Your Strategic Guide to Rebranding
A person grows in age when time passes by, an in this day and
age where corporations are considered as living entities, they too
should be considered capable of growth. Like a human growing in age,
brands too grow be that in their values, their interest market, etc.,
With this change that they undergo, it becomes necessary for them to be
rebranded so as to correctly portray what they stand for.
Prior to going more in-depth of the rebranding process, the first thing to note would be: what is rebranding? Rebranding is a step that the company takes when it wishes to change some aspect of their branding elements: be they logo, typography, or even the color palette that the brand adheres to. The basic idea behind the rebranding process is that the brand is going through a change and they wish for their consumers to know more about it.
Rebranding as a process can be done for as little as the rebrand calls for, it could just be some minor components of the branding element or maybe the full brand. Based on this the rebranding process is categorized into three:
1. Brand Refresh: Here in this process only minor details are changed; this process is usually done when the brand wants to modernize themselves.
2. Partial Rebrand: In this process you change some elements of the branding process, they could be the slogan, or the logo, or even the color palette.
3. Full Rebrand: Here all the elements of the branding materials are changed, this is usually only done when a brand wants to reinvent themselves.
While rebranding as a process was previously considered to be an option, in this day and age if a brand wants to stay ahead of the trend, some aspect of a rebrand is always necessary. But there are sacrifices involved with the process. The most prevalent of which is the cost. It takes a lot of money to rebrand certain aspects or sometimes maybe the whole brand. The money could go towards logo design aspects, or even international multimedia ad campaign to make aware your audience regarding the rebrand. The other sacrifices while not so in-your-face are time and human resource.
While rebranding is a good idea there are risks involved with the process, like whether the new brand will work as good as the old one did.
The next thing to keep in mind for the rebranding process is when should it be initiated. There are a few times when it might be necessary, they are:
• Change of products/services offered
This is only for when the brand is trying to break into a new market space, this is done to bring attention to the brand.
• Change of target audience
Similar to when you are providing mew products or services, a rebrand is necessary when you bring a change in your target audience.
• Current brand nor performing well
A rebrand is necessary when the brand idea that you have played out does not mesh well with your target audience, this is done to help your brand perform well in their chosen market.
• To stand out from your competitors
In this situation a rebrand is done to make your brand stand out from its competitors in a positive way so as to garner more attention as compared to them.
• Updating your brand due to passage of time
As time passes, things that were once trendy may not be so. So, it is necessary to have a rebrand if you wish to stay current with the times.
With these introductory steps you are well on your way to a successful rebrand of your company. But a more thorough read is always a good idea.
