Rebranding: What is involved?

Your company’s brand is its identity. It influences how the organisation, goods and services are perceived, who they appeal to and what those customers can expect.

If your image no longer aligns with the company culture and priorities, you may be considering a change. By understanding what is involved, you can decide if rebranding is the right decision…

Is Rebranding the Right Decision?
Consumers are drawn to what is familiar and they like consistency, so rebranding isn’t an exercise to take lightly. It involves far more than a shiny new façade. A logo refresh and a new strapline might be a bit of fun, but if nothing else changes, nor will others’ opinions of your brand. You could simply find yourself out of pocket with no tangible results.

Rebranding is advisable when the current identity no longer reflects your company culture or offer. It should be about repositioning your brand so it is relevant and engaging to your desired target clients and employees. It is driven by the need to communicate core values and strengthen your market position following a business relocation, a merger, natural evolution or for legislative reasons.

What Matters to your Team and your Customers?
A rebrand delves deep into the priorities of the business and the target customers. Answering the following questions can be a helpful starting point:

What are the fundamental goals and values of the business and why are these important?

How will they help to future-proof the company?
Are they already part of the company culture or is a complete overhaul needed?

Top Tip: Involve all employees in the discussions, as brand consistency will be dependent on their buy-in. Invite their ideas, thoughts and suggestions on how these goals and values can be integrated into their roles. Engaging employees assures them that the rebrand is a positive step. It is an opportunity to address things that aren’t working and enhance both employee and customer experiences.

Internal reviews and decision making is one thing, yet market research and customer focus groups are required to fully evaluate the scope of what needs to change. Gather external insight to determine if:

Internal goals and values tie in with consumer priorities
Proposed changes are enough or if your target customers expect more
You can learn from the marketing strategies used by other brands to engage this target customer

What is Deemed Good Practice?
As part of the review process, it is useful to build in factors that may not have seemed important when the original brand was launched, but are now considered good practice. This includes ensuring your vision is inclusive, accessible and both environmentally and socially sustainable.

The Rebranding Process
The research gathered internally and externally should strongly influence the rebrand. It determines the logo, the tone of voice, the typography, and both visual and written content. It informs your marketing strategy, your recruitment and training process and potentially, your supply chain. Everything needs to tie in.

When the new brand has been developed, it should be presented with branding guidelines. For consistency, these must be followed in every representation of the business, so every member of the team should be informed of what is now expected. Group training and activities can be useful for clarifying how the guidelines are implemented.

A fresh marketing strategy will identify where and how to promote the business, to ensure you catch the eye of the target client. Changes to the website, company signage and all other customer interactions will need to be considered.

Launching the New Branding
As you plan the launch, it is worth gathering feedback from employees and customers on the new branding. How has it altered their perception of the brand and does this match the intentions? Then, undertake a final content audit to check that everything from email signatures and documents, to web pages and adverts, have been updated to deliver brand consistency.

Now it is time to get your message out there; showcase your new brand with pride and pull out all the stops to redefine your place in the market.

Where Can I Get Help with Rebranding?
As rebranding isn’t a regular occurrence, you might seek support from a team with experience in the process and competence in marketing strategies. Alison Page Marketing is a professional team, working with SMEs to strengthen their market position.

Our support is tailored to your requirements and can include:
Structuring the rebranding process
Undertaking market research and providing insight
Developing a marketing strategy
Putting the strategy into action
Measuring and analysing outcomes
Our involvement will streamline the process and deliver desired results.