Did you know that the average company should be rebranding once every 7 to 10 years? Is your business ready for a new brand identity?
Market research, new employee hires, social media marketing, advertisements, a logo… suffice it to say, rebranding a business - be it big or small - can seem like a daunting task. Coming to conclusions about cost and budget, who your target market is, and cultivating a solid marketing plan are just a few of many things that you will need to consider.
Rebranding Your Business
Therefore, to help get you started on learning how to rebrand your business, we've compiled seven steps that you should be following throughout the process.
This is what you need to do:
1. Develop a Vision Statement
Whether you operate a small business or a larger enterprise, there is no doubt about the importance of your vision statement. As a result, when rebranding, you first need to identify what your long-term vision is, especially if it has changed or evolved since your inception.
Either way, writing a vision statement will set the tone for your entire rebranding endeavour. It should encompass your aspirations for a set amount of time and define the company culture that you are striving to be identified with.
Ask yourself: What do I want for my company, both now and in the long run?
In outlining this statement, you are initiating an internal rebranding within your business - one that will create a streamlined process and a clear guide of what needs to be done. Your vision statement can be adjusted and expanded over time, too, as you better understand the impact of your rebrand and see the various steps of the process fall into place.
2. Create a Cost Analysis and Budget
Regardless of your company's size, establishing a rebrand budget is vital for determining the costs that you are willing (and able) to spend going forward. Learning how to budget is a critical step and one that will enable you to flourish financially in the long term.
When delving into the process, keep in mind that an average rebranding constitutes roughly 5% to 10% of a given company's marketing budget. These numbers serve as a general guide of what you can expect to spend, and the foreseeable costs that will begin to accumulate. Be sure to consider how much you are willing to invest in rebranding phases such as market research, new employee hires, social media marketing, print and digital advertisements, logo redesign and development, as well as any other costs that you might potentially incur.
Later on, you can develop your cost and budget analysis even further, considering if it is worth creating a holding company or identifying relevant asset protection strategies for your new-look business.
3. Understand Your Target Market
Identifying and homing in on your business' target market is a valuable step to consider in your rebranding process. By clearly establishing your audience in the early stages of your deliberations, you will be able to move forward more smoothly into the more riskier steps of the rebrand. This is especially important for small businesses looking to gain more prominence and expand into a wider market.
When deciding on who your ideal target market is, ask yourself the following questions:
- Who are the clients or customers that will most identify with my brand's mission and vision statement?
- What demographics (age, gender, marital status, annual income, education level) am I targeting?
- Where is my ideal target audience located?
- What sector does my ideal customer or client work in?
The answer to all of these questions can be found by conducting proper and thorough market research.
4. Ensure That You Hire the Right Employees
The employees that you hire are a reflection of your business as a whole and, if you're hiring them specifically as part of your rebrand, then they carry an extra responsibility.
They are the individuals who will be selling your products or services, interacting with potential customers or clients, and driving the overall success of the process. Therefore, it's vital that the people you choose to represent you can be trusted to carry the strength of your new brand.
Have a strategy in place that ensures you only hire people who are worth the money invested in them. As mentioned, your rebrand budget will likely be limited, so use it to recruit a genuinely useful team - not one that will underperform when you need them the most.
5. Cultivate a Solid Marketing Plan
Regardless of where you are at in your entrepreneurial journey, every business needs a marketing plan in place. Not only does it help you identify your aforementioned target market, but it also helps you budget your funds, formulate ideas to better the services or products offered, and recognise potential prospects and risks within your given sector. During a rebranding exercise, these factors are all crucial.
Overall, a solid marketing plan offers you a chance to gain a more focused view of what you need to make your rebranding a success.
6. Establish a Unique Brand Identity
It doesn't matter if you are an aspiring entrepreneur or a veteran of the corporate arena: establishing a brand identity for your business is one of the most important things that you must do. In a rebrand, aesthetics and public perception are hugely important.
Your brand identity constitutes the visual elements of your brand, such as its colours and designs, as well as the logo, shapes and typography that are present across your packaging and your products. Changes to this corporate identity are highly noticeable and, therefore, critical; aside from making people sit up and take notice, it is reflective of the quality of your services and products, as well as what your business stands for.
7. Don't Be Afraid to Modernise Your Business
The business world has evolved rapidly in the last 20 years, and your company should be reflective of that. Think of ways that your rebranding can integrate more fully into the modern day, such as embracing digital currencies, adopting a platform-based business model, or implementing fast-growing technologies such as the Internet of Things into your day-to-day operations.
Once you have a clear idea of how you envision your company's future, you can prototype, test, and launch your added customer-centric modernisations. Investing in features like photography and videography, web design, and digital marketing are all innovative tactics that do not go unnoticed by individuals interested in dealing with your company. This final touch on your business' rebranding is one that will leave customers and clients feeling that they can trust you to deliver not only what they are looking for today, but also what they will be seeking tomorrow.
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Without a doubt, rebranding your business is a significant deliberation. It's not a process to be taken on lightly, and planning is imperative. However, even small ventures need to understand how rebranding can help them expand their market and improve their overall commerce. Though the costs can be daunting and unwanted, this money is an investment in your business' future.
Need some inspiration on your reband? Then take a look at our list of the best rebrand examples from some of the most successful companies in the world...
Which areas of rebranding are you most likely to utilise within your own business? Let us know in the comments below.