Is it time to give your company assets a much needed redesign? If so, it’s important that you understand what rebranding means, and how to do it properly.
What is Rebranding?
First off, what even is rebranding? Rebranding goes beyond choosing colors and fonts. Sure, those aspects are an important part of the process, but rebranding means changing the entire corporate image of a company or business as well as making a shift in the overall brand identity of your business.
Why Do We Need to Rebrand?
Whether you’re trying to target a new audience, compete with new emerging competitors, or give a new fresh take on an outdated look, over time, rebranding is pretty much a necessity. Don’t ignore the signs that it may be time for an update. If you avoid it for too long, you could appear ‘outdated’ to your clients and customers.
How To Do it Properly
Research: First things first, conduct your research. Do what you can to assess your customers wants and needs, while also browsing what your competitors are doing. This by no means means copying, but, it is a good idea to see what is and is not working within your market.
Look Back: What aspects did you like about your current branding strategy? What aspects could be improved? It’s important to recognize that rebranding doesn’t always mean throwing everything you’ve done away, but rather perfecting what you’ve done to be even better. Like the colors you used before? Great! Keep them for your new logo. Think your slogan is catchy? Nice! Format it in a new and fresh way. Look back introspectively to see what you should be completely getting rid of versus what you simply need to perfect.
Make it Cohesive: When you do get to the design process, make sure all elements of your brand keep a consistent look and feel about them. While it’s important to have variety, you can still do this and maintain an overall look! Some of the elements that go into making a brand cohesive include tone of voice, fonts, colors, and graphics.
Get Input: Communicate with your key stakeholders throughout the entire process. Make sure you document everything and get appropriate feedback on how you’re doing so you know whether or not to move forward in a certain direction.
Collaborate: If your company is more than just you, the rebranding strategy should show that. Ask your employees for ideas and opinions! You never know what could come of it. Plus, you’ll want everyone to be notified and on board with your new look in order to go back to the cohesive look stage.
Show it Off: Congrats! Your look is “complete”. I put complete in parenthesis because updates and edits can be made at anytime. But, for now, be proud of the work you’ve done! Start sharing it with your customers, clients, and consumers today!
Summary
Rebranding is a crucial step of the overall branding process. Don’t be afraid of it! When done correctly, it can be a huge help and positive shift.
Looking to rebrand your company image? If so, we can help! Contact us today to know more.