Should I Rebrand Or Start From Scratch ?
When it comes to business success, there is no doubt that having a strong brand is important. However, creating a perfect and endless brand is impossible. With the rise of technological advancements and the proliferation of social media in the business world, maintaining brand relevance is more important than ever.
Most of the time, brands need a little update or even a complete change to keep up with this fast changing world. The term “rebranding” is often used for this process, but in most cases “rebranding” is more accurate.
While a refresh makes the company’s identity and strategy obsolete, rebranding allows the brand to shed its current identity and start anew. Rebranding is a great strategy for businesses that feel their brand strategy is unclear or ineffective. Since this is a top-down change, this process involves creating a new vision plan, clarifying the message, reconstructing the history, and reworking the situation and brand values to match the new clear goals. Rebranding gives you the power to start over and start a new branding process with a defined vision for the future.
A company that wants to rebrand basically means that it wants to change its brand image and perception in the market. Although it may retain some aspects of the old identity, the brand, for the most part, will go in a new direction. In many cases, rebranding is a good solution if the company’s strategy makes it ineffective for its current market. Whether the current target market is changing or is no longer a valuable audience, a rebrand allows a business to change its brand strategy to keep up with new market trends.
Since brand change needs to start from scratch, it must be approached with care and purpose. A company should start rebranding only after carefully planning the new branding strategy from start to finish. Rebranding should provide a long-term strategy rather than a short-term solution.
Types of Rebranding
Reactive Rebranding
In reactive rebranding, the company reacts to immediate situations in which it can benefit from rebranding. This type of rebranding is a response rather than a plan. A reactive rebrand is most likely to occur when:
- Want to fight bad advertising or bad brands
- Your business is acquired or merged with another
- Your competition has gained a strong advantage in your market
- Your trademark violates certain trademark or copyright laws
Proactive Rebranding
When a company prepares for future changes in the market or within the company itself, this is considered a revolutionary change. This type of change occurs when a company anticipates market or business changes and seeks to respond to those changes. An active rebrand is an important decision to steer your business in a new direction.
It is most likely to happen when:
- Your brand strategy isn’t working with your audience
- Are you looking to reach a different audience or expand into a larger market?
- Your brand is no longer available on the market
- You want to expand your company’s product/service offering
- Your brand identity doesn’t match your brand strategy
- Your brand story and philosophy doesn’t exist or doesn’t work
Pros of Rebranding
Attracting new customers
When you have been in the market for a while, your image and your company’s message can get lost, and maybe it is not relevant to your target audience. While your mission and mission as a business has changed over time to meet the unique needs and challenges of your customers, your brand may not reflect this clearly. By defining your image, your company’s identity or your audience, you can attract new customers and rekindle the interest of your existing audience.
Get a new goal
Another benefit of rebranding is that you can dramatically change the focus of your efforts, allowing you to achieve new goals. Some of your new goals may be to create a new product or improve an existing one. Or, you can decide to make your employees more involved in supporting the interests of your company, and this rebrand is a great excuse to include everyone in the company.
Increase engagement
Every time you add something new and exciting to your product line, or change your brand, you have an opportunity to make soap. You can use a rebrand to get people talking about your business on social media. Instead of fearing change, you can show existing and potential customers the positive aspects of the changes you are making and why you are making them.
STREAMLINE INFORMATION
Somewhere along the line, your message and brand may be garbled or inconsistent. Rebrand allows us to bring everything back to basics. If your online reputation is on the backburner, now might be the best time to get out there and kill two birds with one stone.
Cons of Rebranding
Chaos breeds chaos
Change is scary, especially because no one knows exactly what the end will be. People can be confused or frustrated whenever a change occurs. By publishing newsletters, posting announcements on social media, and sending email newsletters, you can let everyone know what’s happening and what’s to come. Communication is very important during the branding process.
You risk losing a few customers
If a restructuring plan is not properly planned and implemented correctly, you may lose some of your existing customers. Unfortunately, even if you do everything right, there is always a chance that you will lose customers. Why? People don’t like change. By clearly explaining your reasons for rebranding, staying true to your values, and knowing your customers’ needs, you can reduce the risk of losing customers in the long run.
BE READY TO SPEND
When considering a rebranding plan, be prepared to spend money. Going through a complete rebranding is anything but cheap. Be prepared to spend money to develop new branding strategies, new content, graphics, and marketing and advertising to support your project. While there are ways to save money when rebranding, it’s worth investing the money to make sure it’s done right.
Rebranding your business can include updating your strategy, services and name.
Before starting this project, consider your strategy and motivation for the rebrand. Include your current customers during the process.
Rebranding can take many forms, from changing your business name to introducing a new business model. While these changes are happening, businesses still need to work to connect and communicate with customers.
When should you consider Rebranding ?
- When you want to connect with a new audience
This can be considered as the first goal for many brands. Many companies choose to reinvent their business to connect with new audiences. Rebranding helps businesses attract the attention of new or profitable audiences. It allows you to build your brand to connect with potential customers with products that meet the needs of your target customers and build brand loyalty.
- When you want to attract top talent
Good talent likes to work in big companies. It takes good talent to make good employees. When you find that it is difficult or impossible for your company to find qualified people for your job openings, it means that your company needs to change.
Rebranding allows you to reinvent your brand and attract better talent for better productivity, growth and great service.
- When you want to stand out from your competitors
Every business likes to stand out from its competitors.
Redesigning your business can help you figure out how to use your competitive advantage to stand out from other similar brands. Your business needs to find out what makes your brand stand out from the rest of the competition.
A good way to stand out from competitors is to improve brand identity. Color can affect how your brand is perceived. Having a signature color can increase brand recognition by 80%.
- When your business model or strategy has changed
Another indicator of the need to adapt your business is a change in your business plan.
As your brand grows, your business plan changes and rebranding will be necessary to maintain growth and success. This can start by changing some of the key elements of your business to fit your new business plan.
- When you pass your mark
Sometimes people outgrow their brands and it’s important to consider a rebrand. You’ve passed your mark when you realize your mark is too low for your new goal. You can rebrand to adapt your business to your new role and vision instead of abandoning the brand.
Conclusion
When you rebrand to accommodate growth, you won’t lose all of your brand. You can eliminate any weaknesses in your brand while maintaining strength as you move forward.
You value your brand and you put a lot of effort into making it successful. A great brand can increase your business and expand your reach. In general, companies choose to adapt their models for many reasons. However, one important aspect of brand transformation is connecting with potential customers.
Rebranding helps you stand out and stand out from your competition. Promoting and strengthening your brand is the key to customer loyalty and staying active in the business. When you reinvent your business, you attract new customers, become relevant, stand out from similar brands, and increase your awareness.