Is it time to rebrand?

Welcome to our 101 Series, a collection of short articles that explain the fundamentals of branding; striving to demystify an industry that can sometimes hide behind abstract, lofty language. This article is all about rebrands. 

What is it? 

A rebrand, in general terms, means updating your existing brand identity. This could mean changing tangible elements like how you show up in the world (like your colour palette, logo and packaging) but this is also likely to impact your behind-the-scenes brand like what you stand for, who you serve and what you offer now, and in the future.

No rebrand is the same, but there are two fundamentally different types of ways to rejuvenate your brand:

Evolution and optimisationYour brand has established equity in its assets and associations; nothings broken or needs fixing. This is a brand that needs further refinement to take it to the next phase of its lifecycle and future-proof it’s proposition. Like Burberry’s archive inspired rebrand in 2023, that reimagined it’s historic equestrian knight logo. 

Total transformationYour brand has limited equity or differentiation within its category; your service offering may have fundamentally changed, or you might stand for something that’s no longer serving your customers. This is a brand that needs significant support to course correct or mark the start of a new era. Like Premier League’s 2016 rebrand complete with their updated proposition ‘We All Make it’, the flipped the focus from players and scores to every person, from pitch-side stewards to die-hard fans that make up the Premier League.

Why does it matter?

Updating your brand identity, to any degree, requires significant time, energy and investment. But, like any form of brand building exercise, a rebrand can pay back to your business in kind. Our total transformation re-brand for insurance brand, Yoloh, resulted in a 10x increase in brand equity and secured additional investment from 3 continents. When used effectively, a rebrand is a valuable tool that can be used to drive business growth. a 10x increase in brand equity and secured additional investment from 3 continents. When used effectively, a rebrand is a valuable tool that can be used to drive business growth.

Investing in your brand makes it easier for people to choose your products and services.Zaltman proved that 95% of purchase decisions are driven by emotion;

successful brands act as shortcuts during decision-making. As a fresh, yet familiar brand you’re more likely you’re more likely to be unforgettable and therefore more likely to get chosen at point of purchase.

Learn more about building Reasons to Care, not Reasons to Believe into your brand here. 

Investing in your brand means your performance marketing will work harder. As Binet and Field have proven, to have a truly successful brand you need a balance of brand building (creating memory structures for the long-term) and sales activation (short-term uplifts that remind people to ‘buy now’ in the short term). And when it’s balanced appropriately brand building can positively impact your sales activation.

Investing in your brand means protecting your price premium. Adding perceived value helps protect your price premium and give you an unfair competitive advantage in your category. As a distinctive, evocative brand you’re able to offer something more that ‘just’ your product or services functionality. As Kantar proved, there’s a direct relationship between the perceived uniqueness (or distinctiveness) of a brand and a reduction in price sensitivity.

What do I need to consider as a brand owner, manager or marketeer?

A rebrand requires significant time, energy and investment: it’s not a conclusion you or your business will come to lightly. Before engaging an agency, or third parties, to help in your rebrand journey it’s worth considering three key things:

Understand the state of play

Before any work starts it’s good to understand the broader business context. Are we in growth, decline or flat lining? Are there any broader drivers that may impact this now or in the future? What’s working within the existing brand identity? What equity, if any, already exists?

Knowing this enables all parties to understand the problem the rebrand needs to solve, or the opportunity the rebrand needs to capitalise on. This will help inform the measures of success, both for the business, brand and project to drive effectiveness at every level. 

While a rebrand isn’t a solution for every problem, knowing the problem you’re trying to solve enables your agency partners to advise the shape of response required and what’s achievable.

Stakeholder management & internal buy-in

Your people are your business; rebrands don’t happen in a vacuum. Establish the key stakeholders you’d like to involve in the process to ensure the necessary people are a part of the journey. Highlighting the stakeholders, you’d like to include (like Founders or Board Members, in addition to your Brand and Marketing teams) enables your agency to ensure additional feedback loops are built-in to the time plan, while providing you with the tools necessary to get your stakeholders up to speed. 

Messaging & roll-outUnderstand the feasibility and shape of implementation. Coming prepared with notes on lead times, additional agencies that’ll need to be involved (like retail or e-comm experts) and key company moments (like AGMs or summits) enables your agency to recommend the most effective relaunch. From your internal soft launch, to generate employee excitement and investment, to how to phase your customer hard launch, to reduce any potential teething problems. 

If you’d like to know more about how we could support your rebrand please get in touch.