Changing the way people see your business can bring great rewards – but also some risks. Here’s our quick guide to re-branding your business…
There are many reasons for a re-brand from dated logos to a shift in focus of your business. Whatever your reasons, it is a major undertaking.
It could include a new website, change in focus on social media, rewritten content and blogs, a new tone of voice, or even new uniforms and offices.
Here are a few hints to help you along the way.
1. Reflect your changing audience
Make sure that if your business has changed, your branding adopts to this change. If your target market has grown with you, you might want to go for a more mature branding. But, if you’ve moved from in-person to online only, you need something in your branding to reflect this.
Examples
Brewery Greene King rebranded their IPA to reflect the fact that ales were becoming more popular with a younger audience.
2. Tell your story
Branding should instantly convey a sense of who your business is. Many firms change their branding as they feel they are getting lost in the market place and want to stand out more. Do this by telling a story with your change. This should be reflected in everything from the copy on your website to your business cards.
Examples
Guinness, once famous for its phrase ‘Guinness is Good for You’, rebranded and became a master storyteller with their evocative adverts.
3. Change in ethos not just name
One of the best reasons for re-branding is if your company has had a fundamental change. Don’t just change your name for the sake of something new – do it to reflect the way your company has grown or changed over the years.
Examples
Butlins changed from cheap and cheerful holiday centres to customer-led, service driven resorts.
4. Check the competition
Most marketplaces are crowded by similar firms. The trick is to both stand out while also being recognisably of that industry. It’s worth checking which brands are the most successful and the ones people instantly recognise and trying to work out what it is about them that people connect with.
Examples
Coca Cola and Pepsi are the classic example. Both are instantly recognisable but also have lots of similarities (both use red, a white swoosh, and sell their drink as something that makes you feel alive).
5. Look for mistakes
Finally, get someone to check it over for any glaring errors. Start with the basics, like typos in your web copy, bad links etc. But also look at the wider picture. Could the logo be misinterpreted, does your new branding look too similar to someone else’s or are you risking alienating parts of your audience?
Examples
There are numerous examples of bad re-branding from Gap’s awful logo that was quickly ditched to AirBnB’s new logo that people thought looked very similar to another company’s and a bit like part of the male anatomy.