Rebranding can be simply described as recreating your business from the inside to change the outward identity and expression. Rebranding is driven by a number of reasons such as the current brand is not effective enough to market your business, does not reflect your business’s evolution and growth or it is just outdated and stale. Regardless of the reasons driving you to rebrand, the process requires creativity, resources and exceptional commitment.
Most large corporations have at one time spent millions of dollars to rebrand. You are in a better position because rebranding for a small or medium sized business is a lot cheaper. Actually, some large brands cannot afford to rebrand for fear of spending a billion dollars to change everything and also risk losing their ground as far as customers are concerned. When you decide to rebrand, ensure that you have conducted enough research and use whatever is at your disposal to create a better and more effective brand. Here are is how to successfully rebrand your business.
1. Stick To Your Rebranding And Keep The Wheel Moving
Rebranding is a lot of work. Now that you know that, you will need to commit a lot of time and resources but first you should start with the declaration. Rebranding can be pretty exciting and you will jump into all sorts of projects but as long as you are on the right track, don’t stop. Leaving projects hanging will only lead to a worse brand than you had in the first place. No one says you have to rush through things; the most important thing is to produce results in different projects to create a brand that will represent your business better.
2. Get Everyone Involved
For better rebranding you should not even think of working alone. Getting everyone in your business involved will go a long way in getting the creative juices flowing. The insights, feelings and ideas from all the players in your business regardless of their capacity really matter in the rebranding process. In some cases, you might find that the most junior employee have the best of ideas that will work. You however need to draw the line, involving your employees in the rebranding process does not necessarily mean that every single person has to be part of the process. If you have too many employees, the process can easily be slowed down.
3. Display Results At Different Stages
Once the rebranding wheel is on the move, the only thing that will keep it moving is the display of results. People are more motivated when they see that their inputs have made an impact. Show the results to the involved parties and sustaining and energizing the rebrand will not be a task.
The key members involved in rebranding your business want to be part of the transformation and every stage should have solid results. Make it an event where everyone will appreciate each phase such as the unveiling of the new company logo.
4. Honest Deliberation
Facts are you will be in multiple committees dealing with the progress of the rebranding process. Many times the key members will have different opinions and strategies that will lead to the evolution of the initial ideas. Most of these changes will occur based on the fact that everyone wants the rebrand to be a success. These opinions, questions and suggestions will only reflect how a larger audience will react and thus will help in dealing with all minor and major issues to create a brand that explains everything about your business.
5. Go back to The Drawing Board
When you show results in a certain stage, there will be feedback from the audience. This feedback is crucial because it will assist in getting back to the drawing board for revisions, improvements or total changes. Even in cases where the feedback is positive, you can still make things better. Ensure that your brand embraces the thoughts, ideas, and the people’s reactions. After making the revisions, you still need to go back and make honest deliberations and change what needs to be changed. You should never settle until the brand is a perfect representation of what your business stands for.
6. Be Fully Committed
You have gathered ideas, created and deliberated over different phases. It is now time to make a decision and move forward. If you have the final product, you will need to commit to it by making the big decision which is moving it to be your next brand, the face of your business. When you are making this important decision, know that though you will not be locked in forever, you will have to live with your decision for a while. Get all the key parties involved in the process to make a unanimous decision. As long as you went through the above steps, you should have nothing much to worry about.
7. Brand Everything
After making the big decision, you are not yet out of the woods. You still need to exhaust all options. You did not go through all that work to only brand your website and your products and services. You need to go all the way. Everything that had the old brand needs to be rebranded starting from the front of your business, receipts, invoices, employee working outfits, social media pages, letterheads, office mugs, basically everything. You can also venture into other areas that the older brand had not touched.
8. Take Your Rebrand Everywhere
Initially, branding was all about burning a mark into a product or an animal. Well, you have to make your new brand hot and stamp it all over. Use social media pages to create buzz around the new look and use it as an opportunity to change the public’s perception of your business. You can now use your new brand to lead your audience to a direction that will benefit your business in terms of sales. You are now different, stand out and grab as many customers as you can to grow a better bigger business.
Read more: Rebranding for Startups