Rebranding? How do you know you’re getting it right?
Most of us that have been in business for a while have faced that unpalatable feeling when we realise that our website and marketing literature is no longer sending out the signals we’d hoped for. Perhaps it’s because we have that sickening realisation that what we have is simply not good design; perhaps it’s because our business has moved on and our brand communications need to reflect that; perhaps it’s because we realise that despite these tough times, if we realign our brand identity we’ll find doing business a whole lot easier.
Whatever your reason for rebranding, you know that the stakes are high. Your current clients probably like your brand identity and what it stands for and so when you’re creating something new and gorgeous you need to make sure your current clients love it as much as your prospective new ones. The worst possible outcome would be to create something that completely alienates your current customer base whilst also failing to attract anyone new. But get it right and you’ll bring your current clients closer, you’ll find it easier to charge what you’re worth and you’ll create a steady stream of new business.
So how do you make sure you get it right? Here are some of my top tips that I hope you’ll find helpful if you’re rebranding:
Top tips for rebranding
- Be clear about why you’re rebranding: what do you want to achieve? Is this a reposition? Are you looking to attract a whole new level of business and type of client? Or are you simply updating your look?
- Who are your ideal clients? Identify who your most profitable clients are right now and who you want them to be. What do they expect to know about your business? Why will they be attracted to you?
- What impression do you want your business to create? How should people feel about your business when they look at your website or visit your premises?
- What’s working about what you have right now? Sometimes, but not often, we come across a brand identity that is doing a client absolutely no favours at all. In those (rare) cases we throw everything out and totally start again, choosing to overlook any visual legacy. More often than not, there will be elements of what you have right now that are working for you – although it may be hard for you to see it. For example, with the old Flourish look and feel the warmth, energy and approachability were working for us, as well as the quirks, I just felt it was time to change the way we executed it. In your quest for new don’t overlook the things that are going well and make sure they run through your new branding for consistency’s sake (although that doesn’t mean you take forward nasty fonts or colours – I just mean make sure you carry that feel through).
- Be analytical. Once you know what impression you want to create and have briefed your brand designer, put emotion aside when you receive the proofs back. How effectively are the designs communicating what you want? When it comes to colour and typography you can be really analytical about what each says and that’s the key difference for me between a redesign for the sake of looking smarter/ different/ new and a rebrand which powerfully does the job you’ve set out to do. For more information on colour and type why not join my September Branding Masterclass.
- Use an experienced brand stylist – obviously! Flourish are used to using design to communicate your message powerfully and create considered and gorgeous designs that will help you achieve a fabulous result. But seriously, there is a big difference between a graphic designer who can churn out dozens of logo designs with no thought for which will achieve your end game and an experienced brand designer or stylist whose sole focus is on creating something that creates the desired emotional effect on the people who matter the most (your customers, your team, your stakeholders).
- Take your time but don’t procrastinate. Be brave! Once you start down the road of rebranding it can sometimes feel overwhelming, as I said at the start of this post, the stakes are high and you need to get this right. Take your time to review the concepts and how you respond to them; talk to some of your best customers about what you’re doing (if you are confident that they will “get” it) and involve your team too. And most of all, have an open and constructive relationship with your brand designers. No one knows your business like you do – and that can be a blessing and a curse! So feed back to them what you feel is working and what could be improved and together you’ll create something knockout.
- Enjoy it. Rebranding is thrilling. The opportunity to see what your business has become, to see what it will become and to see how it could be portrayed in someone elses’ eyes is utterly thrilling. Don’t let your fears get in the way of what is a LOT of fun!
