Did you know that 1/3 of the world's top 100 brands include the color blue in their logos?
If you want to change your branding colors, values, and messaging, it's time for a rebrand! Brand development takes time and requires businesses to follow certain steps to be successful.
To get started, learn about the eight ways to position your business through a rebrand now.
1. Plan Ahead
Going through a business rebrand shouldn't be abrupt. Rebranding is an investment so it's important to plan ahead to maximize your return on investment.
The more preparation you do in advance, the more impactful and efficient your rebrand will be.
A good preparation strategy begins with learning about the value of rebranding. The need for a rebrand must be made clear to everyone involved in the business.
Next, identify internal partners that will make up the rebranding team. This team should include:
Key decision-makers
Marketing representatives
Sales representative
HR
Customer support
Any leader that interacts with employees or customers daily
The final step of your preparation should be to gather existing marketing and branding materials. The best rebrands start with identifying how the brand is currently positioned and how it can improve.
Perform a thorough brand audit once you have your materials gathered. This provides you with a valuable assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of your current branding strategy.
2. Identify Needed Changes
Brand development involves identifying exact changes needed within the business.
If you are ready to rebrand, you likely are at a point where you know something needs to be fixed. How deep does this problem go? Does your brand need a complete overhaul or just a re-imagination?
Answering these questions can help you decide if you need to fully rebrand or if you need a brand refresh. Brand refreshes are helpful to ensure your brand stays up-to-date on current trends.
For example, you can build your brand around a new product development that the market has need for.
Refreshing a brand is a broad initiative. You'll need to reimplement a new verbal and visual identity across different marketing platforms and touchpoints.
A rebrand, on the other hand, is thorough in repositioning your business. It's fundamental for companies that are facing deep-seated issues, or companies experiencing:
Rapid growth
A shift in the business model
Negative public relations
Rebranding, put simply, is letting go of what your brand is to allow it to become all that it can be.
If your current strategy for developing a brand is misaligned with your business strategy, a rebrand is the best solution. Otherwise, you will actively be undermining your objectives because of negative brand equity.
3. Set a Budget and Timeline
When developing your brand, setting a realistic budget and timeline is key. You need to make sure you have enough money and time for a rebrand.
Rebranding is a costly investment but reaps great benefits when done right. Plus, a rebrand should be good for up to 10 years or more. This is a long-term investment rather than a short-term stint on your marketing budget.
Secure funds for each phase of your rebrand initiative. Rebrands can take anywhere from six to 12 months to complete. This timeline includes strategy, research, and brand design.
Brand activation is a critical step that can take another six to 12 months depending on how complex or large your business is.
You might feel the urgency to do the job as soon as possible but it's important not to rush the process. Even small brands can take months to execute a rebrand.
Consider your brand positioning to create an identity that is cohesive to your website. Editing each of these initiatives requires its own amount of time and funds.
4. Find a Branding Partner
Don't create a new brand identity alone. Finding the right branding partner is the most important step of the process. A design agency can help with everything from brand strategy to packaging development.
Spend time vetting rebranding agencies in your area to ensure the right fit. Consider these questions when looking for a potential partner:
Do their values and culture align with yours?
Do they guarantee high-level talent and expertise?
Is their process founded on objective research?
Do they have a track record of success?
Do they excel at creative execution in their case studies?
Are they adaptable to inevitable changes?
Rebranding is about positioning your business to grow long-term. You'll want to choose a partner that you can stick with in the long run.
MiLK&BULL design company understands the importance of branding and consumer goods packaging design. Their team of visual storytellers are the people you want by your side during a rebrand.
5. Take a Data-Driven Approach
Ideas backed up by data are more successful. When it's time to make the tough rebranding decision, take a data-driven approach.
Getting your branding wrong will impact your bottom line negatively. However, you can mitigate this risk by relying on data to make your decisions. Complete internal and external brand research to access data.
Internal brand research reveals how your brand is perceived by employees and internal stakeholders. Understanding the employee brand experience will help you attract and retain top talent in your industry.
External brand research shows how your brand is perceived by customers. Consider creating customer interviews, focus groups, polls, and surveys to learn about what your customers need and how they feel about your brand.
The more intensive your brand is, the more critical it is to complete thorough research.
6. Understand the Phases
Rebranding follows a four-step process, each of them important. It's necessary to understand and trust this process.
Skipping steps doesn't save time or money. Instead, the corners you cut will cause problems in other steps and cost you money in the long run.
Move deliberately through the rebranding process to ensure the final product can perform and stand the test of time.
The phases are research, strategy, identity, and activation.
Research
In-depth research is the foundation of all successful branding initiatives. Brand research allows you to understand how your brand is perceived and where it fits in the competitive market.
Strategy
Brand strategy positions your brand for growth and differentiation. Foundational elements are defined in the strategy phase. These elements include:
Brand compass
Brand personality
Key differentiators
Brand promise
The elements are used to create the framework of your rebrand.
Identity
Brand identity is more than just a logo. This is the visual and verbal embodiment of the brand position that you created in the strategy phase.
Powerful visual and verbal identities capture what your brand is all about. It infuses the key elements of your brand experience, such as:
Website
Brand messaging
Marketing collateral
Using these elements, you'll build a rebrand with purpose and personality.
Activation
Brand activation is the process of taking your new brand into the world. This initiative involves launching your new brand, internal brand training, and ongoing brand management.
All of these things ensure that your brand is consistently executed.
7. Commit to the Change
When you are deciding between a rebrand or not, it's essential to commit. If you commit to the change without seeing it through, you waste time and money, and can negatively impact your reputation.
If now isn't the right time to rebrand, wait until the environment allows for it.
During rebranding, it's important to understand that unforeseen events will always arise. It's best to try to prepare for these challenges to avoid shelving your rebrand in the middle of the process.
If you deal with a dramatic priority shift, loss of funding, or organizational crisis, it makes more sense to wait for a rebrand until you can commit.
For every project that involves identifying your brand, there is a point of no return. This is when it makes the most sense to see the project through rather than give it up despite forces pushing against it.
8. Activate Your New Brand
Finally, you can activate your new brand! Although this is the last step in our guide, it isn't the end of the rebranding process.
Once you launch your brand to the world, you have to implement your new core values and foster the company culture you wish to achieve.
Externally, you'll need to implement your new brand across various marketing platforms, design a communication strategy, and be prepared for ongoing brand management.
Only brand activation and continuous monitoring of results will allow your audience to experience your brand and find success in it.
Brand Development: Is It Time to Rebrand?
Brand development is a long-term investment and rebranding is no different. If you believe it's time for a rebrand, you need to plan ahead, identify necessary changes, set a budget and timeline, and find a partner.
Allow us at MiLK&BULL to help you with your rebranding project. With our services, you can take a data-driven approach, follow the correct phases, commit to the change, and activate your new brand!
Contact us today to share your project details with our team.