When and why should you rebrand your business
Are you wondering if it may be time to rebrand your business? How do you know if it’s time for a rebrand? Are you wondering if branding is worth your investment?
In this blog post I walk through all the details of when and why to rebrand your business. First I’ll give you the six indicators that are a sure sign that your business is in need of a rebrand. Then, I’ll walk through the main reasons why branding or rebranding is a valuable business investment. At the end of this you will know if it’s time for a rebrand and why this matters so much.
When to rebrand
Rebranding can be a very important and decisive moment for your business and it’s important to know when the time is right for you. Consider the below indicators for evaluating if it might be time for rebranding.
1. When your branding is outdated
One of the main reasons why businesses need to undergo rebranding is when the old branding no longer reflects the business justly and accurately. If your business has notably changed and evolved since you last created/updated your branding, your brand identity may no longer accurately represent who you are as a business and thus not work for you but rather against you. This is one of the most common mistakes that business owners make, they invest in branding at the beginning of their business journey and then neglect it for years to come even though a business is ever changing and evolving. If you haven't updated your branding in the last few years, chances are that your branding is outdated and your business would definitely benefit from a branding refresher. Also, If your brand looks old-fashioned or out of date it is time for a refresher to stay relevant and competitive.
2. When you want to signal a new chapter in your business
Another great moment to rebrand your business is when you are making major changes in your business. If you are investing a lot of time and resources in elevating your business (your offering, your quality, your delivery etc.) then you should also be investing time in elevating your online presence to clearly reflect that. After all, if you have the most amazing services or products, the most amazing offering, and the most amazing customer service but nobody knows about that - what good is that? So instead of simply talking about the changes that you’ve made, you should be clearly showcasing these changes through your branding. When you give your business a fresh, new look through branding this will filter through to all touch points that your business has (both online and offline) therefore showcasing your new and elevated business. A rebrand is the single most clear and notable way to signal to your audience that a new chapter has started in your business.
3. When your target audience has changed
Your business is all about the clients that you serve and so is your branding. The purpose of branding is communicating with your target audience, shaping their perception of your business and making a promise to them. Over time your target audience may change to a different demographic, geographic location or market segment. Once you are clear and ready for this change then your branding needs to be adjusted to reflect that accordingly. In this case a rebrand will involve a strategy shift and curating all your brand identity elements to specifically speak to and attract your new target audience.
FREE RESOURCE
your complete WEBSITE DESIGN & BRANDING checklist
4. When you want to consolidate multiple businesses or brands
If you have multiple complementary businesses or your business has separate brands, services or products, there might come a time when you want to consolidate them. Combining your businesses/services/products/brands can help simplify your workflow and your marketing efforts and it can also make life simpler for you. In order to successfully do that, you will need to go through rebranding in a very strategic manner. This is a difficult type of rebranding exercise as you need to stay true to your existing business values and identity while also creating a streamlined experience for your new and combined client base. It’s a hard task but if your businesses/products/services/brands share common traits or are complementary then this is completely possible and will even strengthen your brand, your value offering and your unique selling point. You might become the only business offering this exact offering as a one-stop-shop. This also applies in situations when you are acquiring a new business. Rebranding will help the two businesses come together and create a united front of the combined organization.
5 When you want to shift the perception of your business
There might be times when your brand has come under intense scrutiny or has some type of a negative association attached to it. Once the trust with your clients is broken and your brand has been associated with a negative experience, it’s very hard to bounce back from it. Instead of investing a significant amount of energy, time and money into trying to repair something that’s broken, maybe it’s wiser to pivot. Rebranding can help create distance between your business and any negative associations and give you a fresh start. A refreshed visual identity and strategy can go a long way towards showcasing your new and improved values and brand promise.
6. When you want to differentiate from your competitors
If your competition has rebranded and thus gained a competitive advantage over your business it might be time to rebrand as well. Of all the reasons to rebrand this is not the most obvious reason as your branding is all about YOUR business and should follow YOUR path. But, at times when your competition gains an advantage by adapting to evolving demand or trends, it would be wise to start thinking about what you need to do to stay competitive. Your business and your brand do not live in isolation of the market around you. If your client behavior, your industry or your competition are changing and evolving, you need to evolve as well. Remember that your brand is how you stand out of the crowd. It’s the message you communicate. People fall in love or hate brands, people trust or distrust brands, and form loyalties towards them. Your brand is the promise you make to your clients and your success depends on how well you keep that promise over and over again.
