What is rebranding and when should it be done?

Any company that wants to develop and take new heights will sooner or later come to the question of the need for rebranding.

Time passes, employees change, the audience matures, new competitors and sales techniques appear - you can’t just watch the active rhythm of life and the race of brands from the outside. To stay on the radar, you need to embrace change and apply fresh ideas to your work.

But the company's rebranding must be justified. It is mistakenly mistaken for a change in logo design or corporate identity media, because it is the external updates that the consumer notices first. However, rebranding is a more global process in the company, which is driven by both a new approach to doing business and the same market trends.

What is the essence of rebranding? When is it needed? What benefits does a business have and how not to make mistakes? We will help you understand all these issues.

What is rebranding?

Rebranding - This is a qualitative update of the brand. As a result, we see changes in the logo, slogan, sign, advertising, website, and other elements and media of corporate identity. But the new design is the embodiment of internal changes. Rebranding implies a change in brand development strategy, the launch of new products, changes in the composition of managers, and new interaction with the audience.

There are also the concepts of redesign, restyling and repositioning. Each of them separately is also sometimes labeled “rebranding,” but this is not entirely true:

• Redesign is a new appearance of individual brand elements. If a product's packaging begins to blend in with competitors on the shelf, a new design is created in the same corporate style and with the same philosophy. Or the site’s performance has decreased, and one of the solutions is to update the design.
• Restyling is a change in the entire visual of the brand. But the reason here is not the new company values ​​or the new business strategy. Updating the entire identity is sometimes simply dictated by design trends. Let’s say the company’s corporate identity was created ten years ago. The products are the same, the mission is the same, but the image is not attractive. Then the entire design is updated according to the criteria of today.
• Repositioning - changes in product characteristics or replenishment of the product range. In such cases, the brand design may acquire some new features, while maintaining the same course of development.

All of this can only be called special cases of rebranding; they do not represent fundamental changes. Rebranding itself is just about a structural update, where new goals and objectives for the entire business are set.

What business problems can rebranding solve?

One company wants to improve the quality of service, another wants to sell more, and a third wants to create a unique image. These and other goals, as well as stages of development, market conditions, trends at a given time determine the tasks that rebranding will help solve:

• Attract new customers by entering a new segment and launching a product line that is unusual for the brand.
• Change the class of goods and services - either become more accessible to most people, or create a product for a limited number of people.
• Catch up and overtake competitors by creating a number of unique advantages and distinctive features.
• Refresh the brand to regain the interest of the audience: modernize the product, update the visuals, integrate the latest technologies.
• Adapt your business to modern, rapidly changing trends.
• Announce a new stage in the life of the company, a new vector of development, a change in priorities.

A certain general goal of rebranding is to convey all the innovations to your audience, to show that the company, entirely or partially, now works in a new way, offers new products or service systems, and looks at business and the world as a whole differently.

Types of rebranding

A company may have only one reason to update its product. But there will also be brands that need to work through the entire list of tasks announced just above. Therefore, the rebranding process can be divided into two types:

Comprehensive rebranding

Each component of the brand is subject to updating: the product catalog, corporate culture, employee behavior, management model of managers, ideology. And, of course, the entire visual style: from website pages to office interior.

If a company comes to a decision about the need for a comprehensive rebranding, then we can assume that there are many unprofitable positions and they are trying to give the brand a second life. In essence, the brand is being created anew. This is a responsible step - everything needs to be analyzed in detail in advance so that a radical update does not aggravate the situation.

Partial rebranding

In this case, the foundation of the brand is preserved, only in some positions it is necessary to change the vector of development and be updated externally. Again, it all depends on the goals, objectives and market trends. The company can change the work schedule and format of service in favor of customer comfort, and this will already be reflected in the positioning of the brand.

Conventionally, this can also include redesign, restyling, repositioning. After all, they solve specific problems for the brand, but do not encroach on the mission and key features. Partial rebranding can also be associated with the launch of a new product, which also implies changes in structure and design.

When is it worth rebranding and how will it help the company?

Why does your company need rebranding?

What will your audience get from the rebranding and how will it attract new customers?

Will the changes suit employees and interest new candidates?

You can put more questions on the agenda to work through every aspect of the business. Before you start rebranding, you need to be 100% sure that it will be useful, that it will solve the necessary problems, and improve financial and image indicators. There are good reasons to renew your brand:

Changing priorities

The need to rebrand a company comes from the very roots: from the brand philosophy, goals and values, business concept. When these fundamental points take a new direction, the brand itself, its positioning and design changes.

Change of power

Rebranding can also be carried out by a new composition of top managers. They may not question the brand's mission and core values, but they will certainly adopt new ways of working.

The company will set itself new long-term goals, and will differently build its work with clients and internal corporate culture. This will inevitably affect the brand.

