New year, new branding?
Signs your business needs a rebrand:
Your branding makes you cringe
Are you happy with how your current brand looks? A good brand should be emotionally appealing for your target audience. Design trends change over time, and a brand that hasn’t been updated for a while may start to look old fashioned and lose its ability to connect with customers.
If your business card or website design makes you feel embarrassed rather than proud, this might be a good time for a brand refresh or new brand.
Your brand doesn’t stand out
Rebranding isn’t solely about following trends to stay modern, your brand should also stand out from your competitors so an audience will remember you. At the same time, it’s important for your brand to appear appropriate for its category, since something that looks too unexpected can impact on how a customer perceives or trusts you.
Your company has changed
Businesses don’t stay the same, and during the life of your company you may enter a partnership with another brand, expand to new countries, or decide to attract the attention of new demographics. These are all common reasons why a certain look or name may no longer align with your business.
Does your existing brand still reflect the positioning and tone you’d like your company to have?
People have no idea what you do
Has your message been clear and consistent, or has your marketing material been a collection of disparate messages? The most memorable brands are easy to understand and tie all of their communication together with a strong, unified vision.
Keeping your message simple and specific is also a great way to reinforce the credibility of your brand. If this has not been your strategy in the past, a new brand is a great time to start.
Your brand is attracting a bad reputation
A rebrand can also be useful when a brand’s reputation is affecting its performance. However, keep in mind new visuals are not a magic fix that will instantly remove all negativity from the brand. In order for this type of rebrand to succeed, the rebrand must occur in conjunction with fundamental changes to the way the company works.
No matter what the reason is for your next rebrand, it is a big decision for any company. There’s no shortage of rebrands that have failed when consumers were unable to recognise or connect with the company. That’s why it’s vital to collaborate with an experienced design team who can successfully navigate the complexities of your company’s unique requirements.