Why Do Businesses Rebrand

Rebranding is an inevitable aspect of a company's development. As your business expands, so will your beliefs, values, missions, and priorities, and these changes must be represented in your brand.

It could be that your target demographic has shifted, your primary service or product has diversified, or your business has simply evolved beyond its original brand presence. Rebranding allows you to renew your image, enhance your market position, expand your reach, and in turn increase your revenue.

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What is a brand

To understand why and how brands rebrand you first need to understand what a brand is and why branding is key to a business.  

“A brand is not a logo. A brand is not a product. A brand is not a promise. A brand is not the sum of all the impressions it makes on an audience. A brand is a result–it's a person's gut feeling about a product, service or company. It's in their heads and in their hearts. A brand is your reputation.”

Marty Neumeier, marketing guru

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Often, brands are mixed up and mistaken for identifiable marks like logos and slogans and though these are elements of a brand, they are not the sole factor. Branding is crucial. It not only creates a lasting impression on consumers, it also informs your clients on what to anticipate from your business. It is a method of differentiating yourself from rivals and defining what it is about your service that makes you the superior option and should not be reduced to its aesthetic component. Your brand is created to be an accurate reflection of who you are as a business and how you want to be viewed. We like to think of a brand as how a business makes you feel.

If you want a more in-depth look at what a brand is, have a read of our, ‘What Is a Brand’ blog over on our News & Blogs page.

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Identity

Brand identity encompasses all visual aspects connected with your brand, such as your logo, typography to colours, product package design, website design, and social media graphics. These examples demonstrate how effective your brand identity can be.

Every brand needs its own identity, something that makes it stand out. This can be a combination of things or perhaps a singular element that is well produced. Take Coca Cola for example, everybody knows Coca Cola when they see it. Be it from its renowned glass bottle, red colour palette or acclaimed slogans, it has its own unique spark.

A brand may be developed in a variety of ways. Advertising, reputation, customer service, social responsibility, and aesthetics or visuals, are just a few of the areas that are utilised to create a brand. All of these components, along with many more, combine to form one distinctive and eye-catching profile.

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What is rebranding

Rebranding is the process of altering an organisation's corporate image. It is a market strategy that involves giving an existing, established brand a new name, symbol, concept, design modification or combination of such to achieve the goal of differentiating its identity from that of its competitors and redefining itself in the minds of its consumers.

It is important to understand that rebranding may take two forms. Here, we’re talking about proactive branding. This is when a company recognises that there is a chance to expand, innovate or tap into new consumers or businesses, and reconnect with existing customers. Reactive rebranding is the other type. This is done when a current brand is no longer available or has been modified. Mergers and acquisitions, legal difficulties or a desire to outperform the competition are all amongst the possible motivations for such an activity.

Rebranding may be an overwhelming job, especially if you are unfamiliar with the intricacies of your website's SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) value, which CMS (Content Management System) platform is most suited to your needs, or how to notify people about brand changes. To get your website rebranding off to a good start, get in touch and we'll walk you through the process and answer any questions you may have.

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Why Rebrand

If you wish to represent new goals, products, offers, or values, you should consider rebranding. It is difficult to demonstrate how your company has developed if your brand doesn't reflect it. Therefore, if you've expanded to provide new goods, additional services, or established new goals for your company, rebranding is a fantastic approach to demonstrate that your company is expanding.

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1. Connect With a New Audience

The biggest advantage to refreshing the look and feel of your brand is the ability to reach new customers. People will take notice if you focus on new elements of your business and properly advertise them. Rebranding can provide the impetus your company needs to generate fresh growth in an ever-changing industry.

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2. Distinguish Yourself From Your Competitors

Rebranding your business so that it has its own bespoke voice, style, and feel can help you position your company as an industry leader with a personality that appeals to your target audience. You will find that as your company grows, your qualities may begin to compete directly with those of your competitors and so rebranding is the most effective method to distinguish your company, products and approach. Differentiating your brand communicates to potential consumers that your services are one-of-a-kind and that you are the professionals.

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3. Stay Current

The objective of rebranding is straightforward: to keep your brand current. Design trends have a significant impact on how potential and present consumers view your organisation and everything it has to offer. Making certain that your appearance is constantly ahead of the curve demonstrates to your consumers that you are aware of industry trends and will make your business come across as more professional.

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How to Rebrand

If rebranding is something that’s on your mind then you’re in the right place. Branding is one of our specialist services here at Paddle Creative, so you’re in safe hands! Here’s what you need to do...

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1. Assess your brand vision, mission and values

If you already have a brand vision that is great! Take this time to revisit them and make any alterations you feel necessary. If you don’t have these set yet, have a think and define what they are. You need to ask yourself, what are you doing, how are you doing it and why are you doing it. What is your business going to gain from this venture, how will it affect your audience?

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2. Conduct audience and market research

To create a successful rebrand, it is important to ensure that what you're doing connects with your customers and fits within the market as a whole. By utilising your online and social analytics, you can find out if your target market has shifted and consider whether you now have consumers from a demographic you hadn’t previously considered.

The same goes for investigating what market trends are popular. You should consider what your competitors are doing too, checking what is working for them and how you can sit above it all while maintaining your own unique branding concept and design- remember, you want to be different!

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3. Identify what makes you unique

A triumphant rebrand should highlight your individuality even more and to do that there are some things you need to consider. For example, what is your USP (Unique Selling Point), what can you do that your competitors can’t? Knowing the answers to these questions and representing them in your brand is what will make you stand out to consumers and take your brand up and up.

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4: Redesign your brand

This is where you need to construct a list of the physical components of your brand that need to be updated. If you aren’t certain what parts need shaking up, imagine you are a consumer, what would you, as a consumer, want to see? Once you know what needs to be changed you can start the design process. It is best to have a specialist (like Paddle!) do this part for you so you know it will be done to the highest standard.

A designer will focus on upgrading your logo and colour palette along with a few other visual aspects. Your logo should be easy to understand, distinctive, and relevant to your target market while also being flexible to your company's numerous communication platforms (e.g. website, social and print). Along with this, your company should have its own colour palette, which should consist of two to three core colours that reflect your brand's personality: base, accent, and neutral- a signature colour can increase brand recognition by 80%, so think carefully about your palette. Other visual aspects such as typography and images will also be updated to suit the rebrand. You can check out our blogs for a more in-depth look on typography and colour on our website.

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Once you’ve established the foundation of your rebrand, it is time to create some buzz! Instagram is a fantastic place to spread the word about a rebrand. Considering 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business, you might be losing out on a major opportunity if you aren't using this engaging network.

Sharing the reasons about why you decided to rebrand gives the transition a more personal touch which allows you to connect with your audience on an emotional level while also enabling you to explain the reasoning behind your rebrand.

It is safe to say that branding is a passion of ours here at Paddle Creative! We recognise that your company is one of a kind. Paddle can assist you in identifying what makes your company distinctive and communicating this to your consumers. Take a look at some of our previous work and get in touch with us to discuss the evolution of your business.