with you and with the new positioning. What they think of you matters more than what you think of yourself. The rebranding transition needs to be smooth and done over a period of time, to ensure your customers know it's you. - Yaagneshwaran Ganesh, Fiind Inc.
