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Has your business outgrown its original vision? Are you expanding into a new country or new region that may not understand your original logo, name, and marketing message? Do you want to change the look and feel of your company to better reflect your evolving customer base? If so, you should consider rebranding.
Rebranding your company can be tricky. After all, your customers have grown comfortable with your business persona, your logo, and the look of your packaging. However, sometimes a business outgrows its original vision or switches direction. In these cases, rebranding can give your business a fresh look and better reflect your new vision.
Rebranding is the art and science of reinventing the way your company looks and interacts with customers and potential customers. It involves much more than just a new logo or even a new name. Successful rebranding refreshes the way your company appears to customers without sacrificing the customer loyalty and trust you've built over the years your company has been in business.
While every company approaches rebranding somewhat differently, according to their own needs, rebranding usually includes changing the look of your digital advertising, packaging, and communications as well as overall marketing strategy.
According to Entrepreneur magazine, the best reason to rebrand your business is that your audience is changing. Maybe you need to appear more vibrant and more "hip" to attract a younger audience. Or, maybe the opposite is true, that your customer base is aging and no longer swayed by the latest trends and flashy colors.
Another good reason to rebrand your business is if your competitor is grabbing an increasingly large chunk of your market. In a case like that, you need a way for potential customers to instantly differentiate your two businesses and for yours to appear more attractive.
The experts at Entrepreneur rightly caution against rebranding simply because you are changing the name of the business. They cite the disastrous rebranding effort in 2009 when Radio Shack changed to The Shack. The company effectively threw out decades of brand awareness and customer loyalty in a single move. Other experts caution against rebranding to beef up your sales. Slumping sales are usually better addressed by new advertising and other marketing campaigns.
Some companies continue to evolve their marketing. Apple and Starbucks both subtly redesign their logos every few years to make them appear more current.
Looking for another rebranding success story? Check out the men's cologne/toiletry line, Old Spice. Since their rebranding in 2008, the line has seen massive growth and left then-competitor Axe in the dust.
Even yours truly, EmberTribe, has gone through a rebrand to reflect our evolution.