If you’re still on the fence about whether its time to rebrand or not, read on.
Branding your company is not a “fix it and forget it” proposition. Your brand needs careful attention throughout its life—from the day you first create it to the first time when you feel it’s time to rebrand and beyond. But the “should you/shouldn’t you” debate can drag out for too long, and many companies neglect their brands for too long. That leads to letting things languish when decisive action is needed instead—and losing a lot of goodwill in the process.
It can be hard to rebrand, but for most businesses doing so will eventually become a necessity. Here are five signs you may have reached that point.
You’ve run out of “space”.
Maybe you’re bigger than you were when you started. Perhaps you sell into new industries, or you’ve added new service lines.
Whatever the case, if you used to feel that your brand would last until the end of time—and now you wonder whether it’ll last the month—it’s probably a good sign you need to rebrand.
You’ve lost your purpose.
Author and consultant Simon Sinek has made a career of telling business owners to “start with why”—to remember that customers don’t care as much about what you’re doing as why you’re doing it.
Do your customers care about why you do what you do? Do you?
A rebrand can be a good opportunity to start at “square one” and get your why right.
Things don’t “hang together” anymore.
If, as we often say at Branding For The People, branding is the process of creating a desired perception in the mind of your customer… Then how do your customers perceive your business?
Do they see a unified whole, or a scattered jumble of random elements?
A good brand demonstrates cohesiveness across 7 separate elements—your logo, your colors, your imagery and more—and if your customers subconsciously perceive a disconnect, they’ll feel less strongly about your brand.
Consider having us perform a Brand Audit. If you don’t like the results, maybe it’s time for a rebrand.
Your public hates you.
Joan Jett may have sung “I don’t give a damn about my bad reputation,” but brands can’t afford to be so cavalier.
Tylenol knew this in the 80s during its cyanide scare, and its transparency and forthrightness quickly recaptured public confidence. United Airlines, by contrast, recently bobbled their response to a viral video of a passenger being dragged off a plane—and watched the public’s perception of their company drop to a 10-year low.
If you’re facing similar challenges and your response to a crisis isn’t getting you any traction, “starting over” with a rebrand may be one of your few remaining viable options.
You’re tired of looking the same.
You certainly can’t escape competition in business; in fact, some gurus believe you shouldn’t even enter a market unless there are plenty of healthy competitors. After all—they prove, so the thinking goes, that there’s a market there in the first place.
But if those competitors are getting too close for comfort, maybe it’s time for a rebrand.
If your position in that market isn’t well differentiated—if you’ve been commoditized, for example, because your customers see no perceptible difference between you and your rivals—a rebrand can help you distinguish yourself.
Why, for instance, can the fast food market sustain McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Jack in the Box, Five Guys, Sonic, In-N-Out, Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr., Burger King, White Castle, and more?
Because they all stand for something different in the mind of the fast food consumer. Burger King sells freedom of choice, for example—think “Have it your way.”—while Sonic and their drive-in restaurants peddle nostalgia.
Takeaway.
It’s no secret that we think your brand is your most important business asset, and that carefully nurturing it is one of the keys to success. That’s why we say there’s no shame in admitting that it’s time to revisit and rebrand.
Recognize yourself on this list? Fear not—we can help.
