Branding is an important part of any marketing strategy. But what should you do if your marketing isn’t working? Maybe your brand looks too old, or you’ve recently suffered a hit from a public relations crisis. This may be the time to consider a rebrand.
What is rebranding?
Rebranding refers to a change or changes in your marketing strategy. This may take the form of a name change, a logo change, an update to your overall style, or a combination of changes. Rebrands come in all shapes and sizes, including partial rebrands of small brand elements or full rebrands that change everything. The scope of your rebrand will depend on the goal driving it.
Why do businesses rebrand?
In most cases, businesses that decide to rebrand themselves do so to keep things current. There are other reasons, including:
- Changing the focus of your business
- Entering a new market
- Merging your brand’s values with public opinion
- Avoiding brand confusion
- Reflecting rapid business growth
- Responding to negative publicity
- And more
Whatever your reason for rebranding, it’s important to ask yourself some questions about your business before you start. Have you achieved your original brand goals? Are you trying to reach a new audience? Does your business appear outdated? Questions like these can help you to assess whether or not it’s time for a rebrand.
Rebranding Pros
Rebranding can be a fun and exciting process, and it has pros worth considering. Some of those include:
- Attracting new customers—If you’re trying to expand your business’s reach, changing up your look may be a good way to do that. One of the main goals behind branding is to create strong recognition, and if your recognition doesn’t appeal to your new customer base, creating opportunities for new recognition may be just what you need.
- Keeping your business current—This is a bit of a tricky one. While it’s important to keep your brand up to date, it’s also important to avoid getting swept up in passing trends. You can give your business a refreshed look, but make sure you don’t hop on a bandwagon that will fizzle out and look dated in a year.
- Refining your message—It’s not uncommon for a brand’s messaging to get muddled as the business grows and changes. If your business has experienced rapid growth or sudden changes, rebranding can be a great way to clarify what messaging you want to send to customers.
- Learning from mistakes—Not every marketing idea will be a winner. If your brand has had consistent flops, learn from those mistakes. With a good foundation, you can build a new or updated brand that’s even stronger than your previous one.
Rebranding Cons
While there are benefits to rebranding, there can also be downsides. It’s important to consider both before making any major changes to your brand. Some rebranding cons include:
- Investing time & money—Depending on the size of your rebrand, major changes can mean investing a lot of time and money in replacing or updating things. You’ll need to invest time in researching your new marketing strategy, and you’ll need to invest money in changing your website, social pages, signage, and more.
- Creating confusion—While your rebrand’s goal may be to create new recognition, it may also create confusion with your old audience. If your business is making major changes, like a brand new name or logo, current customers may not realize you provide the same products or services they’ve come to know.
- Creating trust issues—It’s important to reassure current customers that they can expect the same quality from your business that they’ve enjoyed in the past. Change is hard, and if you don’t make your customers aware of upcoming changes, they may begin to distrust your business.
- Hitting and missing—Even the best laid marketing of mice and men can sometimes go awry. You may do all of the right things, and your rebrand may still flop. It’s important to really weigh out whether a rebrand is the right move for your business.
In Conclusion
Rebranding can be a great tool to help your business grow and thrive. But, as with all tools, you must first understand how to use it. If you’re considering a rebrand, or you just need help getting your current brand off the ground, give us a call. Bold River Marketing can help your business create a brand and promote it across the web through videos, social media marketing, and more.