The last few years have seen a lot of popular businesses or services being rebranded, with Twitter being changed to X being the main one of the last twelve months. However, away from the high-flying profile of Elon Musk, rebranding a pre-existing business is something that happens every day on the high street and online.
There are some ways to do it with ease, but it will be a bit more complicated than simply changing the name of the service or product. So, here’s a quick guide to help you rebrand an already existing business to ensure that it’s a success.
Look at The Branding
When it comes to a brand or business, whether it’s a pet store or a tech agency, one of the things that you’ll need to look at is the signage and the brand that the company currently has. A strong visual identity for rebranding goes far beyond looking at a rebranding signs guide, and may involve refreshing or changing the logo, looking at a different color palette, as well as changing the font of any text. You don’t have to create a logo from scratch. Marketing tools like PosterMyWall offer a wide variety of logo templates you can customize for your store. This will make the process easier and a lot more on brand.
Whether in-store or online, make sure that the brand image is consistent, as this provides a cohesive and recognizable brand identity for customers and clients.
Do Some Research
You need to conduct research into the company before you rebrand it to look at the market position, the customer’s perception of your brand, and the current industry trends. You need to be honest and look at the weaknesses of your current business and look at ways that you can build them up. Lastly, look at your company’s competitors and see what could set your business apart.
Clear Objectives
Again, you need to be honest with yourself here—why did you choose to purchase this particular company? Was it to buy out a competitor, or do you aim to take it in a new direction and target a new audience? Whatever the objectives are, you need to be clear about them and develop a consistent messaging strategy that will highlight them while also building the business up with new ideas.
Talk To Staff and Stakeholders
There’s more to rebranding than changing logos, and to ensure that a rebrand is successful, you should talk to current staff or stakeholders. This will help them to see that their experience in the company is important and that they’re brought up to speed on any changes that you intend to make. It will also help to keep share prices stable if you have them.
Plan The Rollout
If you intend to launch the new brand in early 2024, you’ll need to ensure that the rollout is phased rather than sudden. This will help to build anticipation and create excitement. Much like the teaser trailer for the successful Barbie movie, this kind of gradual release will get people talking about your business, meaning that the launch is more successful and that the stock and share prices remain the same. Again, that only applies if you have them, but if you want to maintain your current customer base, then a gradual rollout works best in this area, too!
