Is it time for a company rebrand?

Scenario:

So you’ve been in business for a few years, perhaps even decades, and lately a few things have popped up on your radar. You’re realizing that your customers aren’t always aware of all your company offerings AND that over the years your business has even evolved.

Being the suave business professional that you are, the words “missed opportunities” flash in your mind’s eye like a neon sign blinking into obscurity.

Questions arise.

If our current customers don’t fully understand our business, how does this impact potential customers?

Does our corporate culture – including our brand’s look, and feel – still reflect what we offer and what we stand for?

Should we update our messaging to better fit changing industry needs?

All very good questions. But where do you go for the answers?

Our hope is that you’ll find a few of the answers you need right here, in this post.

Prior to Rebranding

Let’s start with the beginning, prior to any design, content, or messaging work. The decision to take a good, hard look at your brand, including your logo, tagline, and current website, provides you with an opportunity to study an evolving market and determine where you fit in.

Have consumer needs changed?

Is there a gap between industry standards and consumer expectations?

Is the world moving in one direction while our business stays stagnant?

These are just a few of the questions you’ll need to ask yourself before any communication and messaging work begins.

Brand Audit

What does your logo say about your company? Does it look dated? Does it reflect your client’s expectations? Said another way, does your logo convey a strong message; one that invokes confidence in your target audience about what they can expect from you?

Your tagline is also an important piece of your brand puzzle. Short, concise, and meaningful are the three main ingredients for developing your corporate/business tagline.

Short, because you’ll want it to fit with your logo.

Concise, so that it’s easy to understand and remember.

Meaningful, so that it resonates with your audience’s needs.

Website trends come and go. That said, nothing turns off a potential customer more than landing on a website that looks like a ‘mom and pop’s site from the late ‘90s. It’s no secret that a high percentage of consumers do their pre-purchase research online. Your website has two important jobs and they both have to do with making life easier anyone that lands on your site (also known as potential customers):

Make it easy for visitors to immediately understand what your business is all about.
Position your company as a leader in its field.

Post-Rebrand

One thing to keep in mind is that whether it’s a complete rebrand or new business strategy, updates provide you with a great opportunity to reach out via your email list (you do have one, right?) as well as through social media. Your rebrand is “news”, giving you a chance to:

Reach out and engage with existing customers
Launch an awareness campaign that targets potential customers
Remind both existing and potential customers of all your business offerings
Give your target market a reason to do business with you (hint: how well do you know your ideal customer’s values and principles?)

Food for Thought

Perhaps the most important reason for assessing your brand is to ensure that you’re being true to your business purpose; one that is built on authenticity and that provides value.

After all, isn’t that why we’re all in business … to impact lives?