If Rome was built in a day your rebrand could be done in an hour… but that’s not what we recommend. Rebranding is not a quick fix, nor is it something to be taken lightly. Rather, rebranding is an undertaking that has the potential to bring your brand to the next level (yay!) or cause confusion for both employees and customers with negative results (boo!).
This is serious stuff.
If your brand is ready for a change – whether to mark a change in direction, correct perceptions, reach new audiences, or promote new offerings – here are a few Do’s and Don’ts to consider for a successful rebrand.
1. DO ask the difficult questions:
- Why do we want to rebrand?
- What problem are we trying to solve?
- How do our employees really feel about our brand?
Asking these questions will give you clarity and direction as you move forward with your rebrand. It’s important that you and your employees answer honestly for best results.
2. DON’T forget to research.
In order to stand out you need to have a good understanding of your competitors. Look at what they are doing and determine how you can do it differently – this is also known as positioning.
3. DO speak to customers.
Customers chose your organization for a reason – you want to thoroughly understand this and ensure it transcends the new branding. Ideal client design is where you can take things to the next level.
4. DO have the key decision makers outlined up front.
Having this outlined before you begin will streamline the process and result in a better creative product.
5. DON’T let the decision-making team get too big.
Keep it at 3-5 people if possible. While it is important to hear different opinions from employees, you won’t be able to please everyone. Making compromises to try and do so could dilute your rebrand’s effectiveness. Think “too many cooks in the kitchen”.
6. DO make note of gut reactions
During the design process, hold off on sharing gut reactions until the end of the review process. If possible, separate objective responses (verifiable facts not influenced by personal opinions) and subjective responses (personal opinions and preferences).
It’s also worth making note of what is working as well as what is not working. It is rare you will hit a home run during the first round of creative review.
This is an iterative process.
Be sure to review the work on both the merits of the idea and the merits of it’s execution.
7. DO let it marinate.
Gut reactions are important to gather but a lot of times it takes time to digest a new mark or identity cues. It’s best to let the team involved mull it over over the course of a week, then regroup.
8. DON’T forget the roll out.
Rebranding is exciting – this is a whole new you after all! It is common to roll out a rebrand around an event so make sure to take that into account and drum up some excitement in anticipation.
Keep in mind that an internal rollout often comes before a public rollout. Your employees need to be comfortable with the rebrand and should be able to speak intelligently about it before it goes public.
9. DO have metrics in place to measure the effectiveness of the rebrand.
Once you’ve nailed down the specifics of your rebrand, perform some preliminary benchmarking to measure the outcome and success of the rebrand:
- Profit Margins
- Web traffic
- Sentiment score
- Brand awareness
- Social media engagement
Compare that data with data from before your rebrand. How does it measure up?
Rebranding is not a stagnant process. It is continual and will evolve as the market and your customers evolve. Having clear goals in place makes it easier to measure the effectiveness of your rebrand’s positioning over time, allowing you to make adjustments as needed for optimal results.
Summary – Successful Rebrand Do’s & Don’ts
Whether you want to reach new audiences, roll out new offerings, or correct perceptions surrounding your brand, a successful rebrand can make all the difference. Before jumping head first into your rebrand, understand that it is a process that will take collaboration and time; in other words, it is more than a simple logo update.
Ask difficult questions, understand your competition, invest time and energy, utilize key decision makers, and set benchmarks to measure the success of your rebrand.
Are you ready to take your brand to the next level? Subscribe below for more branding topics.
Subscribe to our newsletter for more branding articles!
Recommended For You
Copyright © 2022 vnzo
