How to set your company up for a successful rebrand in 2023
Brisbane rebrand by bigfish.tv
Set your company up for a successful rebrand by following these steps which I will cover in detail later in the post:
Discover - Do your stakeholder research (Staff & Consumers).
Solve - Design a strategy that helps over come problems and find opportunities.
Create - Design a visual language that will strategically help you reach your goals.
Measure - Keep tabs on what’s working well and what’s not.
Rebranding isn't a concept to be taken lightly; it's a journey of transformation. Perhaps, as a business owner, you've found yourself at this crossroad, looking at your brand and feeling a discord. Something doesn't resonate as it once did. Your brand might feel outdated, misaligned with your evolving vision, or simply lost amidst the sea of your competitors. And you find yourself here, seeking wisdom from the vast realm of the internet, armed with one critical question, 'how do I rebrand my company?'
At Society, we understand the intensity of this question, the depth it holds, and the complexities it unravels. Rebranding can seem daunting, but it's a journey that's worth embarking on, a journey of rediscovery and self-realisation. In this era where change is the only constant, a well-executed rebrand can breathe new life into your business, help it adapt and thrive.
In this comprehensive guide, we aim to demystify the process of rebranding, turning what might seem like a Herculean task into a clear, step-by-step process. From initial considerations to strategic planning, to the creative process and finally, a successful launch, we will accompany you every step of the way, ensuring you are fully prepared to embrace this transformation. Because we believe in the power of design, the strength of a strong brand, and the impactful communication that helps businesses stand out in this vibrant, ever-evolving marketplace.
Part 1 - Discover
Why You Need To Do The Research
Before setting off on any journey, you need to know your starting point. For rebranding, your starting point is understanding what your brand currently looks like to people, and you do this by doing research. This helps you understand what works well and what doesn't, and also gives you ideas on what could be improved or changed.
What Are You Looking For
When you're doing this research, you're looking for the good, the bad, and the potential. Find out what people love about your brand, and what they might not like so much. Also, try to see what's missing - what could you add or change to make your brand better?
Conducting Interviews
One-on-one chats, or interviews, are a great way to get deep, detailed feedback. You can ask people about their experiences, their views, and their suggestions for your brand. Each person can give you unique insights that you might not get from larger group discussions.
Running Focus Groups
While interviews are great for depth, focus groups are great for breadth. These are discussions with a small group of people. They allow you to see a variety of views and opinions at once, and the group interaction can bring out ideas that might not come up in one-on-one chats.
Workshops
Workshops are like group brainstorming sessions. You can use them to explore ideas and concepts in a creative, interactive setting. They are a fun and engaging way to get people involved in the rebranding process.
Desk Research
Lastly, there's desk research. This is where you go looking for information that's already out there. You can look at what competitors are doing, see what trends are affecting your industry, and find out what experts are saying about branding. This helps you understand the bigger picture in which your brand is operating.
Part 2 - Solve
The 'Solve' stage in a rebrand is like the keel of a ship. Without it, your rebrand can drift aimlessly in the ocean of market competition, making your investment in rebranding feel like money thrown into the wind. A well-crafted plan for solving identified problems is the backbone of your rebrand. It keeps your efforts focused, your messaging consistent, and, most importantly, it maximises the return on your rebranding investment.
A thorough problem-solving process in your rebrand journey ensures you're not just painting over the cracks, but addressing the real issues that hold your brand back. It turns your rebrand into a strategic tool, a lever that you can pull to drive growth and profitability.
On the other hand, a rebrand without a solid plan for problem-solving is like applying a fresh coat of paint on a rusty car - it may look shiny and new, but the underlying issues are still there, and the rust will soon seep through the new paint. It's not about just looking different; it's about being better, and that comes from solving your problems effectively.
Remember, a well-executed rebrand isn't a cost, it's an investment - an investment in your brand's future, its relationship with customers, and ultimately, in its profitability.
SWOT Analysis Report from the Research
With all your research collected, it's time to make sense of it. A SWOT analysis helps you do that. 'SWOT' stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. What are your brand's strong points that you can build on? Where could you do better? Are there opportunities you could take advantage of? And are there threats that could harm your brand? Putting all this into a SWOT report helps you see where your brand stands.
Identifying Small Effort, Big Impact Solutions
It's easy to get lost in a sea of problems and solutions when you're rebranding. But remember, you don't have to boil the ocean. Look for solutions that are easy to do but have a big impact. This might be something as simple as tweaking your logo, or changing your tagline. The key is to find those changes that bring you the most benefits with the least effort.
Writing Your Positioning Statement
Now that you understand your brand's current standing, you can start to shape where it should go. A positioning statement is like your brand's compass. It points you in the right direction. It says who your brand is for, what your brand does, why it's beneficial, and why people should believe you. Here's a simple formula:
For [your audience], [your brand] is the [product category] that [provides this benefit] because [reasons to believe].
Company Vision and Manifesto
Lastly, you need a vision and a manifesto. Your vision is your dream of where you want your brand to be in the future. It's your north star, guiding everything you do. Your manifesto is your declaration of what your brand stands for and what it believes in. It's your rallying cry that gets people excited about your brand.
Remember, solving isn't about finding the 'perfect' answer. It's about finding the 'right' answer that fits your brand and helps you move towards your vision.
