What’s the purpose of your rebranding?
No objectives, no purpose. That’s how it is. With a rebranding process this is essential. You need to start of by mapping up why you want the rebranding and if it is necessary.
The simple answer is often that it is time to visually make a change. Perhaps you have had the same logo and website forever and you feel its time to breathe new life into your brand. In other cases, perhaps you need to bring your brand to the next level to boost your market position.
By identifying the purpose, your work towards a new brand will be better targeted instead of the “just doing it because we want to” approach.
Get every employee to join your team
Rebranding should never happen with a common email to all employees on Monday and launch on Tuesday. Remember that your employees are important assets in a rebranding process, and it is crucial that they are included. Don’t leave them on the outside looking in. We are willing to go as far as to say that if you don’t include them, rebranding won’t happen – at least not a successful one.
Also read: Who do you need on your team when building your brand
Research what you want to achieve with your rebranding
This is closely related to the purpose, or at least an extension of the thoughts behind the purpose. Although, this requires digging to the core, finding your new tagline, if this is changing, and what your mission statement should be. Will you change or enrich your company values? And who are you?
All of the above and more plays a cental role in the rebranding communication, so no short cuts, do a proper job.
Also remember that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Look at the existing brand, what works? And what doesn’t? You don’t have to start with a clean slate, look at what you have accomplished with what you have, what can be reused with copy-paste or a simple edit? These are processes you have to go through to get the answers on WHAT has to change and how to plan further.
You will also need well-defined brand guidelines for your new brand. For rebranding successful, it is essential that the guidelines are respected, by everyone in the company. Make sure the guidelines are accessible and usable for everyone and avoid the risk of brand inconsistency.
Also read: Convince management that a Brand Management platform is worth the investment
Create a unique look
Keep in mind, a brand is a company’s most valuable asset. You want to highlight it’s best features. Are you changing the visual identity you should make sure it’s good looking. Do a careful consideration if you should invest in getting help to find your new unique look – everything from typography to logo to promotional items. To take your market by storm with your new brand, avoid generic elements like standard Word-fonts or stock photos – as far as possible.
It’s worth the investment and that extra effort if you think of your rebranding as a rebirth of your brand. Design and logo may be the investment that creates the desired attention.
Also read: How to measure your brands value?
Plan a solid launch
Establish a timeline – a realistic one. Launching a new brand requires substantial coordination, and there is no room for failure. That will cost you.
Make sure you have a solid plan without unclarities. Make sure everyone knows their responsibilities and have a clear plan for what channels and platforms to use for launch, and finally: Ensure proper brand guidelines that everyone follows.
Also read: Build a home for your brand with BrandMaster
What makes your rebranding a success?
When we rebranded, we obtained first-hand experience on the importance of a proper brand management platform. Of course, we used our own solution and by including everyone, and most importantly, having all assets and new guidelines available from day one we were able to distribute and execute with ease.
This removed the biggest risks of uncertainties throughout the process and we secured proper communication – from day one.
For us, it didn’t just secure our rebranding success, but it also became a valuable learning practise about ourselves and our own platform. Read more about our rebranding process here.
