Rebranding a business shouldn’t be a decision that you, your team, and your stakeholders make overnight. It requires weeks or months of planning if a rebranding were to push through. This could involve a new logo design, a new audience to target moving forward or offering new products or services. Whatever the reason behind your rebranding is, you need to know what to expect and what the do’s and don’ts are with rebranding. Check out our guide below on rebranding your business. Plus, learn how famous brands successfully rebranded!
1. Know Your Why
It’s important that you understand WHY you’re rebranding your business. What’s the thinking behind this, and why should you push through with it? However, as you ponder on why you need to rebrand, you should also consider your current customer base and the time and money you will invest in rebranding.
If, for instance, you’re merging with another brand, you should have a dialogue with the stakeholders of the other brand. This way, you’re aligned with your reason for rebranding, and everything can stay consistent moving forward.
2. Conduct Research
Research is a crucial part of the rebranding process. With this key step, you will avoid guessing about your rebranding plan, which would derail your plan of a successful rebrand. This process will require your time and energy to ensure your rebrand goes as planned. Here are the essentials when researching for your brand:
- Audience – If your new audience is different from the old one, knowing your new target audience can help you better understand how to connect with and market to them.
- Competitors – Knowing your new competitors are can help you get ahead of the game when you rebrand. Most of your competitors have the advantage of connecting with your audience early on. Once you’ve figured this out, you can establish some marketing strategies as you announce your rebrand.
- Positioning – What would the rebrand achieve regarding your unique value position?
3. Strategize and Plan
If you finally know your why, it’s time to plan your rebrand. One good thing about a rebrand is that you’re not starting from scratch. You have the resources you didn’t before launching your business. When creating your rebrand strategy, you should identify the following to move forward:
- Goals – What are your new goals with the rebrand? How should these goals be achieved from the old ones?
- Identity – How do you identify as a brand, like what values or personality should it have? Additionally, what should your designs look like upon launch?
- Budget and timeline – How much will you spend on your rebrand, and how long should it take before launch?
4. Find Your Rebranding Partners
A rebrand can be a challenging feat. You will need extra sets of hands to work on your rebrand. Visual identity is probably one of your biggest changes with rebranding. Thus, you need to find a graphic design partner to work on your new brand identity visually. Additionally, you will have to find other partners, like agencies, to work on different aspects of your rebrand to ensure that everything will go according to plan.
5. Announce Your Rebrand
Once everything is done and ready for your rebrand day, it’s time to tell the world your new identity. You need to publicize your rebrand because you don’t want people wondering where the brand they’ve known gone. You can do this by posting on social media and sending emails to your current emails. Additionally, you can take it to the next level by posting on PR websites to get media attention.
Examples of Successful Rebrands
1. Dunkin’
One of THE most successful rebrands of all time is Dunkin’. Before the “Donuts” was removed from its name, Dunkin’ sold other items besides donuts, which prompted them to drop it. The brand announced its name change in 2018. Its logo showed the same Dunkin’ design without the Donuts. However, the pink motif in the logo was kept in the apostrophe.
2. Burger King
The Burger King rebrand is unique since it went from a modern design to a retro one. Even so, it didn’t lose its identity and remains one of the biggest fast food chains globally. Burger King used its old logos as inspiration to create the new one. The new logo appears like a burger, with the “Burger King” copy as the patty. Additionally, it follows a simpler style through colors, fonts, and imagery. Plus, the warmer color scheme could appeal to the masses and offer a fresher look for the brand.
3. Mailchimp
One notable rebrand in the marketing industry is Mailchimp. Originally, Mailchimp had a cursive logo font. That changed in 2018 when the marketing platform announced its new logo design and name meaning. Firstly, the name changed from MailChimp to Mailchimp indicating a chimp delivering your email (metaphorically!). Plus, it offers other marketing services, too! Secondly, the logo includes its mascot, Freddie! It shows the brand’s playfulness and unique spirit!
4. Lego
Lego partnered with Interbrand for its rebrand. This rebrand exemplifies that you can change other aspects of your brand visually while keeping it recognizable to your audience. It developed the following design elements to make the Lego brand consistent across various platforms:
- Clutch system – Remodeling LEGO elements into fonts, shapes, illustrations or buttons
- Typeface – Using an old LEGO font and created a new one (LEGO Typewell), which will be used in products and platforms
- Action graphics – Adding dynamism to the brand
- Motion principles – Letting elements move
How Can Penji Help You Rebrand?
One key part of rebranding your business is changing the designs of your branding and marketing assets, such as your logo, website, social media posts, and more! Penji can take part in your rebranding journey by redesigning your logo and other assets! We are an unlimited graphic design service, which is ideal for businesses that are rebranding. You no longer have to reach out to multiple freelance designers to create your assets. Penji is the one-stop shop for all design needs! And if you want to see how Penji can help in your rebranding, watch a video demo!
