10 Tips for a Successful Company Rebranding
It’s no secret that we’re all constantly in a state of evolution. The same is true of the global marketplace that we’re all a part of. As consumer values and behaviors change, they require brands to meet them where they are. Their perception of your brand is the defining factor of whether they choose to do business with you or not. Is your brand staying in lock-step with them?
You may have heard this before but it’s worth repeating: branding is all about perception management. What your customers think, feel, and perceive about your brand can be directly linked with business success. In fact, 77% of B2B marketing leaders agree—branding is critical to growth.
So it’s not a matter of if your business should rebrand—it’s a matter of when.
The roadmap to a successful company rebranding requires knowledge of the runway. Answers to burning questions, like…
How long does it take?
How much is it going to cost?
What does the process look like?
Who do I need to find to help us?
What you don’t know about the process can work against you, so it’s better to know what lies ahead than to find out mid-way through the initiative. Taking into consideration the time, cost, and lasting implications a brand can have, it’s worth delicate deliberation.
Let’s dive into a few of these burning questions and then finish off with tips to help get you started and on the right track.
How often should a company rebrand?
Depending on the pace of the industry a brand can go through an evolution on average, every 3 years. More than you thought? Just looking at the long 130-year-old history of the iconic Coca-Cola brand, it has changed looks about a dozen times in its lifetime striving to stay current and optimistic about the future.
This includes their 2021 Coca-Cola “hug” logo transformation for their “real magic” campaign in response to the unprecedented changes we all encountered through the global pandemic. While there are some clear markers for when a brand should consider a rebrand—such as launching a new sub-brand, business acquisitions, or pivoting to target a new demographic—sometimes there are reasons that we can’t plan for. A global pandemic for one.
An astonishing 75% of brands have gone through a rebrand since COVID-19.
Why is a company rebranding necessary?
The question on your mind may be, why is it important to rebrand in the face of change? The answer: we live in a fast-paced world where brands revolve around the customer, not the other way around. So it’s up to companies to optimize and recalibrate their brand to meet this fast-changing world to align with their ever-evolving customer. Otherwise, you run the risk of being outpaced by other businesses in the market that are adapting to the needs of their customers.
How much does a company rebranding cost?
We get it. Rebranding is not an easy or inexpensive feat. The price tag varies depending on the size of the organization and its complexities, but costs can be up to $250,000. They can even extend into millions of moolah for behemoth brands like Mastercard.
It’s an investment for sure, but one that is worthwhile when you look at the ROI. Brand loyalty is worth 10X more than a single purchase (Venngage, 2019).
Perhaps you’re feeling the call to take a pause to refresh your brand. Or maybe you’ve been through a rebrand in the past and are looking to optimize the process this time around.
Whatever the draw may be, understanding the process is valuable in planning and budgeting the right resources as well as setting expectations for launch.
At Rebel, we’re super nerds when it comes to research and strategy—we apply this to everything that we do, even rebrands. Below are some of our best practices of what to do and what not to do when preparing for a rebrand.
01—Follow a roadmap.
Do
Download this free roadmap (at the top of this page). You’re going to need a systematic plan to guide the process of research, development, design, and implementation of the rebrand.
Don’t
Overlook the rollout phase. The final stage in a company rebranding is updating all of the assets. Allocate a budget and a dedicated team to execute the rollout.
02—Start the process now.
Do
Take action in being proactive. Depending on the size of your company it can take 1-3 years to get the rebrand out to the world across all mediums. So get started as early as you can when you have an inkling that a rebrand is on the radar.
Don’t
Wait. Vetting the right team for the job can take up to 6 weeks alone. Start the process as soon as you can while keeping in mind it may take another fiscal year to budget and plan for it. Start the conversations now.
03—Take inventory.
Do
A brand audit. Take inventory of all your branded assets with our Brand Audit Scorecard to measure brand consistency across the board. Find the gaps and close them.
Don’t
Rush it or oversimplify the process. Treat every brand evolution delicately and methodically. “Move fast and break things” doesn’t work in your favor in the long run.
04—Prioritze the research.
Do
You have to know what is broken in order to fix it, right? Put the customer in the front seat and get their input on all of your questions. Mix up the methodologies and take action on the insights.
Don’t
Skip this step. It is crucial to iterate with purpose based on customer data. Trade personal, subjective opinions in favor of those who put money into your business—your customers.
05—Hire the experts.
Do
Get the right team for the job. Rebranding is a high-stakes game so you want to hire people who have proven expertise you can trust to lead you to success.
Don’t
Under-resource. A novice team that may cost less upfront can cost more in damages later on in the game with rookie mistakes or additional rework.
06—Dive deep into your brand.
Do
A brand strategy. Focusing solely on the logo is a fool's game. What new foundations need to be set? Start with a research-informed strategy.
Don't
Rebrand only the logo. Take a holistic approach and find other areas creating gaps between you and the customer. Go all in if you have to.
07—Develop a Brand Guide.
Do
Create a full brand asset library. Think beyond the logo, does your new brand guide include website design, brand voice, social, sales, and marketing?
Don’t
Skip the brand guide. It’s your brand bible. Flying blind after you get a new logo? Not a great way to set your team up for success following a company rebranding.
08—Check yourself on trends.
Do
Look into the future. What trends and projections are on the horizon for the future? Your rebrand should look like it belongs in this era of time, and maybe just a bit ahead of the curve.
Don’t
Get caught up in design trends for the sake of being trendy. If your target audience resonates with new aesthetics, then it’s a no-brainer. Stay mindful of the design choices you make.
09—Test. Analyze. Optimize. Repeat.
Do
Test the rebrand. Avoid a logo that unintentionally looks like male or female anatomy (we’ve seen it before). Test it in a focus group.
Don’t
Stop researching. Keep the dialog open with focus groups to test logo concepts. Involve customers at every stage and as often as possible.
10—Lean into evolution.
Do
Embrace brand transformation. Some brands go through a redesign every 3-10 years. Taking the example of Coca-Cola, even a classic brand iterates periodically over the years.
Don’t
Be rigid. If your website is chaotic and your messaging lacks depth, you may not be reaching your customers. Allow new life to breathe into your brand without being fixed on how it was before.
Drawing up blanks on where to start with the process?
Fill in the gaps of ambiguity with the Rebranding Roadmap.
More than a roadmap this helpful tool guides you down the right path and signals what to watch out for, taking insights from lessons we’ve learned from our past experiences. It will give you the foresight you need for planning and gauge the resources you’ll need to recruit that will be critical to your process. Happy branding.
