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Considerations during your rebrand process9

SoYOU’VE DECIDED IT’S TIME TO

REBRAND...GREAT NEWS!

In some ways, you’ve already taken the hardest step. With the hustle and bustle of daily work, it can be all too easy to overlook the signs that your brand has become a little tired and dated.

It’s like any fashion - you suddenly catch sight of yourself in a mirror and realise your favourite gear doesn’t look quite as ‘hip’ as you thought - time for a makeover.

So if you’ve taken a good hard look at yourselves and taken the decision to rebrand, you could find you’ve just made one of the most important decisions there is to ensure the future prosperity of your company.

But where you do you go from here? The whole process may feel a bit daunting. It needn’t be.

Just be aware of certain key considerations before the creative side of things gets underway.

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To help, we’ve taken a look at the top nine things we believe you must think about as part of your rebranding project.

These can make all the difference in breathing new life into your marketing, helping you stand out from the competition and delivering real commercial benefits.

Now, sit back and prepare to get excited about your brand once again.

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Does your brand name still reflect your brand vision?

Which aspects of your current brand prompted your decision to rebrand?

What will make your brand stand out from the competition?

See your rebrand as asimplification process

Use the rebrand process to check any new business models or strategies are included

If you’ve realised you’ve outgrown your existing brand, what do you need to take into account?

Who do you want to talk to? What do you want to tell them?

Consider whether your brand is preventing you from competing at a higher level

Make sure you involve your team

9 considerations during your rebrand process


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Does yourbrand name still reflect your brand vision?

Your brand name is at the centre of everything you do and is no doubt close to your heart.

It’s probably been with you since the business started and it’s likely you will have built up considerable brand equity associated with it. But things have a habit of moving on without you realising it.

It’s important to keep reviewing whether your brand name still reflects your brand vision.

What might have been a great name when you first set up twenty years ago may no longer really represent what your brand stands for today. You may have changed which sectors you wish to target and feel restricted by your name or you may feel you have just outgrown it.

Kentucky Fried Chicken began to subtly rebrand in 1991, by shifting the focus to its initials, KFC. There were a lot of (untrue) rumours circulating that the reason for the change was because KFC’s chicken didn’t really contain chicken, or that the company didn’t want to pay royalties to Kentucky. And that was way before the recent incident when they really did run out of chicken!

The true reason was evidently to give the brand a healthier feel by removing the word “fried” from the name.

Make sure you’re not being held back by a name, no matter how attached you may feel to it.

Next stepsCanvas the opinions of colleagues, clients and suppliers. Step back (if possible) and take a cool, impartial look at what your brand name is really doing for you.

1.


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What was it in particular that started the ‘time for a rebrand’ button flashing?

Were you cringing with embarrassment every time you pulled out your business card or making lots of excuses about how out of date your website looked?

Your brand is one of those things you can easily get too close to, or just stop seeing it for what it is. You know what it’s like when you first move house and you blast through your list of DIY jobs. After a while, you just stop noticing that wonky picture frame or mark on the wall.

Which aspects of your current brand prompted your decision to rebrand?

2. Maybe it was only when you saw your branding side by side with that of your competitors that you noticed how outdated, stale and well, just a bit boring, it was looking. Websites, in particular, can soon look like they‘re lagging behind in terms of design and functionality.

The rebrand process is your opportunity to bring your brand bang up to date. Take an in depth look at your logo and overall identity. Is your visual imagery consistent across all platforms? Does your tone of voice sound authentic? This is the time to create a brand you can be proud of.

Next stepsMake sure your branding isn’t obviously shouting which era it was created in. Is that colour you were once so proud of still ‘on trend’ in today’s marketplace?

Commission a brand audit to find out.


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from your competition?

What will make your brand

3. Has your brand become a little bit ’samey’? Do you look just like everyone else in your sector; same colour logo, similar website?

If so, it’s time to go back to basics as you start your rebrand process.

STAN DOUT

What would your clients say was your real unique selling point? Does your brand convey that?

There are a lot of factors vying for your client’s attention. Ask yourself what will tear them away from the cat video they’re watching on Facebook and make them notice your brand!

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3. A rebranding project is your opportunity to differentiate yourself from the competition. It’s important to capitalise on your unique value proposition so that clients who are looking for a new solution to their challenges take note of what you’re offering. Maybe it’s time to be bold and rock the boat a little.

from your competition?

What will make your brand

Think about some of the household brands today; Tesco, Marks and Spencer, Sainsburys. Consider the gradual tweaks and changes they’ve made to their colour palettes and straplines over the years to reinvent themselves and stand out.

What do people remember about your brand?

Next stepsLook at four or five of your main competitors. Print out their logos or their websites’ home pages and pin them on the office wall. What‘s good or bad about them? What would make yours noticeably different? After all, you don’t want to just end up with a copycat version of theirs.

