10 Clues You Need to Re-brand: A Guide for Established Businesses

Things have changed for your business over the years and it’s time to re-evaluate your brand to make sure that it’s clearly reflecting the grand vision. Many established companies come to us looking to refresh their identity in order to increase their relevance to their stakeholders, which in turn leads to a greater sense of pride for the brand both inside and outside of the company.  

 

A full-on brand-building project is a big deal. It requires a commitment -  of money, time, and faith. While there are research tools that can help you determine the state of your brand, below are a number of clues that may indicate it’s time to invest in a re-branding effort.

1. There’s been a change in your business strategy

First and foremost, if there’s a big change in the way you do things then you need to rebrand. This can be things such as a change of working culture or a new way of delivering your service. Your brand strategy is the face of your business development plan. A change in business strategy should provoke a serious look at your brand as it’s an opportunity to tell the world what you’re doing different.

2. You’ve lost market position

If you were No 1. five years ago and are now No. 3, there may be some things you need to fix. Tinkering around the edges won’t get you back to the top spot. Start with your brand.

3. Revenue growth has stalled

If your category is dying, you can’t necessarily blame poor performance on your brand. But if your sales growth doesn’t match your category’s growth, it could be time to overhaul your brand.

4. Dissatisfied with your logo

Everyone gets tired of their logo at some point. If yours doesn’t seem to fit who you are, and you aren’t sure why, ask yourself what your brand is all about before you redesign the logo.

5. Marketing investments are delivering diminishing returns

You’ve invested in advertising, direct mail, and search engine optimization, as well as customer relationship management. But no matter how much you spend, you get the same results. The big problem could be your message. New executions and new media won’t fix it. You need to pay attention to your brand.

6. Dissatisfied with your name

Or it may be that you want to feel proud of your brand again. If it doesn’t fit, you need to know why and adjust accordingly.

7. There are changes in the market around you

Are there new players, new developments, and new customers in your market? Determine if your brand is well positioned to take advantage.

8. You have merged with another company…

…or there’s been a restructuring of senior management. Brands belong to the people, but brand development begins at the top of the organisation. When there’s a lot of change at the top, there’s bound to be some confusion below. A strong rebranding effort is a great way to get everyone on the same page.

9. Its not consistent Your brand has grown without much of a plan, it’s inconsistent and doesn’t make sense anymore. It may be time to look at the relationship between your company and the product/service brands.

10. Lack of clarity If you’re not clear about the future vision of the company then how can employees get motivated about your business brand? Addressing the brand vision during a rebrand can bring clarity and focus and have a unifying effect between you and your team. If any of the above rings true then talk to us at IT Pie and we'll build a new brand identity to suit your company or organisation. Whatever your reason for re-branding, go much further than ‘just changing the logo’. Use it as an opportunity to go deep and look at how your brand affects all points of customer contact. Let us know what do you think. Have you re-branded because of one of the above or is was it for a totally different reason? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

(Credits to Russell Britton).