7 Steps to a Successful Business Rebrand

A business rebrand takes time and effort but should always be considered for keeping things fresh. Some of the most successful businesses rebrand every now and then, and it can be as simple as changing the logo or as complex as an expansive public awareness campaign.

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Introduce Executive Employees

Putting faces to the name of a business can help establish public trust and also maintain employee awareness. Execs, board members, owners, and CEOs can be somewhat absent from the public side of things within companies. Solidarity of top-level staff can help repair damage after some bad press or an incident. An online reputation management expert can also help with damage control during a rebranding with content removal and crisis management.

Change the Logo for a Business Rebrand

A brand is more than a logo. However, a logo is the public face of a brand in many cases. You don’t typically think of Ray Crock when you think about McDonald’s. You think of the golden arches or sometimes the clown. Logos are important because they establish an immediate link with customers’ brains as we think with symbols and not words. Because of the strong link, a logo must be done professionally and should be considered for a redesign every ten years.

Reassess the Vision of the Company

All businesses should have a vision. This can act as a guide to making your brand the best it can be, both publicly and internally. However, it can be hard to come up with a strong vision as guidance. Yet there are three questions that can help you form a vision moving forward:

1. What do you want to do?
2. How can you do it?
3. What is the reason for doing it?

These will help you form your vision with its mission and values. A rebrand must include any changes to these, and this can include changing the logo, taglines, and even colors associated with the company. It helps to refer back to the three questions at every stage of the rebranding.

Build an Online Presence

An online presence is no longer optional as we head into 2024. If you don’t have a website, get one ASAP. And if you do, use it well, or it’s just a digital business card. Using your existing website is easier than you think, but it requires some changes, such as the following:

• Understand the target audience of social media platforms and blogs.
• Attach a blog to your business website that relates to your products.
• Use analytics tools and other data to plan future content and changes.
• A balance between paid ads and organic traffic for a fluid marketing campaign.
• Leverage SEO, including local, to maximize the reach of branding and content.

Implementing just one of these can have a major impact on your online presence. Together, they form a simple yet robust online strategy that will begin to pay off almost immediately.

Research the Target Audience

Understanding the target audience is mentioned as a key point above. However, it deserves its own section here because it is so powerful for branding. If you don’t know who you are supposed to market to, how could you possibly sell anything? Market research, data analysis, and even watching the competition will also help you establish a target audience. You can then focus rebranding efforts around core demographics, especially when marketing.

Make the Business Rebrand Very Public

All the hard work of a rebrand should be for all to see. The public often gets excited about rebranding their favorite products because it keeps things fresh and exciting. That is, as long as you don’t try anything New Coke. Marketing towards the core audience also pays off financially, and over 80% of execs in one survey felt rebranding offers a good return on investment. Traditional ads, a social media campaign, and build-up blog posts will help with engagement.

Keep It as Simple as You Can

Going too hard with rebranding can damage what you are trying to do. The essence of the company must be retained, such as associated colors, similar logos, and product packaging, wherever possible. Of course, these can be changed, but the brand needs to remain recognizable in the public eye. Rebranding, when done correctly, should aim to elevate and evolve your brand rather than transform it into something it has never been and won’t be.

Summary

A public-facing team of executives can help with a successful business rebrand. Building an online presence will also get the word out and establish good engagement. However, keeping it simple so your brand evolves rather than transforms will save a lot of headaches later on.