There’s more to rebranding a business than simply redoing the logo - it’s about redefining how your company is perceived by the customer and the wider community.

There are several different reasons a company might decide it’s time to undertake a rebrand, such as in response to an evolving market, a change in product or service offering, and/or to increase relevance and value. For a deep dive on how to know when it’s time to think about rebranding your business, check out our post on 5 Signs Your Business is Ready to Level Up its Look.

When a rebrand is successful, it feels like a natural and almost obvious progression for the brand. Great examples to look at include Uber and Spotify.

When it fails, it’s usually because of misguided decisions that wind up damaging brand equity and disrupting the customer’s associations with a brand which they had an emotional connection with.

Companies exert their rebranding efforts to differing degrees, depending on the need. Here are the three main approaches to rebranding:

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The brand refresh

Such as:

• Switching up your advertising with a refreshing new campaign.
• Making an impression with beautiful packaging - for example, Apple makes receiving and unboxing their products a sleek, tactile experience which echoes their brand ethos of excellence in design.
• Updating your slogan - for example, you will likely easily recall the memorable M&S campaign slogans ‘this isn’t just food - this is M&S food’ and ‘spend it well’.
• Social media branding and influencer campaigns - these are now more important than ever for nurturing consumer trust, providing real experiences of a brand’s product or service and accumulating social proof.

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The partial rebrand

Such as:

• Changing the colours and shapes of your logo - for example, our work on The Culture Collective: we updated their previous logo mark to better fit the space available on their packaging, and later down the line redesigned it completely. See for yourself over on our work page.
• Updating brand messaging: your core message, tone of voice and language to better reflect your brand personality.
• Updating your brand personality - for example, along with their rebrand, Old Spice saw great success when they took on a new brand persona and tone of voice, employing absurdist humour to hone in on their target demographic - the women who buy men’s personal care products, and the men who aspire to this certain ‘manly’ lifestyle and idea of masculinity.

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The full rebrand

Such as:

• A complete brand transformation - a new name, new logo and brand identity.
• Also overhauling a company's goals, message, and culture.
• When construction company Structure Consult underwent a transitional period of ownership, we were brought in to provide them with a brand identity facelift in order to better resonate with the clients they wanted to work with - check it out here.
• Kentucky Fried Chicken took note from their established following and changed their name officially to KFC, simply because that’s what everyone was already calling them.

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Defining the brand

A brand identity is most effective when it gets applied to an already well defined brand. And a well defined brand is a well researched brand. If you need help defining your brand, these questions are a good starting point:

• Why did you start your business, and what do you want to do for customers?
• What are your values, and what will drive the decisions made in your business?
• If your brand was a person, what kind of personality would it have?
• How are you different from the competitors in your industry?
• What makes your business unique?
• What words would you use to describe your brand, and what words would customers typically use to describe your organisation?

Our branding agency, Pithy Studios, can help take the answers to these questions and pull together a plan of action to get your brand moving forward in the right direction. If you think you could be at this stage, reach out for a consultation to take a deeper dive.

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Before you begin

Hopefully by now you have a better idea of what a rebrand could involve. If you’re starting to feel sure that this is the next step for your business, here are some important questions to ask yourself before you embark on the rebranding journey:

• Why do you think a new logo will help your business? 
• What do you hope to achieve by creating a new logo?
• What problems will the new logo solve?
• Why does this need to happen right now? 
• What will happen if you don't get this new logo? 

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Elements of a brand identity to reassess: what is working and what isn’t?

Rebranding falls under your overall brand strategy - the company’s vision, mission and values are therefore your guideposts for your rebranding strategy. Here’s a list of the essential elements that make up your brand identity. Are they working to serve your overall brand strategy?

• Company name
• Brand positioning
• Logo
• Slogan
• Colour palette
• Typography
• Marketing and advertising campaigns
• Social media presence
• Partnerships and affiliates (e.g., influencers)
• Content creation
• Branding voice
• Web design
• App design
• In-store decor
• Sensory interactions (tastes, smells, sounds, etc.)

And don’t forget - any change to your brand identity should be reflected in your brand guidelines. Consistency is key!

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Plan for a sensitively executed launch

Finally, if you’re committing to rebranding, you must make sure you take the time to put together a launch strategy. Remember the emotional attachment employees and customers may have to your current brand and take steps to avoid alienating existing customers and key stakeholders. It’s always better to ease them in and give them time to adjust. After all, if you’re doing it right, you’re putting your customers at the centre of the brand narrative.

Let us help

You know your business, and we know about creating an effective brand identity. Don’t just take our word for it - we’re proud to be listed as a recommended agency on Design Rush! We can help you to identify the heart and soul of your business and deliver the right experience to your audience at every crucial touch point. Get in touch or use the form at the bottom of this page.