Part 3 - Create
Define Your Brand's Personality
Just like people, brands have personalities too. This is the set of human characteristics associated with your brand. It could be fun, sophisticated, bold, or even rebellious. Defining your brand's personality is the first step in creating a brand that customers can relate to. It acts as a guide when you're designing your brand's visual elements.
Explore the 12 brand archetypes in my free download here.
Develop a Colour Palette
Colours have a psychological impact. They can influence how people perceive your brand. For example, green often signifies growth or eco-friendliness, while blue can convey trust and reliability. Your colour palette should align with your brand personality and help differentiate you from your competitors.
Choose Your Typography
Typography refers to the fonts you use in your branding materials. Just like colours, different typefaces can evoke different feelings and perceptions. Serif fonts often look more traditional, while sans-serif fonts can look more modern. Your choice of typography should align with your brand's personality and be easily legible across different mediums.
Design a Logo
Your logo is a visual emblem that represents your brand. It's often the first thing people notice about your brand, so it should be memorable, distinctive, and reflective of your brand personality. It's not just about looking good; a great logo communicates something about your brand's character and values.
Create Visual Imagery
This includes all the visual elements associated with your brand. It could be a particular style of photography, hand-drawn illustrations, specific patterns or icons. Consistency is key here. Your visual imagery should support your brand personality and create a coherent look and feel across all brand touchpoints.
Develop Your Brand's Voice
Your brand voice is the way you talk to your customers. It's not what you say, but how you say it. It should be distinct, reflect your brand personality, and resonate with your target audience. Whether you're writing website copy or a social media post, maintaining a consistent brand voice helps to build familiarity and trust with your customers.
Design Key Brand Touchpoints
A brand touchpoint is any point of contact between your brand and your customers. This could be your website, business cards, product packaging, email newsletters, or your social media channels. Each of these touchpoints should reflect your brand identity and provide a consistent brand experience.
Create Brand Guidelines
Brand guidelines, sometimes referred to as a brand style guide, is a document that outlines how your brand should be presented to the world. It details how to use your logo, the exact colour codes of your palette, the fonts you use, and the style of your imagery. It's a critical tool that helps to maintain consistency in your brand presentation across all platforms and mediums.
Part 4 - Measure
Remember, measuring the effectiveness of your rebrand isn't a one-off activity. It should be done continuously to track progress and adjust strategy as needed.
Brand Awareness
This measures how familiar your target audience is with your brand. Surveys and social media analysis can help you understand how well people recognise your brand, its logo, and its products or services. An increase in brand awareness after a rebrand often signals success.
Brand Perception
This involves understanding how people perceive your brand. Is their perception in line with the image you're trying to project? You can use surveys, focus groups, or social listening tools to get an understanding of your brand's perception in the market.
Website Analytics
The performance of your website before and after the rebrand can provide insights into the effectiveness of your rebrand. You might look at metrics such as site visits, page views, bounce rates, and average time spent on the site. An uptick in these metrics post-rebrand could signify that the new branding is resonating with your audience.
Social Media Engagement
Social media platforms provide a wealth of data about how people are interacting with your brand. Look at likes, shares, comments, and followers. Are more people interacting with your brand post-rebrand? Are they positive interactions?
Customer Satisfaction
Use customer surveys or Net Promoter Score (NPS) to measure how satisfied your customers are with your brand. If your rebrand has led to improved customer satisfaction, you're on the right track.
Sales Metrics
Rebranding should ultimately lead to an improvement in business performance. Look at sales metrics such as conversion rates, average order value, or revenue. If these numbers are improving, it's a strong indication that your rebrand is effective.
Employee Engagement
Rebranding isn't just about customers; it's about employees too. After all, they're the ones who have to live and breathe your brand every day. Surveys or regular check-ins can help you gauge how engaged your employees are with the new brand.
In the rapidly evolving business landscape of 2023, undertaking a successful rebrand isn't just about injecting new life into your visual identity. It's a strategic process that requires thorough research, insightful problem-solving, creative expression, and consistent measurement. A well-planned and executed rebrand can bolster your brand's relevance, increase your visibility, enhance customer perception, and ultimately, boost your bottom line.
It's essential to remember that rebranding is not an end in itself. It's a means to an end — a tool for helping your brand align better with your business goals, resonate more deeply with your audience, and stand taller in the market. It's a journey of discovery, reinvention, and evolution that involves every facet of your business.
By following these four stages — Discover, Solve, Create, Measure — you can navigate your rebranding journey with confidence, ensuring every decision is guided by strategic thought, and every action brings you closer to your desired brand image.
Remember, a brand is not just a logo or a tagline. It's a promise, an experience, a relationship. So, when you're rebranding, you're not just changing symbols or colours, you're transforming the entire experience you provide to your customers, staff, and stakeholders. It's a significant undertaking, but with a clear plan and the right approach, your rebrand can be a powerful catalyst for growth.
So, as you consider embarking on your rebrand journey, keep in mind that success lies in careful planning, strategic thinking, and consistent execution. Because a rebrand isn't just about what you want to say about your business — it's about what you want your business to be.
Are you in the process of re branding and/or repositioning your business? I’d love to chat about how I can help.
Tom Lear is the Creative Director and founder of Society, a brand and marketing agency in Mount Maunganui. His ideas, thoughts and opinions come from over 12 years of design and art direction experience working with some of the world’s leading agencies including Allison Mitchell London, CHE Proximity, JWT and Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne.
