Rebranding: Is It Worth It?

Considering the number of companies that are out there in the world, the process of rebranding a company isn’t done by many anymore. It’s not because rebranding is too much of a change, after all, the whole idea of overhauling your brand name is to change. The issue comes with the complexities behind it nowadays. We live in a time where rebranding is far more than just changing the logo colours and adding the new logo to letterheads and business cards. Each company now has several social media channels that require management on a daily basis, which makes trying to rebrand everything you’ve put in place a little harder. Not impossible, of course, but more complex than it would have been otherwise. We live in a digital space, which means that you will have to digitally alter your brand across all email, social media and your company website. It’s a big job. Everything that you plan to do has to be communicated to your customers, planned precisely with your business timings and set off without too much of an interruption. People who want to buy from your company and are regular customers will need to have a full briefing on your proposed changes, mainly because no one likes a sudden change, even if they would support you.

Too much change at once can turn people off. If you are planning to rebrand your business – even down to the typography in the logo – then you need to give people enough notice, so that they will know that it is still you that they are dealing with in the end. Any company that plans to make changes must make these changes public as early as possible to transition customers into the new way of doing things. With all that in mind, there are actually certain times that rebranding your business is actually a very good idea. Understanding the pros and cons of rebranding is so important before you go ahead, as it’s something that you have to be 100% behind at all times. You must have a rebranding strategy alongside a carefully planned timeline so that the entire plan goes off without a hitch. Doing this means that you can view your plan in one place and further evaluate whether this is the right thing for your company right now.

Rebranding Positives

Rebranding has some obvious pros to it. The whole idea of going for a rebrand is to overhaul your image and make your company look great again. You want to be more relevant in your industry and a rebrand gives you an edge, a fresh look and gives people the chance to see that you are one to beat. It breathes life into your business and if there weren’t any positives to rebranding, people just wouldn’t do it. So, here are the pros:

1. Attracting Customers. When you bring on a web design company to work on your website, you do so with the aim of being more attractive to customers. After being in the industry for some time, you could lose your touch and your company can go a little stagnant. As a company grows, the message that they are trying to convey can evolve, and it often does. Rebranding to attract your customers is a smart plan when you feel you need to be seen.
2. Achieving Goals. Long term goals of a company need to be assessed every time a company grows. A new rebranding strategy can help you to focus better on those goals, especially as some of those goals may surround a product launch. If you relaunch your brand at the same time as a product launch, you can create a good bit of press and interest.
3. Increasing Engagement. As you drum up interest in your business with new products and a new message, you get to engage more with your customers. Getting a buzz going is mightily important if you hope to achieve gaining new custom and attract more cash your way.

Rebranding Negatives

Change isn’t the best thing to happen when you’re a customer. If you think of it like your favourite chocolate bar being discontinued, you’ll see where people are coming from when they say they don’t like change! Rebranding is a lot of change all at once, and some issues can arise when things don’t go as they planned.

1. Risks. Rebranding is a big risk, because no matter how many focus groups or online surveys you put out there, people could absolutely hate the changes that you make. Change is scary because of the unknown of the end result. It’s a risk to make such big changes when you don’t know the outcome. Communicate effectively with every member of all teams involved in your rebranding strategy, and it should come off well.
2. Customer Loss. For some customers, change can be too much. If your strategy isn’t implemented in the right way, you could lose your customers. Possibly not all of them, but you would lose enough to impact your business. Be clear to your customers why you are rebranding and lay out your plans for them to view for themselves. Being in the know can help your customers to respect the fact that you wanted to include them in your plans.
3. Costs. A rebrand is great long term, but in the short term you’re going to be spending some cash and it can get pretty high. You’ve got to develop a strategy, content, design, new advertising campaigns and even new marketing strategies. You can save money during your rebrand but ultimately you’re going to have to part with cash. Ensure that it’s in your budget before you do so.

It’s worth it to rebrand a company that needs a breath of life within it for success, just be very clear in your mind about what you want from it and what it’s for. Your company needs to continue to achieve, not be torn down because of a change.