Rebranding 101: A Successful Re-branding For Your Business
From Google Tez, Star and Tupperware to Old Spice, Dominos, and Lego there is one thing common in all of them, they made significant progress after rebranding. Does Star India’s new slogan launched quite a while back “Rishta Wahi, Soch Nayi” ring a bell?
Curious, we know, now it may give rise to a host of questions, What exactly is rebranding, how is it different from branding, why do brands need re-branding and most importantly, how to rebrand your business in 20th century?
To save you the trouble of going through a maze of articles on various search engines, we will try our best to give you a holistic view of the relevant points regarding rebranding. Without further ado, let’s start things off with the basic question, the difference between the two.
Branding v/s Rebranding?
Branding is all about making your business’s first impression, you have a clean slate, where your business identity, look, logo and objectives are brought to the notice of the public and that in the long run, creates a perception about the brand and decides its growth.
Rebranding is a misnomer, it is not just about changing the look, logo, slogan, taglines or brand ambassadors, but refers to a complete overhaul even in terms of structuring and mission statements. It may be both internal and external at the same time. More importantly, business re-branding is about revamping an existing entity.
Why do brands need rebranding?
There is a common misconception, that a brand needs rebranding because it may have done something wrong in the past, and it wants to erase that from public memory, which is why it is coming up with a new image. This perception is wrong.
There can be a multitude of reasons, why brands need rebranding. Some of the most prominent ones are listed below:
1. To cater to a new demographic, audience
2. To give a fresh look and identity in line with changing times
3. Had a merger/acquisition
4. Launching a new product/service line
5. Management and leadership have changed
6. The brand needs to capture a specific market/age group
7. Cutthroat competition due to new entrants
8. Was local, but is now going global
9. Legal issues
As stated above, reasons for business rebranding can be many, not necessarily a bad reputation or wrong doing, but whatever the reason, re-branding has one principle purpose, to make the brand relevant, growth-driven and future-ready in today’s times, ready to cater the evolving consumer needs.
How to rebrand your business?
Let’s address the elephant in the room, how exactly does one rebrand the business? We will try to be as concise and to the point as possible, as this is an exhaustive topic in itself.
1. Go back to the drawing board
Yes, literally, we are asking you to go back and jot down what does your brand stand for? Its mission, vision and future objectives? Are they possible and relevant to the changing times? Has the desired growth been achieved until now? Does the brand require internal restructuring? Analyse and review the performance in a detailed manner and then come up with answers with sound reasoning and evidence. Once you are ready, proceed to the following points.
2. Write a new mission, vision, and brand statement
A question may arise, what if my analysis tells me, the vision and mission are just fine? Whatever the case, trust us, and for now, just write all the things afresh as if you were starting a business today, with no old mindset.
3. Jot down the past learnings
The biggest benefit of rebranding is you have access to vast experience about which things worked for you well and what didn’t. List them all down. A business’s growth depends a lot more on learning than hit-and-trial methods.
4. Design a new logo, frame a new tagline and think of a new brand identity
Let it be for fun’s sake, for now, you will get the crux later, but design a new logo or look for your brand, have new slogans and taglines written and think of a new brand identity. All these pertain to today’s times and new demographics which you might have.
5. Frame a new marketing strategy
In today’s age, where the bulk of advertising happens on social media, the power of influencers, and digital advertisements skyrocketing, choosing the right marketing strategy is of prime importance. The channels you tap, the network you have, the people you rope in, all these little things matter. Prepare a detailed draft of this.
6. Compare the old with new
Remember, we asked you to do an analysis and save answers in point 1. Then subsequent point onwards till the last point, we told you to keep drafting new things. Now is the time to compare the two and prepare a consolidated report.
7. Take the help of a branding agency
To get the best results, feedback and unbiased view of your review exercise that you completed before, it’s apt to consult a branding agency and let them provide suggestions. There is a high probability you will get a new dimension, perspective and even new rebranding strategies. After all, experts are the best at what they do, and branding specialists can exactly help you out with your analysis and suggest a way forward or perhaps a new one.
Key Takeaways
There’s no doubt, re-branding is a challenging task, but done right with a proper rebranding strategies, it can work wonders and can change the entire growth trajectory of the business for the better.
Google Tez’s pilot launch in India to GPay nowadays worldwide, Dunkin Donut’s transformation to Dunkin’, and Airtel’s brand redesign to a minimalistic logo with the bundling of services under one roof, these are all classic super success examples of re-branding done right. It not only improves customer perception but also reflects in the market sentiment, stock exchanges and company financials.
The key task here is to get it right, by first doing an exhaustive self-analysis, comparing old vs new drafts and thereafter consulting a re-branding agency for the best results and output.
A professional rebranding agency like Litmus might just be the perfect fit, with clients ranging across industries from FMCG, Automobiles, and Pharmaceuticals to Information Technology and Construction, the experience and skills speak for it. To get personalised advice on your re-branding needs, consult us now., you won’t be disappointed.