STAN DOUT


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Businesses have a habit of growing and expanding. You may have added a new division here, broken into a totally new sector there and before you know it, your company has become a huge, sprawling monster.

In such cases, you may have felt your brand was struggling to keep up with the raft of new products and services, hence the reason for initiating a rebrand process.

On the positive side, growth like that is obviously a sign of a healthy business. The downside is that if you’re not careful, the overall purpose can become confused to the outsider. The rebrand is an opportunity to look at what the business really stands for.

See your rebrand as a simplification process

4. With an increase in complexity comes a decrease in cohesiveness. There is no unifying narrative and your brand’s message may become diluted and confusing to the end-user. Ask yourself if all the visual language or imagery matches what the business is currently trying to do. Does the tone of voice ring true across each arm of the business? Or has it all started to become a bit too complicated?

Take stock. Refocus. Use the rebrand to simplify and concentrate your message.

Next stepsThis is the acid test! Look at a selection of your marketing collateral, online and offline. Assess it in as detached a manner as you can. Does your message come across loud and clear? How many different iterations of your logos are being used? Are any old ones slipping through the net? Does each piece look like it belongs to the same organisation?


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The goals you set out with five or ten years ago will have no doubt changed significantly over time. New market opportunities may have come along which have steered the company in a different direction.

Ways of operating may have changed. You could have embraced new technology in terms of your financial, marketing or client relationship systems. If these have had a fundamental impact on how you do business with your clients then your rebranding process is the time to address this.

Use the rebrand process to check any new business models or strategies are included

5. Ask yourself whether your brand is helping to sell your current business or one from the past? Is the business model you are currently following being accurately represented or does your brand need to play catch-up?

A good way of checking this is to do an audit of all your processes. Look at each stage of the client experience. Pay particular attention to the language you’re using in all your interactions with them, especially if the technology you’ve adopted is from another country.

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rebrand process to check any new business models or strategies are included

5. Next stepsDevote your next Board meeting or Senior Management Team meeting to consider whether your brand is still in keeping with any new business initiatives or strategies you have adopted. As part of the rebrand process, does the brand need to accommodate a new business model?

Is all the visual material your client is seeing consistent at every stage of their dealings with you? The rebrand process is the time to consider whether the necessary adjustments from adopting a new business model have been seamlessly transferred. Check that everything rings true.


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your existing brand, what do you need to take into account?

If you’ve realised you’ve

GROWNOUT

6. On the face of it, this is a nice problem to have! As a result of being successful, you may simply have outgrown your existing brand. If you’d started to scale your business, a rebranding process will enable you to take account of new wins in different sectors.

Or you may have introduced different divisions to the business which aren’t represented in your current brand.

Consider how your new look and feel needs to position your business so that you can compete at a higher level with higher-tier brands.

Large firms with significant budgets will only consider certain suppliers they think match their idea of a competent partner. Your business needs to look the part.

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Think about a football team that has moved up to the Premier League. The kit they wear, the sponsors they attract, the way they travel, all change to reflect their new standing.

However attached you are to your current brand or no matter how comfortable you might feel with it, your rebrand process is the opportunity to leave your existing ‘look’ behind and grow.

Next stepsTake a good, hard look at your brand. Carry out some workshops within your team. Conduct some interviews with existing clients. What does your company need to do to move up a level and play with the big boys?

6.GROWNOUT

your existing brand, what do you need to take into account?

If you’ve realised you’ve


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A fundamental part of your rebrand is to paint a clear picture of the people you want to attract and what makes them tick.

If you’re wanting to attract a new audience, whether it’s millennials or post-millennials, Gen Z or iGen, it’s vital that you talk their language. As we’ve said earlier, you also have to look right.

We often find a brand can become closely associated with a specific generation. You may have been brilliant at addressing the needs of a specific demographic, but if for one reason or another you’ve decided to reach out to


7. a different audience, you’ll need to change your image.

Old Spice is one such example of a brand that reinvented itself. Considered for years untouchable by any man under the age of 60, countless unwanted gifts of the aftershave languished

at the back of bathroom cabinets all over the country.

Thanks, however, to a successful advertising campaign featuring

former American football league player, Isaiah Mustafa, and a subsequent

social media campaign, the brand’s image was transformed and appealed to a much

younger consumer base. Sales soared by 11% in the following twelve months.

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Next stepsBreak down your current client base by demographic. If you want to target a new audience, find out everything you can about them; what music they like, what films they watch, where they hang out... Establish personas for them and get a real feel for what they’re like.

If it’s a B2B audience, consider how your brand aligns with theirs and also the message it conveys to the key individuals in the business.


7. Be sensitive to shifting trends and make sure your brand is aligned to the generation you’re targeting. The last thing millenials want is to be associated with the brands of their parents’ generation.

