You are the proud owner of a local coffee shop. After opening the shop one brisk morning, a new face comes in and orders one of your top sellers. As you prepare her warm brew, you spark up a conversation and find out that she’s lived a few blocks away for almost two years and has never heard of your shop. After she leaves and the slight bewilderment fades, you realize that you may need to re-assess your branding efforts. Making the decision to rebrand is never a simple one, especially when you’ve put a lot of money into your logo, website, and social media. However, rebranding allows you to redefine yourself in an ever-changing market. Here are a few reasons you may want to do it.
You Feel Embarrassed About Your Brand Assets
If
you are embarrassed to hand out business cards because you don’t love
your logo or your website, it is time to rebrand. You should be proud of
your brands visual assets and feel good when passing them along to
people in a professional or personal setting.
Your Brand Is Outdated
Ten
years ago, your logo may have been fresh, unique, and loved by the
clients who saw it. Now, it may be outdated or no longer represent what
your brand (goals/vision) is all about.
You and Your Competition Are Twinning
Branding is about standing out in a crowd of competitors. If you blend in with the current crowd in your market, it’s time to spruce things up.
Something Bad Happened
A business faux pas can spread fast thanks to social media. If there
are negative things spewing about your business in the news, online, or
with customers, a re-brand may be the only thing that saves you.
You Want a New Audience
So when you launched ten years ago your target market was moms in their
30’s and 40’s. Now, you are trying to reach moms and dads in their 30’s
and 40’s and that may require some brand changes.
Step 1
If you do decide to re-brand, the first thing you need to do is talk to
your clients or customers. Draft and hand out (and email) surveys and
conduct focus groups to find out what they like and don’t like and what
they suggest. Then,
have individual meetings with all employees and get their feedback and
suggestions on what the company offers but also what it’s like to work
for your company.
Step 2
You need to write down all of the things that aren’t working for
customers/sales/employees (incorporating the feedback you’ve gathered)
and then write down what has been working. Once all of this is gathered
it’s time for a creative meeting with your management to toss ideas
around to create an action plan for success. Part of that action plan
also includes making sure that your employees are utilizing all of their
abilities in their position. For example, if you have an office manager
that is great in her role but is also very creative, why not have her
sometimes team up with marketing on special projects. Launching a
rebrand may also mean investing in public relations, marketing
consultants, or hiring someone to conduct market research.