Many entrepreneurs consider rebranding to be a complete waste of time, money and effort. Mega corporations, such as Facebook are ostracized as they “waste” millions to adopt insignificant logo changes. And we believe that Facebook knows well what it is doing. There are different rules for giant corporations actually. It’s more difficult to decide whether a small business needs a rebranding and what steps are to be taken. Well, you just keep reading our article to get some hints!
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Rebranding isn’t just logo alteration. The company’s image, style, and marketing strategies are also to be changed. There two major strategies of adopting a rebranding and those are evolution and revolution. As one might judge from the meaning of the words, it can be a smooth, step-by-step process like in the case with Google or Pepsi. And it also can be an extremely fast and “destructive” process and Gap or AOL is proof of that. So, the first thing to consider is whether you need a rebranding or not. If you possess a huge company, rebranding is more likely to harm your image and sales along with it. If you will follow that evolutionary path, you risk wasting large sums, and should you follow a revolutionary one, you can lose most part of the customers in the blink of an eye.
Visual alterations are but a result of deep, fundamental changes in the whole business strategy. If nothing has changed in the last ten years, you don’t really need a rebranding. And what changes are worth initiating a rebranding? Well, if your company has merged with another one or you have decided to produce something different. And the merge can be complete, like in the case with LG or two companies have announced a collaboration and developed something new as it was with Sony Ericsson. Any of those situations require a rebranded logo.
It is still debatable whether new production expansion requires a complete rebranding. It is surely worth adopting if you were selling pizza and your company makes shoes. Or maybe your company has suddenly become a mega-corporation. Feel free to rebrand if your logo has been a simple one too. Another good reason to rebrand is when you no longer have the opportunity to use an old depiction. It is a widespread story when some company designed a state-of-the-art logo, and in a few years, it started to resemble that of a sarcastic tattoo on a grandmother’s chest. If your case is different, you’d better think twice before adopting a rebranding.
How to rebrand a company and a product
To begin with, address those you are cherishing most. Your customers or clients must be first to know what’s coming. Focus-groups, surveys and observations will tell you how conservative your customers are. It depends mostly on the age and occupation of the target group. If you are developing a trendy mobile application, there is a chance that youngsters will gladly accept it. However, older people get used to a certain design and if it has suddenly been altered they might have trouble finding it in a store. Such risks are also to be taken into account.
The next step is to single out alterations you are going to adopt. If the reason for rebranding is merging or separation of companies, it will surely be difficult. Highlight some distinctive features. Sometimes it’s enough to redesign a font and the whole logo seems renewed.
Even if you have successfully redesigned a depiction, you’re still halfway done. The main goal is to ponder marketing campaign and make your customers understand why you have rebranded. And don’t forget to run another survey to find out if our rebranding has done any good. Brand evolution is both a risky and intriguing process, so be careful!
I’m a product and graphic designer with 10-years background. Writing about branding, logo creation and business.
