The R word: 3 signs it’s time to rebrand your business.

Unhappy with your branding? With any business, sooner or later the time comes when your company identity no longer feels right or up to scratch.

After all, when most first start a business, branding isn’t a priority. You’re still learning who your customers are and where to find them. Plus, even if you were on point with crafting a brand identity in the very beginning, trends in businesses shift meaning you might require a rebranding strategy.

Often, it’s difficult to pinpoint when exactly you should make such changes, and that’s where we come in to help. Here are the three signs to recognize when it’s time to rebrand your business and start a rebranding strategy.

You Want to Reposition Your Market

Sometimes your business is looking to welcome a new group of people, but your current branding is unlikely to connect with them. If you’re looking to draw a new type of customer to your business, whether using a product, place, price, or promotion, your brand will need to adjust to cater to them.

Your brand should attract the people you’re trying to reach, so in this case, rebranding may be necessary. If your target audience is changing and directing a change in your business, it’s time to make suitable branding changes.

For example, many older brands struggle to connect with millennials. This is because often millennials’ behavior, habits, and values hugely differ from other generations.

However, when making branding changes, be very careful. You don’t want to do anything that will dispel your existing – and loyal – customers. If you can, rebrand your company to appeal to both existing and new customers for a win-win situation.

Likewise, if your company has a new philosophy then a rebrand may be required. Perhaps your company has a new mission, vision, or values? If so, these should influence every business decision you make, including brand decisions.

Your Brand Isn’t Original

Many companies that need rebranding are often the ones that lack in originality.

While industries change and develop, many brands try their best to keep up with trends, but in many cases companies end up adopting each other’s branding, visions, and philosophies. In a busy market, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd if your brand doesn’t offer that originality or spark.

To thrive, a brand needs differentiation and to stand out. After all, if there are ten chocolate shops on a high street and neither of them seem to have anything special about them, then you’re unlikely to sway to one from the rest.

If your company has fallen victim to coming across as unoriginal, then a full-on rebrand may be necessary to steal the spotlight and shine among the crowds.

Many brands even start to resemble one another because they try to compete with rebrands. But remember, just because a competitor has gone through an intensive rebranding, it doesn’t mean you have to follow suit and copy.

A rebrand should feel authentic, unique, original, and natural for a company and shouldn’t be executed in competition.

Your Brand Is Outdated

Is your website design clunky? Or maybe your logo is looking stale?

One of the main reasons brands choose to rebrand is because their branding as a whole appears outdated. If your website is embarrassing to direct people to or your logo makes you cringe every time you see it, then it might be time to work on your brand.

There’s no need to feel embarrassed if your branding feels old, off or outdated. After all, industries shift and evolve quickly and before you know it there’s a new trendy look and feel on the block. Think about it – Google has used over seven logos over the last 20 years!

Trends change and over time brands may come across as stuck in the past or old fashioned if they don’t move with the times. In lots of rebranding cases, the attraction of a more modern brand is the main motivation behind a project.

If Google is happy to rebrand often, then feel free to follow in their footsteps if it works for you. And if you run a big company or have an already established brand, be sure to conduct some healthy research before rejecting an old logo or branding.

Famously the clothing brand gap had a logo disaster when they received a backlash against a new design. Loyal customers felt more connected to the previous iconic logo and were unhappy that the brand had tried to modernize the company.

Modernization doesn’t need to be a full-on rebranding. Sometimes all you need is a tweak. For example, in 2016 Pentagram created a new logo for Mastercard. Instead of eliminating the iconic overlapping circles that everybody loves and recognizes, the design simply welcomed a more modern feel to the logo.

All it took was a slight tweak to bring the classic design forward into the future.

Interested in a Rebranding Strategy?

Have you noticed any of the above signs in your company? If so, then it may be time for a rebranding strategy.

Rebranding can work wonders for your business, but it’s important to do your research and have a total buy-in before investing in an expensive and lengthy rebrand. In many cases, it’s worth paying for some professional help and guidance to help you come up with an effective strategy that works for you and your brand.

When it comes to business rebranding, we’re here to help. Check out our available solutions to help you complete a successful rebrand.