Episode #7: Is It Time For A ReBrand? (Build a Foundation For Future Success)

There comes a time in every business when you will start to consider a re-brand.

Perhaps your organization has grown beyond your current brand and it is no longer connecting with your target demographic.

Or maybe your visual identity was never properly designed, so it doesn’t accurately represent your business.

Sometimes the marketplace becomes crowded and every other brand in your industry looks and sounds the same, and you need a way to stand out and differentiate.

Whatever the case may be, a company re-brand is a big undertaking and should not just be something that is done because you personally no longer like your logo.

After all, you have most likely spent years building brand equity based on your current strategy and visual identity.

And your customers have been trained to recognize your brand and have aligned their values with the values of your brand.

You definitely don’t want to disrupt that without some serious consideration.

However, sometimes there are instances when a company re-brand can significantly improve the success of your business.

To help you determine if that time is now. Here are 10 signs it’s time to overhaul your company’s most valuable asset: your brand.

1: Your name no longer reflects your brand vision

If you have been in business for several years, chances are your company has changed over time, and maybe your name no longer properly represents the products you sell or the services you offer.

Or perhaps, the name you originally chose is not engaging with your target audience or accurately describes what you do.

Either way, you should never let your name negatively affect your brand’s opportunity for growth.

However, changing your brand name is not an easy process.

It will take weeks of research and discovery to develop a strong name that is unique, differentiating, and memorable.

But your name is the foundation of your entire brand. It is displayed front and center and appears across all your consumer touchpoints.

2: You’re embarrassed of your website.

Now more than ever, your website is most likely one of the first experiences a consumer will have with your brand.

It should be designed and structured so the visitor can easily understand what you do, how you are different, what problem are you solving, what are the benefits, and how they can connect with you or make a purchase.

Your website should be both visually engaging, easy to navigate, and accessible on any device.

Luckily for you, an out of date website does not always require a complete rebrand.

You may just need to redesign your website so it properly reflects your brand and provides the visitor with the information they are searching for.

3: You Look the Same as Your Competition

Successful brands are the ones that have carved out their niche in the marketplace, and they market their products and services differently from the competition.

If you are failing to differentiate your brand, then you are simply another random solution that will get lost in the crowded market.

Branding is all about competitive differentiation, what makes you unique and better.

4: Your brand has lost focus and is confusing

As your organization grows it becomes more and more difficult to keep your brand focused.

When you add new products or services your parent brand can become weakened if you don’t have a proper brand architecture or hierarchy in place.

Or, if your brand has been mismanaged and not implemented with consistency across your touchpoints, it will become confusing and disconnected to the consumer.

By completing a re-brand, you have the opportunity to build your brand from the ground up, and develop a solid architecture that allows any future sub-brands or products to fit seamlessly into the parent brand and pull from it’s equity.

5: Your Business Model Has Changed.

Busineses often evolve, change, and adapt over time. And before they know it, they end up in a completely different place than the one they started in.

If your original brand purpose, the reason why you exist, no longer points you in the direction of your goals, or if how you are presenting your brand does not match with how you do business, your brand will be perceived as misaligned, and it’s time for a re-brand.

6: You Have Outgrown Your Brand

Outgrowing your brand is not necessarily a bad thing.

Perhaps recent success has forced you to realize that you need a better foundation for future growth.

It may also indicate that your original brand was not as strong as it needed to be to support your business.

Either way, a re-brand provides you the opportunity to dedicate the time, effort, and energy to build that foundation properly.

7: You Need to Disassociate From a Negative Image

In today’s world of social media and constant exposure, there is no place to hide.

Your business, your brand, and everything that your employees say and do are in the spotlight and under the microscope of the consumer.

Unfortunately, you may find yourself in a situation someday that needs to be rectified swiftly and delicately.

Performing a full audit of your brand touchpoints will provide important insights on where the negative perceptions lie.

Based on how extreme these negative connotations are, a re-brand may be your most effective solution to distance your brand from the unfortunate situation.

8: You Struggle to Raise Your Prices.

A properly set up brand strategy is your company’s most valuable asset because it creates exponential brand equity, because as your brand equity increases, so does the perceived value of your brand.

If the consumer perceives your brand as more valuable than the competition, then they are willing to pay a premium price for your products or services.

If you are unable to successfully raise your prices, then chances are your brand strategy is not producing brand equity, and therefore it may be time to re-brand.

9: You want to Connect with a New Audience

If you have a brand in place that is producing decent results, chances are that you have defined your audience and are successfully targeting them with your marketing campaigns..

After all, brand success is built on consumer loyalty.

So what happens when you introduce a new product or service that is intended for an audience outside of your current demographic?

If you try to communicate the same brand message with this new consumer, through the same marketing channels, your efforts will not engage with them.

In this situation, your best options are to either complete a rebrand where you introduce this new audience and alter your brand messaging and visual identity.

Or you add a new sub-brand to your brand architecture, so this new audience can be targeted through the same marketing campaigns, while benefiting from the equity of your parent brand.

Either way, a rebrand lets you redefine yourself with the goal of reaching these new and untapped audiences.

10: You’re Not Attracting Top Talent For Your Team.

A powerful brand begins within the organization because the best talent wants to align themselves with companies that have common values and beliefs to their own.

Employees need to feel a sense of purpose. They are motivated and inspired by brands that make an impact.

If you are discovering that your team lacks motivation, is not engaged, and isn’t actively upholding the values and vision of the company, then it may be time for a rebrand.

By repositioning your business as an industry leader, you will not only connect with the consumer on an emotional level, but also with your team.

After all, your team will be your first loyal brand advocates.

As you can see from all these examples, a strong brand is what will make the difference between your business either developing a cult-like following, or just being another follower in the crowded marketplace.

But even the strongest brands aren’t bulletproof forever.

At some point over the longevity of your business, you are destined to encounter one, if not several, of these situations which may require a rebrand.