5 reasons to rebrand your business
When is it time to rebrand? We’ll explore five of the reasons that many companies rebrand and why.
Rebranding can seem like a scary prospect, but it’s a pretty common occurrence for businesses of all sizes.
What is rebranding
Rebranding is not just changing the color of your logo. Rebranding is a significant change to the look and feel of your business, for the purposes of changing the way your products or services are perceived by customers. Though it doesn’t have to include all of these changes, rebranding can include changes to your business’s:
- Name
- Logo
- Product packaging
- Marketing materials and content
- Messaging
Rebranding is a big commitment, as it often means you’ll need to change your website and all other digital collateral as well as any promotional pieces. But this commitment shouldn’t keep you from thinking about rebranding if your business is encountering the following situations.
You’re offering new products or services
A new product line or service is one of the most common reasons for a rebrand, particularly if it’s significantly different from your existing offerings. Launching a rebrand along with new products and services is perfect for when your old brand doesn’t exactly align with your new vision or rollout.
You want to target a new audience
Finding new customers can be tricky, particularly if your current brand doesn’t resonate with the audience you’re trying to reach.
Many companies are rebranding to reach the millennial market, including: Harley Davidson, whose sales have slipped since their major market is male baby boomers; Babies R Us, in an effort to reach the growing market of millennial parents; and The Ritz-Carlton, to associate its brand with other luxury brands popular in the millennial market.
Your business has new ownership
Another compelling reason to rebrand is a change in ownership, whether it’s a merger, acquisition or just a simple change in leadership. Many times, the new owners of a business want to change the way business is done in subtle, or substantial, ways. Rebranding can help customers recognize the new way your business will operate and can even help alleviate a bad reputation.
You want to refocus on what really matters to your business
Sometimes, the best way to return to your business’s roots is to rebrand. Rebranding can help you refocus on what works for your customers and reinforce the image you want to project. Another sign it’s time to refocus your brand is when your organization has been around for a while and your brand has been diluted through fragmentation. By refocusing and reincorporating sub-brands back into one cohesive brand, you can regain your traction and set your business up for future success.
You’ve moved from a startup to a success story
This is a familiar story in a booming economy like Nashville: a small start-up grows to become a thriving business. Oftentimes, this can be the point where initial branding needs a change as your business plans shift to accommodate new customers, new employees and new revenue. Rebranding can help change the perception of your business from start-up to a more mature business, and signal to your customers that you are in it for the long haul.
Want to learn more about branding? Check out our next Business Studio: Beers & Branding with Proof Branding and Fat Bottom Brewery on June 28 at the Fat Bottom taproom. This free event will include a discussion of branding, Fat Bottom’s recent rebranding process with Proof Branding, networking and a chance to take a tour and taste some beer.