6 Elements to Consider for a Successful Rebranding Process
When you have a brand, or you’re working for one, there comes a time when you think about changing, or altering what your brand stands for and how the customer perceives it should change.
This rebranding process is a massive step for a brand and can make or break it.
We’ve seen a lot of successful rebrands like Tupperware, which skyrocketed the brand just because of altering customer perceptions through a change in ideologies and brand outlook.
Yes, you can change your branding strategies to make it work, or you can do a rebrand for your business.
But it’s essential to consider certain factors before you go ahead in the rebranding phase, because if it is not planned and executed the right way, it may do more harm than good.
Let’s take a look at what you should keep in mind while planning a rebrand.
6 elements to consider for a successful rebranding process
Rebranding sounds exciting, but it also carries potential risks.
What if the customers don’t relate to your new brand identity?What if the rebrand takes away the originality and essence from your brand?What if your rebrand doesn’t make the impact you intended?
These are some thoughts that linger in your head when you think about the downsides of a rebrand.
However, there are ways through which you can ensure that your rebrand is successful and yields the results you desire.
Let’s talk about the essential elements that help make a rebrand successful and fruitful.
Reason behind rebranding
One of the most important aspects to consider before you start rebranding is to stress the ‘why.’
Why do you want to do a rebrand?
This can be because you feel your brand is outdated, doesn’t relate to your audience, too similar to a competitor, or probably because you want to position it differently.
There can be multiple reasons why your need for a rebrand has come up, but it’s essential to understand the ‘why’ so you can draft an action plan which can rebrand your business in the way you intend it to be.
A rebrand can be significant to offer a new range of products, expand your customer base if you’re reaching out to a new set of audience, or to adjust better to your audience’s expectations.
Whatever your reason is, make sure it’s legitimate, and you understand it fully because this will help make your rebrand successful.
Target audience and competitor analysis
Through strategic reporting, you need to research if your target audience will relate to the rebrand you’re planning.
If you want to expand your customer base, you need to research your new set of audiences and create buyer personas to understand the kind of elements that should define your rebrand.
You also need to analyse your competitors to see if your rebrand concept is not similar to them.
The last thing you want is your rebrand to align with your competitors.
The main aim is to give a distinct identity to your brand and provide uniqueness with a core messaging that stands apart from your existing ideals and processes.
This research is necessary to position yourself as a leader in a given market after you’re done with the rebranding.
Without this necessary research, your rebrand will fall apart so you cannot miss out on this.
Core messaging and vision
Before you can start working on the new version of your brand, you need to know who you are as a brand and what you stand for.
Your core message needs to be crystal clear because that will guide your rebranding process.
It’s also essential to see if your earlier messaging and vision was working out for your brand in terms of results, conversions, and customers.
Here, analytics play a significant role without which you would be making assumptions in the air.
Ideally, if you want your brand to have a strong presence that relays the intent, it aims to convey, having a clear messaging and vision for your brand is extremely important.
This will determine your success in achieving your goals and ensuring your content which goes from the brand’s name aligns with that messaging.
Your messaging should also be apparent to your team members because if they don’t bring in that perception shift from the earlier messaging to the intended one, your rebrand won’t be successful.
This core messaging is holy to top brands because all their belief pillars and customer happiness stories stand on it.
Timeline
You’ve identified your need for a rebrand, but that’s not enough.
You need to get into the topic in-depth and plan the scope of the brand rollout attached with realistic timelines.
These timelines are essential because, without this, your rebrand will have no end, and your team will not know what to do when and how to proceed with the process.
A timeline makes everything much more legit and time-sensitive, ensuring the rebrand occurs during the intended time and with a fair amount of preparation.
For this purpose, you can make a project plan which determines each person’s role and when each task should be done.
These tasks, across your rebrand’s physical and digital touchpoints, should have a definite timeline that should not be missed.
Having a plan will make the execution smooth and timely.
Existing brand value and its impact on rebranding
A rebrand should positively impact your business, for which you need to put in careful and calculated efforts, so you get the Return on Investment (ROI).
For this, you need to analyse your existing brand position and value while understanding what kind of impact a rebrand is going to have on your brand.
This is where data and analytics come in, making this one of the most crucial aspects of rebranding.
It would help if you had a strong rebranding strategy backed by research which shouldn’t be taken lightly.
If you don’t pay enough attention to this, and your rebranding process becomes clumsy, it could have detrimental effects on your brand.
