Rebranding can be a time-intensive process that requires careful thought and planning to succeed. You need to ensure that you’re rebranding because you want to refresh your brand, modernize, or offer a new brand position. And if you need help with rebranding, read our guide below on which rebranding strategy best fits your situation.
Types of Rebranding
Before finalizing your rebranding plan, you must understand what your rebrand falls under:
- Brand refresh – This is one of the most common rebrand types that most brands do. For instance, a brand could change its logo and visual identity to make it modern but keep its products and services intact.
- Brand overhaul – Many consider this rebrand a labor-intensive rebrand because it’s like you’re starting from scratch. You’re changing everything about your brand and showing a new version to the public upon launch.
- Brand merger – The final rebranding type is a merger. Rebrands under this category can have a simple brand refresh to make the brand cohesive or consistent. Meanwhile, some rebrands can have a complete rebrand change to ensure that the brands’ identities align.
Rebranding Strategies
1. Name Change
One rebranding strategy is the name change. A brand refresh can only have a name change without changing other brand identity elements. One good example of a name change without a drastic change is the Dunkin’ rebrand. It removed the word “Donuts” from its name but retains its main product (donuts) and offers other items. That case applies to mergers and acquisitions, too. For this case, you might have to integrate the names of the merged brands to create a cohesive brand across various platforms. However, a name change is standard for a complete brand overhaul.
2. Visual Identity Change
One indicator of a rebrand is the visual identity change. Many notable brands have undergone this strategy to become more modernized or want to align with their values or philosophies. A visual identity change includes a logo redesign, web redesign, change in fonts or colors, and visual styles on products and services. Some brand refreshes focus only on a visual identity change. However, an overhaul will have this rebranding strategy to align with new goals.
This rebranding strategy will require thorough planning since you need to create a coherent brand based on your values and how you want your brand to be perceived visually. In other cases, you need to do research on how to make even the slightest change in your visual identity. Regardless, you need to work with a trusted and reliable partner to create your new brand vision. One good example of this is a graphic design agency or service to help you with this rebranding strategy.
3. Brand Position Change
Sometimes, all you need is a quick revisit of your positioning to re-align your brand. In that case, a brand position or value identity change can be the best rebranding strategy for your business at this time. Brand positioning is essential for your marketing strategies. This works best if your marketing strategies aren’t working and you need to reposition your brand to get maximum results. Think about what you can improve on or what other value you can provide so your target audience flocks to you and not your competitors.
4. Change in Target Audience
This is another rebrand strategy to consider when you’re not meeting business goals or objectives. It could be as simple as focusing on one niche audience to create a loyal customer base. Or, you could cast a wider net and target various demographics to attain your goals. You need to research your new target audience first before making any quick changes. Here are some pointers before moving to a new target audience:
- What are your current marketing strategies?
- How are your competitors connecting with your target audience?
- What value can I provide to my new target audience?
- How can I reach out to my new target audience?
5. Brand Perception Change
This rebranding strategy can be difficult to achieve, especially when you’ve cultivated a not-so-good reputation. You will need the help of a PR agency to clean up your image. It’s important that you address any controversies or concerns so that your stakeholders, customers, or clients can trust your brand.
How to Make Your Rebranding Strategies Work?
1. Talk to Your Team and Stakeholders
Rebranding isn’t a one-person job (unless you’re a solopreneur). You need to involve your team members from all departments to ensure everyone knows that new changes are coming and can be onboard the new brand identity. Talking with your team can help you get ideas. Plus, if you inform your stakeholders about the rebranding, they could be prepared and could also give their insight and input regarding the matter. Additionally, once you’ve finalized your rebrand, you could give your team new training protocols to ensure that everyone in the company is aligned.
2. Work with Agencies or Professionals
As you rebrand your business, you need to work alongside professional services or agencies to make your rebranding vision come to life. Agencies are excellent partners to collaborate with since they have experience working with clients for rebranding services. Alternatively, you can work with service companies, like graphic design or video editing, to help you with your visual identity.
3. Engage with Customers
Once you’ve launched your rebrand, ensure that you should involve your customers. They’re still processing the new change, and it’s important to engage with them by getting feedback and continue marketing to them. Even before your rebrand announcement, you could test the rebrand on select customers to see what they think and how else you can improve on it.
Why Should You Work With Penji?
Penji is one of the top unlimited graphic design services to help you at any stage of your business journey. Whether you’re a new business or rebranding, Penji will provide you with the best graphics to make your rebrand a success! Once you subscribe to Penji, you can request all the graphics needed to complete your rebrand. Additionally, you can ask other designs, which could grow your business. And if you’re interested in working with Penji, watch a demo to see Penji in action!