Starting with a clean slate— brand new name, slick logo design, and super fresh website? That’s awesome, but make sure your rebranding efforts go off without a hitch by keeping the following in mind!
Evaluate Your Brand Before Moving Forward.
Before making a complete overhaul, get your bearings first. This means diving into market research and digging into how your brand has been performing historically. Is there anything salvageable from your brand’s former identity like a tagline? Did anything at all strike a chord with your target audience and needs to stay? Really take your brand’s overall identity into consideration before dumping every single shred from the past.
Your evaluation should turn up areas that need improvement and highlight opportunities that were missed in the past. Laying out everything, good and bad, will help you refine your strategy and create a stronger version of the brand you love.
What’s Your STORY?
It might not be as cinematic as how Spiderman acquired his powers, but every brand has its own unique origin story. This goes way deeper than a flashy tagline or brilliant logo. Look at rebranding as an opportunity to go back to basics and uncover what exactly makes your brand unlike any of its competitors. Was your company founded by a pair of college dropouts? A busy mom who discovered an amazing life hack? Or has your brand been headed by the same family for seven generations? Research you brand’s story and pull out inspirational nuggets that give your brand a real, tangible personality.
Just Be Yourself.
Don’t play it safe and sacrifice your brand’s soul to be ‘just like the other guys.’ Following in your competitors’ footsteps is not where you want to take your rebranding push. You have a real opportunity to turn things around, don’t screw it up. Remain authentic and genuine in every move you make— falseness is easy to spot and will drive your audience away.
Take Your New Identity Everywhere!
Once you have assembled your complete rebranding package, make sure the new look and messaging carries across every aspect of brand communication. Every eNewsletter, social media account, marketing leaflet, etc. needs to reflect the major change. Everything that comes into contact with a client or potential consumer needs to be updated— immediately. Every single detail matters and is noticed.
Keep these points in mind when crafting a compelling new brand identity and enjoy the benefits of a successful rebranding campaign.