As a business leader, you understand that your brand is at the heart of your company’s identity and success. But when your brand starts to look like something from the past, no longer connects with your audience, or fails to convert quality leads, it might be time to rebrand your business. 

It’s important to understand that rebranding is a big deal. It’s more than just a new logo or updating the design of your website. Your brand is the essence of who you are as a business. It’s the way the customer feels after any exchange they may have with your company. It is how they react to each touchpoint and communication. So, updating your brand requires significant planning and thought. 

Done right, rebranding can help strengthen your connection with your customers, breathe new life into your business, and accelerate success of advertising campaigns. Here’s what rebranding involves, and when it’s the right move for your business.  

What Is Rebranding? 

Rebranding is defined as the process of changing the corporate image of an organization. It is a calculated strategy that can include changing the name, logo, and other visual elements associated with the brand. But it’s also in your messaging and how you talk about the company within your marketing materials.   

There are two types of rebranding:

Proactive rebranding is when an organization sees an opportunity for growth by updating or modernizing the visual identity to accommodate anticipated change. Proactive rebranding can be used to shift or expand the focus of the brand, introduce new products, and regain relevance. 

Reactive rebranding occurs when an existing brand is discontinued or changed. External factors, such as mergers and acquisitions, negative publicity, or new competitors entering the market, force these changes upon the organization.    

In both cases, a realignment of the organization’s business goals with the brand strategy is required for long-term success. Rebranding should not be confused with a brand refresh. Rebranding is a comprehensive process that re-imagines and redesigns the brand. A brand refresh builds upon the existing brand structure and elements to modernize visual communications and messaging.  

Here are five reasons to rebrand your business. 

1. The Branding Is Outdated

The most common reason businesses rebrand is that their original branding feels outdated. Outdated can mean one or both of the following: 

• The visual style has not kept up with current trends 
• Customer preferences and purchasing behaviors have changed 

In both cases, the organization must realign its business goals with its brand strategy to achieve long-term success. Logos and websites that look like they were designed in the 90’s can give the audience the impression that the company’s products and services are stuck there as well. Or, they may develop a negative perception of your products and services based on a lackluster visual identity or packaging. 

Branding is also the essence of how your business communicates its values, purpose, and personality. Every interaction a customer has with your brand reflects it. Outdated branding suggests stagnation and creates a disconnect between your company and a modern audience that values innovation and authenticity.  

Even the largest, most recognizable companies in the world need to rebrand. Logos are updated to reflect current design styles, websites are redesigned to reflect shifting aesthetics and trends, and packaging changes to keep up with sustainability demands. As companies grow and adapt to changing market conditions, the brand story evolves. Otherwise, they risk losing significance with their audience or becoming drowned out in a crowded marketplace.  

2. The Brand Strategy Is Not Aligned With Business Goals   

A disconnect between what a brand represents and the objectives it aims to achieve is another reason to rebrand. This hinders internal alignment and integrity. It can lead to poor marketing communications, missed opportunities, and a lack of credibility. If employees and stakeholders struggle to understand the company’s vision and how to communicate it effectively, it is likely your target audience is struggling to make the same connections. 

Companies find themselves in this trap for a few different reasons. Sometimes the branding is lacking authenticity. Or maybe there was never a thorough enough brand discovery process (more on this soon). Your business may not have a completely thorough understanding of its target audience, either. Any of these scenarios could end up with a misalignment between brand strategy and business goals. 

Rebranding creates an opportunity to realign your mission, vision, and values. This can have a transformative effect on consumer behavior. It gives your business an opportunity to redefine who it is, who it has become, and who it aspires to be. It is a commitment to revitalization, growth, and solidifying your position as a forward-thinking leader in your industry. 

Proper alignment of your organization’s business goals to a successful brand strategy requires a comprehensive analysis of internal and external factors, strengths and weaknesses, competitive positioning, and market trends. Enter the brand discovery process.

The brand discovery process is a strategic phase in developing or revitalizing a brand that involves uncovering and understanding the core elements of a business or organization. It’s a deep dive into what makes the brand unique, its values, mission, and how it resonates with its audience. This process is essential for creating a brand identity that aligns with the company’s goals and appeals to its target market. 

For these reasons, the brand discovery process becomes an important way ensure that your brand stays aligned with business goals. 

3. To Reach New Audiences

Humans have biological plasticity—the ability to adapt biologically to our environment. Organizations have structural plasticity—the ability to adapt structurally to their environment. 

Rebranding and repositioning help organizations adapt to a changing environment by updating the brand’s promise, personality, visual identity, in-store experience, or other structural elements. This enables them to enter new markets and connect with new audiences.  

For example, in 2018, Dunkin’ Donuts rebranded to Dunkin’ to reflect a strategic shift in its identity and purpose. They became more than just donuts by offering coffee and breakfast sandwiches, while looking to attract a younger, more diverse audience. It worked. 

The updated menu and modernized image increased sales, store traffic, and improved brand perception by promoting fresh new products like iced lattes, nitro coffee, and cold brew. They increased market share with millennials and Gen Z while remaining true to their core audience who still love a glazed donut.   

Rebranding and brand refreshes help you effectively reach new audiences that expand the reach and impact of branding and advertising, when executed with precision and care. It helps foster long-term growth and loyalty, ushering in a new era of success in a constantly evolving marketplace.  

4. Lack Of Differentiation 

There are an absolutely staggering number of chiropractors who use a spine for a logo icon. Their brand colors typically consist of blues, greens, and purples. Following the in this crowd in this example leads to a generic brand, void of any creativity and brand differentiation.   

If your company is using similar styles, colors, and fonts as the competition, there is a golden opportunity to differentiate, and rethink the visual identity. But this is also true in other areas of the branding. For example, having a similar name, core values, or website can be confusing. Using the same or similar tagline can also cause confusion amongst your audience. 

Differentiation makes it easier for your audience to remember who you are. A unique visual identity and brand experience leads to increased brand recognition, stronger customer loyalty, and premium pricing opportunities. It helps build a strong, lasting presence that attracts higher value customers, and turns away the wrong ones. 

A successful rebranding effort can help your business stand out amongst the competition and provide you with more opportunities for success. 

5. Drop Off In Customer Engagement 

If sales have declined, your repeat business is going down, or you are attracting the wrong types of customers, it might be time to reevaluate your brand and the message that you are providing your audience. 

Drop offs in customer and marketing engagement can be a sign that the brand is losing relevance and market share. It has simply lost its connection to its core audience, or never developed a strong enough connection in the first place. 

Rebranding can effectively address this problem by creating a message that better resonates. For example, maybe your website needs to better communicate the variety of products or services that you offer. Make sure that your customers know that what you are hoping they order, or purchase is an option. 

This can mean reevaluating product and service pages on a website, menus, or creating a more all-inclusive name, like Dunkin’ did. 

Is Now The Time For A Rebrand?

If any of the reasons above truly resonated with you, it’s time to rebrand. Don’t let outdated branding or poor engagement limit your growth. A strategic rebranding can revitalize your business, attract new customers, and breathe new life into your marketing strategy.

Whether you are looking for a brand refresh or complete rebranding, Joint Media Marketing can help. Our brand discovery process and brand identity design services are second to none. We specialize in brand strategy development, internal brand alignment, creating powerful marketing and advertising collateral, and brand asset management for organizations of all sizes.

Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.