Look at your brand achievements, determine how you got to that, discuss it with your team, and try to understand what you’re headed for with clarity so that your brand value can be communicated in a better way through the rebrand.
Customer perceptions
How your audience and customers perceive your brand is crucial for business; it determines the impact of your brand value on others to the most accurate extent.
Once again, analysing what worked previously and the way your audience perceived your brand can tell you how you should manage customer perceptions when you rebrand.
It’s important to remember that your rebrand will only be effective if your audience reacts to it positively.
For this, you need to start focusing on what your customers expect and need from your brand rather than what you as a brand owner or marketer think about it.
Your customers are your most significant assets, and to acquire them and ensure that they relate with the rebrand, you need to switch your mindset to that of a consumer.
Once you gather information about your customer’s expectations from your brand through a survey or market research, you can guide your rebrand in an informed manner to create a brand your customers desire.
Successful Rebranding Examples
Undeniably, rebranding is both beneficial and risky.
While you have read about the elements, you need to consider before you begin your rebranding process, here are some brands which nailed the game with their strategies and calculated risks.
Let’s look at what these brands did to have a successful and positive rebrand.
Dunkin’ Donuts
In 2019, Dunkin’ Donuts took away the word ‘Donuts’ from their brand name and stuck to a single-word brand Dunkin’.
This was because their customers knew the brand was famous for doughnuts so much that they no longer needed ‘donuts’ to accompany them.
Following a rebrand process, they changed their logo, design packaging, remodelled the stores and the brand messaging across all advertising and marketing channels.
They had a successful rebrand along the lines of accurate customer perceptions and came out as a modern brand which even, after a rebrand, stuck to its roots and heritage.
Domino’s
Domino’s, the famous pizza chain, was at a loss in 2009, but a successful rebrand completely turned the tables for them, and they were back in business for good after that.
In their rebrand, they focused on what customers didn’t like about their products, thus, listening and serving the customers.
Walking down this path, they acquired the highest customer loyalty across pizza chains.
They understood what was happening, analysed the situation, and acted on the negative aspects to serve the customers in ways they desired.
They also introduced chatbots and social media order-services to make it convenient for the customers to place orders.
Airbnb
In 2008, when Airbnb launched as a platform for people to list their properties, it was pretty confusing on what’s being rented and, so the customer flow was negative.
Following this, they did a rebrand by changing their logo design, positioning, messaging, and identity.
Their new icon in red colour symbolises people, places, love, and Airbnb in a single shape of the letter’ A.’
Through this, they defined a clear brand that was understandable and approachable by their audience.
Lego
The famous toy company, operational for over 90 years now, was strapped with debt in 2003 because the children fell out of love with their products.
However, they did a rebrand and invested in what worked for them, and threw away everything which didn’t.
They also introduced many new things like Lego-themed movies and stores which appealed to their primary target audience, children.
It was a significant shift that saw much turning of heads, and Lego was once again the favourite for children.
The brand also got the name of the ‘Apple of Toys’ because of the growth and popularity they saw from children.
Burberry
Burberry was not facing a loss, but it was moving forward in an average manner, and something was missing from what they were doing before.
With a rebrand, they tried to focus more on telling their story, communicating with an audience, and turning fashion not just as a means to wear clothes, but as a way of life.
They also started using social media for communication and promotions, which made their brand even more relatable.
They were known for their ‘Britishness’, and so they focused more on that by including British models, actors, and workers in their promotional materials and offices.
They recognised what the customers needed and tried to reform their brand in a way which suited their requirement in the digital era.
Conclusion
Rebranding cannot be a spontaneous decision.
The brands which are talked about for their successful rebrands invested a lot of time and effort in understanding their audience, core messaging, brand values, brand positioning, and vision to reform it in a way that proves effective and serves the purpose.
Your work doesn’t end after you’re done with the rebrand, you also need to bring it to the audience through press releases, social media, collaborations, and more.
A rebrand can indeed take your business to new heights, but if you don’t plan and proceed with it the right way, it can also ruin your public image, ruining all you had.
So, if you’re thinking about a rebrand, consider this as a checklist while ideating your process, so you know what kind of risks you’re in for, and can even prepare contingency plans for that.
Author Bio: Adela Belin is a content marketer and blogger at Writers Per Hour. She is passionate about sharing stories with the hope to make a difference in people’s lives and contribute to their personal and professional growth. Find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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