As well as age, though, think location. Your rebrand may have come about because you want to expand beyond your original geographical area. So if you’re based in the North West but want to start taking on clients from London or further afield, make sure you’re not going to be limited by your name, messaging or visual language. You’ll need to have an eye on the future and ensure your brand can grow with you.

Once you’ve got your audience defined, think about what you want to say to them. How can you describe what your brand does for them. What value do you create? Bring your vision to life and build a vibrant story around your brand that will resonate with your prospects.


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8. One of the reasons you may have decided to rebrand is because you want to be taken seriously by bigger clients. Positioning is key.

We can all think of brands where we know we could get a similar item elsewhere but are happy to pay more because of the statement it makes or because it’s our ‘brand’. Designer labels somehow justify a hefty price tag!

This is because brands ultimately boil down to what their clients think of them. Your clients will pay what they perceive the value of your offering to be to them.

Likewise, a poor image will prevent you from attracting the right type of clients. So if you want to attract bigger clients with deeper pockets, you need to look the part. After all, you’d never dream of going to see a client in trainers and a hoodie or an ill-fitting suit. Why think your brand is any different?

During the rebrand process, consider what you want to charge and whether your current brand is preventing you from commanding higher fees?

What do you need to change to get to that point?


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8. You may feel that because of what you’ve charged in the past, you’re stuck in a certain price bracket and that despite the rising cost of delivering your proposition, the price for your products or services is irrevocably fixed.

By repositioning your brand, however, it may be possible to jump up a notch or two in your clients’ perceptions and raise your fees accordingly.

Apple is an obvious example. In the early-to-mid 1990s, they were struggling due to low sales, low consumer interest and strong competition.

The brand didn’t mean anything to people and failed to stand out in any way. Steve Jobs, however, turned that around when he joined the company in 1997. He reinvented the brand so that it became synonymous with minimalism and modernity.

But more than that, he successfully positioned them as the thought leader where tech was concerned. As well as a host of exciting, new products, their marketing campaigns focused on the ideas and experience. Apple was suddenly a ‘sought-after’ brand, whose new and diverse client base were quite happy to pay a high ticket price to get their hands on their latest shiny product.

As part of your rebrand process, think about how you can start to change the perception of your brand.

Next stepsDo an audit of your fees and conduct some competitor research. Why not carry out a client survey to see how clients perceive your brand on a scale of 1-10 (bargain basement to high end)?


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Make sure you

9. There’s a group of people who know your brand better than anyone. Yes, your employees!

Include them from an early stage in any rebrand process. They’ll have a good idea of your company’s strengths and weaknesses so it’s worth holding a set of internal workshops to see what your team think the current brand values are. Tap into their suggestions for what they think could be done better or for new areas to explore.

Don’t lose sight of the fact that your employees can be your best brand ambassadors when they’re out and about.

Linked to this, remember your brand isn’t just about pushing an image out to clients. It’s about who it attracts in.

Use the rebrand process to assess whether you are ‘the place’ that people want to work?

I N V O LV ET E A MT H E

Do people think of your brand name and say ‘I’d love to be one of their employees’ or do they struggle to even know what you stand for?

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Make sure you

9. Sadly, if your competitors have a stronger brand image than you, they’ll be snapping up the best talent.

Some companies have such a strong identity that people are desperate to work there. Think of innocent drinks with its youthful culture at Fruit Towers or Google, with its amazing perks. Then there’s Ben & Jerry’s who manage to successfully combine social responsibility with fun and flavour parties!

Now, we can’t all be the Googles, innocent drinks, and Ben & Jerry’s of this world but you can project a positive and engaging image of your workplace - even if your brand isn’t about ice cream!

So if you’re having trouble recruiting and retaining the calibre of employees you need for your business to thrive, use the rebrand process to redefine yourself, not just for your clients, but for your current and future employees as well.

I N V O LV ET E A MT H E

Next stepsOrganise some internal workshops and find out what your team really think of your current brand.


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That’s it! You’re ready to start your rebrand! Don’t be daunted. Instead, embrace the process.

It should be a time of excitement that will enable you to do new things and uncover fresh opportunities.

Keep focused on the fact that with the amount of measurable benefits that come with rebranding, the investment is likely to pay off many times over. do get intouch

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And remember, you don’t have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Retain the essential elements of what your brand stands for and use the rebrand process to revive, refresh and reposition your image in line with your key objectives.

If you’d like to know more about our approach to rebranding...

0345 450 8363 [email protected]

ClientsFirst Ltd, Sunderland House, Sunderland Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 6JF, United Kingdom

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Guide rebranding to - Adviser Marketing€¦ · embraced new technology in terms of your financial, marketing or client relationship systems. If these have had a fundamental impact