A few years ago, I've been asked how to recognize when a company needs rebranding. Since then, I've kept my ears open and asked clients what specific impulse convinced them that now was the right time to reach out.
The How To Brand conference gave me a few more answers. Its first edition in Brno was co-hosted by Brand Family, Bloomfield and, coincidentally, the newly rebranded Hook & Tell agency.
The reasons for the rebranding were touched upon in all the presentations, and I made them the central theme of the conference in my head.
When you're limited by your own brand
In general, it can probably be said that companies need rebranding when the original brand is limiting their growth. The primary argument is usually expansion into new markets, but you may also be held back by outdated positioning or poor usability of the identity when generating communication materials.
Sabina Samuel and Kateřina Horká from Heels Make Deals presented several specific limitations that rebranding can break down:
- When the name limits the extension of the product range.
- When a brand's quality or tone of voice doesn't reflect the size or ambition of the company.
- When the brand is too tied to the original business and limits the emergence of a chain.
Dan Šturm, marketing director at Seyfor, added other situations in which the brand needs to change:
- When a brand faces a name conflict in the market it wants to enter (or conjures up inappropriate connotations abroad).
- When companies within a holding lack the consistency from which they could benefit.
- When the original brand setup hinders internal processes.
[.c-tipboxlight]Sophisticated branding simplifies the creation and presentation of new products or sub-brands.[.c-tipboxlight]
Using Netflix as an example, Dan also hinted at how the quality of the design affects how long it takes to go through the rebranding process again.
Rebranding can't save your business
Jakub Ptačin, founder of Studio Echt and director of communications at Slovak Power Plants, used the analogy of a partnership. You can just tell that you have a problem at home. Either you go to therapy to solve it or...
- you go on vacation (brand refresh),
- buy a house (rebranding),
- have a baby (multi-brand).
What do you take from this? While a holiday may be good for your relationship, none of these steps alone will solve your problem. Rebranding is only a part of the solution. If the quality of your product is lacking or you have poor distribution, for example, good branding won't save you.
[.c-tipboxlight]A question was asked from the audience about how a company should choose the right metaphorical therapist. According to Jakub, chemistry is the most important thing. Even if you find someone's work attractive, it doesn't mean you'll get along. That's why he recommends choosing an agency based on who you feel comfortable meeting in person.[.c-tipboxlight]
And why do you even need a therapist? Because the answers lie within, but you're too close to see them.
[.c-quoteboxlight]You can’t read the label from inside the bottle.[.c-quoteboxlight]
You should also create the brand with the people who will subsequently work with it. If you buy a brand manual from an agency and you don't have designers on your internal team, you risk being overwhelmed by the initial presentation, but the complexity or lack of sophistication of the design will throw you under the bus. Even though Ptačin owns several other companies besides the design studio, he doesn't create the most perfect graphics possible for them because that would mean disproportionate costs for creating the materials and working with them afterwards.
Also Tereza Knířová and Jan Michelfeit from Pluxee talked about the fact that a brand is created over time.
[.c-quoteboxlight]The end of the project called "rebranding" will leave us with only the brand promise. But right after that, we have to roll up our sleeves and convince our employees and customers that we are keeping our promises.[.c-quoteboxlight]
If you get it right…
Let's recap what are the positives that a well set up and maintained brand can contribute to:
- Make your brand memorable and recognizable from your competitors.
- To evoke the right emotions in potential and existing customers.
- To make customers choose you when considering multiple options, or to make people willing to buy from you at higher prices than your competitors.
- To be persuasive to investors and partners.
- To be an attractive employer.
- To ensure that the consistency of your communications is not dependent on a few individuals.
More truths about branding
I heard a few other things that I would like to share with you. These are just paraphrases and sometimes they came from a combination of several suggestions, but most of them were heard in the presentation by strategist Pavel Cahlik.
[.c-quoteboxlight]Market penetration is a function of loyalty. The bigger the brand, the less the customer splits his attention between other competitors.[.c-quoteboxlight]
[.c-quoteboxlight]Category entry points are the new personas ~ even more important than your customer profiles may be the situations in which they encounter your brand. You need careful positioning even more when you don't have the budget to aspire to be a top of mind brand.[.c-quoteboxlight]
[.c-quoteboxlight]Internal communication is the most underrated part of the rebranding process. Employees have strong emotions attached to the brand and rebranding "takes them away". It's important to start asking people questions before the new brand is even planned.[.c-quoteboxlight]
Why do brand decisions need courage?
I'll close with a few sentences you may have heard before, but you can let them remind you that it's important to have the courage to make decisions when rebranding - from start to finish.
[.c-quoteboxlight]The data only looks backwards.[.c-quoteboxlight]
[.c-quoteboxlight]The market doesn't know what it wants until I give it to it.[.c-quoteboxlight]
[.c-quoteboxlight]Just like investing - I can't gain unless I take a risk.[.c-quoteboxlight]
[.c-quoteboxlight]Every concept has some drawbacks. Let's talk about them.[.c-quoteboxlight]
[.c-quoteboxlight]If we try to please everyone, we end up average.[.c-quoteboxlight]
The last remark applies in the case of rebranding not only in relation to customers, but also within the company. Change will never please everyone. The important thing is that everyone understands it.