Falling indicators

People suddenly began to buy your product less, the flow of new customers has decreased, and regular ones no longer contact you. And this happens in the life of companies.

In these cases, rebranding can save the situation. But don't put all your hopes on the new design. First, figure out why these numbers are falling and customers are leaving. The real reason may lie not only in an outdated identity. And when solutions to problems are found, then it’s time to competently transfer them to a new brand design.

New competitors

A daring company can break into the competition: it has a unique approach to work, it serves clients completely differently, and the process is automated. They are not like everyone else, they take a lot of attention, and people line up for them.

This does not mean at all that it is time to say goodbye to leadership positions. This is where rebranding the company will come in handy. Analyze your brand and these competitors, find the differences. Determine what catches them and what you can learn from them. Add to this all your strengths and embody them in a new brand concept.

New audience

At some point, you will want to become useful to a new audience or realize that you need to rebuild. For example, you own a clothing boutique that sells men's suits best. And you decide to create a classic clothing salon for men. Of course, rebranding is also needed.

Here we note that the current target audience will one day become new to you if you do not develop with it. People's tastes, views, needs, and lifestyles change. To retain your audience and be relevant to them, you will have to update the concept and design of the brand, even more than once.

New pricing policy

The cost of the product largely determines the target audience of the brand, and with it the class of goods and services. One company strives to make its product more expensive: it improves production technologies and works on quality. When she manages to achieve results, the price tag goes up. Or vice versa, the company produced only premium products, and is now launching a line of products for mass distribution.

In both cases, a new approach to brand presentation is essential.

Attracting attention

A change of style will help if the brand has gone a little into the shadows. You will be able to re-establish yourself, attract the attention of your audience and new clients, and get people to discuss the company.⠀

Development

When rebranding is done well and thoughtfully, the audience reacts more often positively. This shows that the brand is developing and following trends. For the company itself, this is also an incentive to work effectively, grow, and motivate its employees.

In addition, it is also important to always respond to market movements: new products periodically appear and existing ones are improved, new design trends emerge - rebranding will help you stay on the wave and not get lost among competitors.

We will analyze the brand, create a new concept, and develop visual design

Stages of company rebranding

We have already made it clear how serious and important this rebranding is. Accordingly, it is necessary to start when there is a clear plan and the main stages are defined:

Marketing analysis

On the question of the reasons for the ineffectiveness of the previous brand: they must first be identified. To do this, conduct a brand audit in all aspects: team work process, structure and management model, interaction with clients and partners, planned and actual company performance over time, advantages and disadvantages of competitors, relevance of the brand concept and design, market conditions.

Strengthening positions

When research has covered the entire brand, it is possible to identify pain points due to which the company is losing its position or does not meet audience needs and trends.

If clients are increasingly leaving the office without making a purchase, the employees may be doing a poor job: they don’t provide quality service, they communicate rudely, and they don’t encourage cooperation. If a product is rarely purchased, and competitors only have time to replenish shelves, the problem may be in the design of the packaging, as well as in the composition or other characteristics of the product.

To position yourself in a new way, each weak position must first be worked out in its essence: train employees, improve the quality of the product, create a new strategy and marketing tools.

New brand concept

Only after all the work on the mistakes can you start repositioning. Taking into account new approaches to management and service, a new brand concept is being created. At the same time, specific innovations, implementation deadlines, long-term indicators, and all rebranding costs are determined.

Visual design

Now the strengthened positions and the new concept must be realized in the design. Corporate identity is communication with the outside world: audience, clients, partners. And everything that you have worked on and done better must be conveyed to people and packaged well.

Testing and implementation

Everything is ready, now you need to correctly publish the updates to the public plane. There is still a risk that the new brand will not improve the situation and will not be accepted by the audience. Therefore, it is better to gradually show the results of rebranding in test formats, monitor the reaction and make adjustments.

Possible mistakes when rebranding

In the final block we will warn about possible errors in order to reduce the risk of unsuccessful rebranding:

Loss of association with the brand.

Rebranding can nullify all your past achievements if you changed everything down to the name and did not make it clear to the audience that the company they knew had entered a new stage of development, and did not sell the office to competitors.

Launch without test.

The new format may also not take root. You should not change all the style elements at once; this can result in large costs. Test the style and implement it gradually.

Unorganized rebranding.

Without goals, analysis of reasons, plan, deadlines and sensitive control, the process will not bring the desired results, but will only make clients doubt and hit the budget even harder.

To avoid these and other mistakes in development, meet all deadlines, create a modern brand and confidently present it, contact the Veonix design studio. We will provide detailed advice, conduct a free audit of your brand, point out areas that can be improved, and help you carry out rebranding effectively.

Phone: 8 800 222 77 65

Email: info@veonix.ru