When is the Right Time to Rebrand?
“Rebranding sucks!”
This came from a friend and client who was in the middle of explaining why he was procrastinating on sending us feedback for a deliverable. Trying not to take this personally, I prodded for more information. Turns out, not everyone is as excited about reinventing themselves as we are (shocking, I know).
Creating a brand for the first time is hard enough, but rebranding -- going through the obligatory existential questions, building a sticky message, changing all of your collateral to the new ‘look and feel’, getting everybody on your team onboard with the new strategy, AND investing in something you technically already have -- all so you can move with the times? It’s easy to see why this always falls to the backburner for companies.
Believe it or not, there are more ideal scenarios where investment in a rebrand could fundamentally impact your business. We’ve rounded up our top signs you’re ready for a rebrand here.
1. You’ve pivoted your product, audience, or value.
One of the most effective ways to let your current customers and community know that you’ve changed things (hopefully for the better) is with a rebrand. Not just new positioning or a new marketing campaign, but something that will indicate things are different in your business. Customers need to be brought along with change, a rebrand provides a visual cue that your product has shifted. If you’ve pivoted your target customer, a rebrand will help you align with the new audience’s needs, aspirations, goals, etc. It can also be used as a strategic PR move because you can speak to how the brand is transitioning - visually and viscerally (think Uber’s 2018 rebrand after leadership changed hands and company culture took a hit.)
2. Your sales & marketing have gone stale.
If you feel like you’ve worked every angle of your current positioning and now all of your content seems redundant or cloudy, it’s time to revisit and find a fresh approach. A fresh strategy will help you look at your brand and audience with fresh eyes - how have their needs or goals changed, where is the industry falling short, what opportunities exist that can help your brand feel relevant again and how can your visual language work to showcase the new message? This is also a chance to emphasize a different value in your product or service that has either shifted in importance for your customer or perhaps gone overlooked in the past.
3. Your competition is a little too close for comfort.
It happens to every brand, you’ve been depending on that one promo or platform for so long that your competitors have caught wind and started offering the same thing - or something better. In this case, imitation is not the biggest form of flattery - it’s downright irritating, but unfortunately really common when your brand’s positioning isn’t that different from your competitors. Standing out is one of the key reasons to rebrand, and will help you fine tune your lane and lean into your values so you’re not relying on nuanced differences that frankly your customer doesn’t even notice.
4. Your talent isn’t resonating with the brand purpose.
Okay, this last one could be more about educating than rebranding, but one of the key reasons you may have trouble rallying your team around the purpose - your why, the raison d’etre of your brand - is because it’s just not clear or compelling. If this is the case, it’s going to be an uphill battle attracting new talent as well as keeping existing team members. Dialing in your brand’s purpose with a collaborative strategy exercise will not only ensure your message lands, it will include team members in the process so they feel like they’re part of the process, understand their place in the vision, and more willing to fight for the brand.