As your business continually evolves and changes, there may come a time when rebranding is necessary. Rebranding is a complex process that requires careful planning and a strategic approach. If your branding is outdated, you want to signal a new chapter in your business, your target audience has changed, you want to consolidate multiple businesses or brands, you want to shift the perception of your business or you want to differentiate from your competitors, it’s a good time to start thinking about rebranding.
Why invest in (re)branding
So why is branding so important for your business? There are several reasons why you should think of branding as an investment. Let’s walk through all of these in detail.
1. Creating distinctiveness and recognition
Like all people, your business also needs to have an identity and a personality in order to attract and speak to the right audience, that’s your brand. It's how you're being perceived by every single person that interacts with your business. Branding ensures that your identity and personality shine through at every touchpoint. Branding also ensures that your unique personality and identity is clearly reflected and attracts and speaks to the right audience. Through showcasing your unique personality, branding is also a means of standing out from the crowd. If done right, branding will set your business apart in a saturated market with fierce competition. It creates recognition of your business and distinguishes you from the rest of the crowd thus creating memorability. It is by no means an easy or a quick process but the long term function of branding is to create distinctiveness, brand awareness and brand recognition.
2. Communicating a brand promise
Your branding communication creates a promise to your clients - your promise on the quality, value and positioning of your products or services and your knowledge, expertise, experience and how you measure against your competition. Communicating your business values has become increasingly more important as part of your brand promise.
3. Building a relationship
Most importantly, branding is your way of interacting with your audience in order to build a relationship with them. Relationship building is important for creating trust, loyalty, credibility and eventually sales. If you’d like to read more in depth on the subject, have a look at Why is branding so important for your business?
4. Elevating the perceived value
A strategic and elevated brand identity design can act as an important aspect of elevating your business. Branding helps increase the perceived value of your products or services through two routes. First, differentiating your products or services from your competitors, elevating the perceived quality of your offering and making it appear more valuable and desirable in comparison to other offerings. Secondly, through forming an emotional connection with your audience and building trust and loyalty - relationship building (see above). This, in combination with many other elements of elevating your business, allows you to charge higher rates for your products and services.
In summary, a strong brand can help your business stand out from the crowd, be recognized, appeal to client values, build relationships with your audience and elevate the perceived value of your products and services. By investing in branding for your business you can gain a significant competitive advantage and ensure the long-term success of your business.
I hope that this post was helpful on your branding journey and I'm so excited to see how you apply these in practice!
You might also be interested in:
Why is branding so important for your business? Discover the three primary functions of branding that support your business goals. These functions are at the heart of every successful branding project and getting them right is the difference between struggling to survive and thriving as a business.
Nine critical branding mistakes to avoid - Discover nine critical mistakes to avoid when it comes to your branding. These are the common assumptions and mistakes I see businesses make when thinking about their branding. Let’s walk through these to make sure you can avoid them.
Branding, brand, brand identity - what’s the difference? - Learn what branding is, a brand, a brand identity and brand identity guidelines. These terms are not all the same things but they are closely related so let’s make sure you never mix these up. From the practical point of view we get into why all businesses need branding no matter their size and how it’s not a one-size-fits-all exercise. Hint - this is good news for new and small businesses. Lastly, we cover the practical steps of the branding process.
You absolutely can and should…
Reclaim ease of mind
Save your precious time and energy, enjoy the process without any stress or overwhelm and have fun while ticking all the boxes for your design needs. Our signature process is stress-free and offers you all-in-one support.
Own your story
Beat the overwhelm and gain confidence in writing your own storyline. We introduce structure and clarity into the process, place your strategic goals at the center of attention and impress your audience with stunning visuals.
Realize your vision
Leave behind struggling, searching the internet for hours on end or winging it when it comes to your design needs. We help bring your vision to life through fully customized, strategic and unique designs that fit your needs best.
You can also reach out to ask any questions about your online presence, I’d be more than happy to help! Or if you're ready to jump in and turn your vision into a reality then you can have a look at our offering now!
Get useful content delivered straight to your inbox
If you want more helpful tips and useful information about website design and branding delivered directly to your inbox then make sure to join our Mailing list now! As a mailing list subscriber you can expect to be the first to hear about our new content and gain exclusive access to mailing-list only offers.ent and get exclusive access to mailing-list only offers.
P.S. Scrolled to the end of the blog post? Grab your free copy of the Website Design & Branding Checklist to finally get some clarity on whether your online presence ticks all the boxes!
Reclaim ease of mind | Own your story | Realize your vision