What does rebranding entail?
Rebranding is the process by which a company changes the visual identity, name, communication and/or positioning of its product or service. It is a lengthy process that involves much more than "just changing your name”. With rebranding, you change the way your target audience views your brand.
Rebranding has a major impact on the future of your company and must be prepared to perfection. Because once launched, there is no turning back.
Like branding, rebranding takes time before you see results. Your target audience needs to get used to your rebranding and recognition needs to be built back up.
You don't make the decision to rebrand overnight. Look at your current situation. Is the problem really with your branding? Does data prove that your target audience is not convinced by your brand name, communication style or brand colors? Do test results prove that rebranding would have a positive impact on your business? Then be sure to read on.
What is the purpose of rebranding?
The purpose of rebranding is to change or improve the perception of your brand among your target audience. You do this to attract a new/larger audience, to modernize your business or to reposition your company in the marketplace.
A successful rebranding leads to more interest and engagement from your target audience. This ensures growth and more sales.
It's important to consider the costs and risks of rebranding. Does your rebranding not have a clear purpose? If so, it could lead to confusion among your existing customers and even the loss of original brand recognition.
When is rebranding necessary?
A rebranding is carried out to reposition your brand, product or service in the market. It is a lengthy process that you perform only if you have a very good reason and a clear purpose for it. Some examples where rebranding is a good idea:
- Your company's mission or vision has changed.
- You change your target audience (for example, from Gen X to Gen Z).
- Your current branding has been around since 1960 and no longer connects with your target audience.
- Your current branding has negative associations with your target audience.
- You merge with another company and go for a completely new branding.
- New products/services in your offering do not align with your current branding
Not sure if rebranding is the solution for your business? Ask yourself the following questions:
- Why are you considering rebranding?
- How long has your current branding been in place?
- Does your current branding align with your purpose? Does it make you happy and excited?
- Has your target audience changed?
- Is your current branding still relevant?
- Are your brand colors, logo, style and visual elements outdated?
- How does your branding compare to your competition?
- Does your branding reflect the qualities of your business?
The answer to these questions will give you a clear understanding of whether or not a rebrand is necessary.
Note: Have you seen a new logo that you like better? Would you have been better off choosing that other name after all? If so, think twice before rebranding. It's a lengthy process that involves a lot.
How do you tackle rebranding?
A rebranding is best carried out with the support of a branding agency. Would you rather do it yourself anyway? Follow these steps:
Define the purpose of your rebranding
Identify the reasons for your rebranding and make sure your goals and vision are clear before you begin building your new brand.
Evaluate your current branding
Analyze your current branding and examine what is working and what is not. Identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Research the market and your target market
Research market trends, your target audience and your biggest competitors. That's how you'll discover what works for your target audience.
Develop your rebranding
Once you know what your target audience wants, you can begin your rebranding. Record all your new visual aspects (brand, brand name, brand colors, typography) in a brand book. That way, others within your organization will know about the rebrand in detail.
Notify loyal customers of your rebranding
A rebranding involves risk. Notify your current customers of a change in your branding. Let them know that your qualities will remain unchanged, that only your "look and feel" will change.
At the moment of launching the rebranding, it needs to be clear also in the communication that the “look” has changed but that the essence, purpose or why is the same (in case the brand has a good reputation). In case it’s a rebranding for other reasons, also make it clear that the change is for good and to improve…
Measure the results of your rebranding
Measure results and analyze them to find out if rebranding was successful. Use statistics and customer feedback to see if your rebranding produced the desired results. Don't see immediate results? No need to panic. Rebranding is a long-term process. Wait and give your target audience time to get used to your new branding.
Important: Allow enough time to prepare your rebranding to perfection. Once launched, there is no going back. You can hardly keep rebranding. That not only involves a lot of work, it also comes across as unprofessional.
Go through all your brand communications in detail to make sure no mistakes are creeping in. Using your old logo or brand name after a rebranding is really not done.
Benefits of rebranding
Is your rebranding fully aligned with your target audience? Does your new branding match your goals, mission and vision? Then you will enjoy powerful results:
- A fresh start: rebranding is seen as a new start for a company. It helps to take a new direction, set new goals and make a fresh start.
- A renewed image: rebranding helps create a renewed image and improve the current perception of your company among your target audience.
- Differentiate yourself from the competition: new branding can provide greater recognition and better positioning against your competitors.
- More relevant to your target audience: tailoring your rebranding to your target audience will make your company more relevant to your market.
- New opportunities: a rebrand offers new opportunities for a company. It helps to launch new products or services or even address new markets.
3 examples of successful rebranding
In 2019, the famous "Dunkin' Donuts" changed its name to "Dunkin." The reason for this? The company wanted to do more than just sell donuts. Have you noticed that they now also sell delicious iced coffees? They changed their name to enter an additional market.
In addition to Dunkin, Starbucks also chose to rebrand. Starbucks has always been popular. You see the familiar coffee cups everywhere, even on Instagram pages of famous people. So why did they choose to rebrand anyway? They also wanted to expand their assortment. Their regular customers kept coming back for their coffee, but to attract new customers and boost sales of their new products, something had to change. They simply removed the word "coffee" and their brand name from their logo. This small change ensured that Starbucks was no longer associated only with coffee. From now on, everyone knows that Starbucks' cookies, brownies and pastries are also well worth the effort.
One last example of good rebranding is Airbnb. Airbnb used to be seen as a cheap alternative to a hotel. So it all started with 2 people renting out an air mattress in their loft. When one of the owners discovered that the power of Airbnb was in seeing the world and getting to know new people, Airbnb knew something had to change. A new logo and corporate identity were put in place.
Examples of less successful rebranding
A very well-known example of a less successful rebranding is Tropicana. They went for a complete rebranding: simple packaging, new logo and color palette and new marketing campaigns. The result? Loyal customers no longer recognized Tropicana. Their new design resembled a white product, so it stayed on the shelves. The result? 20% less sales! Tropicana quickly went back to its original branding. Autch!
How could Tropicana have avoided this? A survey with their target audience had quickly revealed that a rebranding was not necessary at all.
Of course, Comcast should not be left out of this list. Comcast is an American company with a very bad reputation for customer service. Their solution? To stop being associated with this reputation, they invested in a new name and logo. The problem? Their customer service remained just as bad. Obviously, this did not provide the desired results.
Comcast would have been better off investing in internal training rather than a new logo. Oops!
Rebranding do's & dont's
Do's
- Examine whether a rebranding is really necessary
- Get to know your target audience inside out
- Take surveys and interviews with your target audience
- Allow sufficient time to prepare and roll out your rebranding
- Inform customers of your changes, assure them that quality remains unchanged
- Use data to make decisions
- Measure your results
Dont's
- Changing all your branding because you found a nicer logo
- Changing branding because you want to
- Implement a completely different style that your target audience no longer recognizes at all
- Adopt branding elements from your competitor
- Choosing a branding based on current trends that are blowing over again
Professional rebranding by Bonito.Studio
Rebranding your brand? Bonito.Studio transforms your brand into a powerful brand that makes an impact.