The real question faced by every struggling business is – whether to rebrand or not. This is a common dilemma every entrepreneur and business owner faces during some phase of their business. The most effective manner in which you could make some smart, lean marketing moves is by establishing a very strong brand strategy as a base. This foundation can then be used to articulate the message and visual identity. When do businesses crash? – When they do this in the reverse order; when they strategize the marketing messages and visuals, before even crafting out the brand strategies. Now, this is when businesses lose out on valuable time, energy and money.
Smart entrepreneurs first figure out their brand strategy, before they proceed forward to do anything else. Marketing and other strategies to acquire customers come after this foundation has been laid.
But, the question still stands – how do they know that it is time to rebrand?
To answer this very important question, let us first understand some more things. What is brand? Brand is the core essence of any business, it can be conveyed through the logo, color scheme, fonts, design, images, company name, policies, customer service, type of hiring, etc. When you rebrand, you might be changing the company’s visual outlook, its verbal messaging service, or simply taking measures to adapt to the latest market. You are still making a new promise to your customers, and you have to stick to these promises at every point. Rebranding is often associated only with logo change, but it can also refer to changes in other visual, verbal or experiential features of the brand.
To make this important decision, consider the following points carefully:
- Has your target audience changed? Or have you expanded your target base to include some more types of consumers? For example, if you company used to sell only female apparels and now you are planning to launch clothes for men as well.
- You have to make a list of benefits that you might gain as a result of rebranding. Have your services changed over time? For example, eBay initially started out as an online platform to auction second-hand or third-and goods, but now it also offers new products.
- Have your offers and prices changed? If there is a shift in the value of your products, you might have to rebrand.
