How to Know if You Need to Rebrand
As an entrepreneur, there are some days when standing out seems impossible. You look around at your industry and the number of competitors who offer the same services you offer, and you wonder, “How do I get customers to choose me?”
That’s the cornerstone of branding. Any purchase, large or small, requires the customer to put some trust in you. Your brand is a way for them to get to know you and develop that all-important trust.
This is why rebranding is such a big deal. How do you manage to scrap your old brand, the personality customers connected to your business, and build a new one from scratch? Let’s take a closer look at rebranding and when you might need a rebrand.
What is a rebrand?
It’s common to mistake a rebrand with a brand update, but these are very different concepts, so it’s important to know which one you need.
A rebrand is a complete pivot in your brand. You’re changing the way people think of your business in a major way.
In some cases, a rebrand may involve a name change. Or, even if your name stays the same, a rebrand is a large-scale project that involves defining a new brand and leading a full, long-term campaign to change your image.
A brand update, on the other hand, is a less extensive change. You might be modernizing your brand to appeal to today’s population. Perhaps your brand’s messaging and image is outdated and you’re bringing it into the modern era.
You may need a rebrand if…
A rebrand is not something to take lightly because you’re wiping out your old brand in the process. If you play your cards right, that could help your business turn a tremendous corner and finally reach the potential you always knew it had. It’s an important decision, nonetheless.
How do you know if you need a rebrand? Consider whether any of these statements are true.
You’re changing the services or products you provide.
Your brand should be intertwined in the services you offer. For instance, maybe you’re a real estate agent and you’ve branded yourself as a residential agent that families can trust.
If those services change, though, it could mean that a rebrand is in order. Perhaps you’re pivoting to commercial real estate, and now you want to brand yourself as a no-nonsense negotiator who will get the best prices for the businesses you represent.
You are changing your core customer base.
As you build your business, you may discover that you work especially well with a specific segment of your target audience. You decide to specialize in that niche and focus exclusively on that narrower audience.
That could call for a rebrand. For instance, in the real estate example above, you might decide to specialize in serving first-time homebuyers. You can rebrand yourself to emphasize that new specialty.
In other cases, a business might entirely shift from one audience to another. For example, you may be a corporate law firm that has represented healthcare businesses in the past. You see the rise in the tech industry so you shift to representing tech businesses instead.
Your customer base in the tech industry is very different from your customer base in healthcare. That’s a perfect reason to rebrand in a way that appeals to your new base.
You have a reputation to recover.
This isn’t a pleasant reason to rebrand, but it happens. Sometimes your business gets a bad reputation, whether it’s warranted or not. To regain customers’ trust, you need to change your brand entirely.
Perhaps the business was poorly managed by a previous owner, and they earned the company a bad reputation. You’ve bought the business to revitalize it. You need a whole new brand to establish the fact that the company is under new ownership and will be operating differently.
You are redefining your business’s focus.
Customers ask for more from the companies they choose today. They aren’t just looking for the best quality for the lowest price. Many customers want to patronize businesses that are more socially responsible.
In fact, 64% of consumers say that when a company shares their values, they trust the company more. Some businesses are responding to this by launching a full rebrand that focuses primarily on their principles and ethical practices.
You’ve read through the scenarios above, and one of them sounds exactly like your experience. Now what?
We won’t mince words: rebranding can be tricky. That’s why you need an experienced, knowledgeable professional to guide the process.
Our brand strategists can help you define your new brand and develop a clear, actionable plan to make it a reality. If you believe you need a rebrand, contact our branding experts today.
