When should you consider a rebrand?
Good brands are built to stand the test of time, but even the best ones refresh their look every once in a while. It’s important to conduct routine maintenance and perform updates when necessary AND be willing to completely part with your look, tagline, and even logo — aka Rebrand — if it no longer serves your target markets and your company goals. After all, the market and your customers are constantly evolving and your brand should be too. In doing so, rebranding can rejuvenate your business if it’s done with a rock solid focus on strategy and executed properly.
So, how do you know if it’s time for your business to rebrand?
- You’ve gathered up all of your past marketing materials (website, sell sheets, presentations, business cards, stationery, brochures, flyers, banners, digital ads, etc.) and realized that most of them are outdated or weren’t used at all. The last time your website was updated was in 2010 and your sell sheet doesn’t even include your new service offerings.
- Upon further examination of your collection of marketing materials you’ve noticed an inconsistency in look and message across pieces. Your website message is completely different than your sell sheet message, you have multiple flyers and brochures that have different looks, and your online presence is lacking cohesiveness between social media platforms.
- You’ve been scoping out your competitors and industry leaders lately to get a better pulse on what they are or aren’t doing. You’ve noticed they have a new website, look, and online presence – they’ve rebranded or at least refocused some energy into their image. In fact, you may have even lost some potential clients to them recently.
- You notice a new graphic or color was introduced at some point in your marketing materials and you can’t remember why or when it happened, and it never quite made it onto everything. You know rules were set for your brand, but somewhere along the line, they got tossed out the window along with your brand standards guide.
- You read number 4 and thought, “What’s a brand standards guide? I don’t have one.” A brand standards guide sets the rules for your brand. Every company, from small start ups to large organizations need a brand standards guide. It establishes distinct guidelines to ensure everything is unified and cohesive, including your font styles, your colors, as well as when and how your logo should be used. When you have brand standards in place you can maintain consistency in the look, feel, and tone of your brand.
- Your brand no longer reflects who you are as an organization. Your message no longer tells your story or maybe it never truly did. Can people in the organization articulate what you do? Do they have a hard time explaining it? After further investigation maybe you realize you’ve outgrown your mission, your elevator speech is un-engaging, and your logo no longer represents who you are as a company.
- You lost your brand strategy. You’ve been making decisions without considering the why behind them. You know having a plan is important, but you’ve failed to make time to really execute on it. It’s time to step back, take a look at what’s happening around you, and uncover new opportunities.
Finding your true brand personality that aligns with your organization’s mission, vision, and values is a fun and rewarding experience. If you can relate to any of the scenarios above, then it may be time to rebrand (or at least start to get the wheels turning). If you’re interested in learning more about how we can help, contact me or head over to our branding page for our philosophy on it!
