Rebranding your company (part 1)

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

When do you need it?

 

Before you start, let's take a look at why you're thinking about it. The reasons you have to rebrand must be important because consider it a major change for your company.

Here are many good reasons to do it:

Your company merges with another one

It's something that happens more and more, especially in the communication industry. Rebranding is justified since we're merging two distinct companies who will become one same entity. More often then not, you need to give that new company it's own identity, so you'll be required to update your brand.

You offer a totally new product or service

If your company's orientation changes, rebranding might be required. Consumers will be able to associate your new products to your new corporate image. It's one of the ways you can tell everyone: "We're changing!".

Add some spice to your corporate image

If a competitor's presenting himself in a way that makes you look totally obsolete, it's time to rebrand. If you don't, you're risking the future of your company. Never forget: those who don't evolve, disappear. It's the same thing if you have a feeling that your customers don't associate themselves with your brand anymore. To prevent them from associating a former bad experience, it might be time to change it.

When a company changes it's leadership, owners or company mission

When a company changes it's way of thinking, when it changes ownership or any other major change, you can bet it's a good time to rebrand. It allows you to show your customers and employees that you're in the process of a major change.

Change your company's values

If the owners or administrators decide to change the fundamental values of the company, it might be a good idea to rebrand so that it reflects the new values.

New audience, new target consumer

Branding, in this case, doesn't require a complete change. The company name and logo can stay the same, but it's possible you might want to change the way your logo is used on packaging, in ads or you might want to think about creating a totally new identity for your new line of products.

When a company decides to go International or to grow dramatically

So that your corporate image reflects your target consumers, it might be a good idea to change if your previous branding doesn't work for your new clientèle. As mentioned earlier, when a new market opens up, it's possible that your corporate image doesn't fit, or in this case, that it doesn't export well. Make sure you work on the phonetics or your company name when targeting another country.

In our next article, we'll talk about how to successfully rebrand your company...