Biz Tips: Looking To Re-brand? Here’s How To Do It Seamlessly
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Looking To Re-brand? Here’s How To Do It Seamlessly
There are lots of reasons why businesses choose to rebrand. Some businesses make a choice to re-launch their brand in order to stay relevant and competitive with their evolving marketplace, while other businesses choose to change direction and reshape their identity.
Whatever the nature of the rebranding is — and however big or small — there are a lot of intricate details for businesses to consider to ensure it is a success.
If you’re considering undertaking a rebranding, here is how you should go about it.
1. Ask yourself why you want to be a rebrand
Before you do anything, make sure you have a valid reason to rebrand. Rebranding is a huge task to undertake, and if you don’t pinpoint how rebranding can lend to your business’s goals and objectives, you will end up damaging your business entirely.
Business rebrand for a number of reasons. The most common reasons include:
- Refreshing an antiquated brand identity
- Representing your business model more accurately following a new direction
- In-line with the launch of a new service or product
- In response to bad press or a brand image that has negative connotations
If re-branding is the only way to encourage your business to thrive you can be sure it is the right choice to make.
2. Consider your budget
Re-branding your business costs more than you may assume, so be sure your budget allows for it. It can cost businesses anywhere between 10–20% of their revenue, so it is advised to conduct an audit on your current marketing strategies to find out the feasibility.
3. Plan your approach
Once you’ve decided to re-brand your business you need to map out your approach. Re-branding isn’t just about changing your name or your logo; there is a lot that goes into the process, so it’s important that you don’t rush into it.
Depending on the scale at which you are re-branding, you will have to consider your visual identity, messaging, online presence, legalities and copyright, customer database, marketing strategy and leads, content and product/service guides. You will also need to consider internal processes and the effects re-branding will have on your employees.
When you’re putting together a strategy for your re-branding, it’s smart to conduct in-depth market research. Ask your clients and customers for feedback on your products and services — what is and isn’t working, and what can be improved. You should also ask your employees for feedback as they can often offer valuable suggestions which you can act.
You should also conduct competitor research to gauge as much knowledge as possible about your industry and the products/services that are already out there. For example, if your business is to provide wedding music, you should look into other wedding bands in Sydney and how they market themselves.
Outline what it is that you want to change, and theoretically, feed in all the aspects of your business — how does it all fit together? Note that some parts of your business won’t be affected by re-branding.
4. Communicate with your customers
Once you know exactly what your re-branding strategy will look like you should create a workable timeline so that you and your team have a clear understanding. This is crucial because you need to allow plenty of time to communicate with your clients and customers about the change. If you don’t give your customers a head’s up about changes occurring to your business, you may damage your relationship with them. Keep them in the loop at all times to build their trust.