What’s in a logo. Things to consider when you rebrand

We have conversations with clients all the time about rebranding and the potential benefits (giving due consideration to their business, its current situation, its aims for the future, etc…as to whether its appropriate to them first).

Just a few of the questions that frequently crop up are;

• Why should we bother to rebrand? What are the benefits of rebranding our business?
• How can we measure the impact of the rebrand and whether it’s been worth it?
• Isn’t a rebrand just designing a new logo for us and a few tweaks to our website and literature?
• What if our customers don’t like the rebrand?

If you’re considering rebranding your business and these are a few of the things going through your head, I suggest popping over to Marketing Week as there’s a great article titled ‘What’s in a logo?’ that helps to start answer some of these questions. (Here’s a link to it here.)

Within the article there are lots of tips and useful nuggets of information from some rebrands of major companies recently. Towards the end they list three things you need to know about rebranding that help answer a few of the above questions…provided below (pulled straight from the article so the words are theirs):

1. A negative initial response to a rebrand or new identity does not mean it has failed. But businesses should track the impact on sales and changing consumer perceptions.
2. Rebranding does not simply mean creating a new logo or brand image – it is about bigger strategic changes within organisations and how brands communicate these to the world.
3. Staff engagement is vital. Businesses must ensure employees are invested in the new strategic direction and understand the deeper meaning of the new brand identity.

These are really wise words.

Something we would add to it is you should look to take the opportunity to communicate with your existing customers that a rebrand is about to happen. Only do it in the very last moments before the rebranding is launched. It might be a week or two before, and only when you’re completely ready to roll the new branding material out to the public. By doing so you show your customers that you care about them (you’ve taken the time to let them know it’s happening, after all), you’ll minimise customer confusion (if they know it’s coming they won’t be shocked) and you’ll subsequently reduce potential customer queries (by striking first you’ll answer their questions before they ask them).

If you haven’t yet, do read the full article here. It’s worth a read and provides some examples of how some familiar brands have dealt with rebranding and lessons to take forward when considering starting the journey of rebranding your business.