Often times when you start a brand - you have a vision, goal and product set in mind.
As you walk down the road of brand building, you evolve and understand the market deeper and your product better.
Like for example you start a candy company. It's a company like a lot of other companies but years later you find your niche. You find out that from all the different candies your company makes - the ones inspired by Indian sweets work much better.
You also discover that it makes you different from your competitors hence, there's a huge market you can tap into.
But your visuals, your logo and your design language are failing to communicate that.
Is it wise to change everything?
What if people get confused? Isn't that risky?
Even though the current logo is outdated, the product is still working, right?
How can a re-branding help?
I'm trying to break this question with two perspectives - a Founder's and a Designer's.
So, let's get to it from a Founder's perspective.
Again, there are always the right and the wrong reasons for a re-brand.
If one or more reasons I'll be listing below is the reason you're tempted to ReBrand.
You might need to reconsider.
1. What inspired you to think of a Rebrand? A new trend?
As founders, we're constantly exposed to new trends, changing times and fast-growing styles. Living in this digital world comes with a lot of fast-changing trends that can sometimes make us make instant decisions. You need to question yourself deep down why the current design language is less appealing.
2. Boredom
Too often, people consider a rebrand because they're just bored of seeing the same logo every day. Remember as a Founder you see your logo more times than your customers.
3. Covering up for an internal fault.
Over the years of working as a Brand Designer, I've seen clients look for a fresh start.
They probably messed up communicating their purpose the first time so they think rebranding would give them a new look. For this, you probably need a new strategy instead of a change.
4. Need for attention
As a founder when you see your sales stagnated. A lot of times people find a desire for an aggressive change in Branding hoping it will catch more eyes. Again, you probably need better marketing and not Branding.
Now let's look at the reasons why you would need a Rebranding.
1. My brand niche has changed.
As the example stated, you found a new niche product for your candy company.
YES, having fresh branding conveying your niche better will help Market repositioning. The consumers will understand your USP better which will lead to more lead generation.
2. It's been quite some time since we Re-Branded.
Typically, most companies go through a Rebranding every 4-5 years. Little changes in their logo and small tweaks eventually help them blend with changing times. It helps you stay relevant to your audience and the chances of your logo being completely outdated years down the line get reduced.
3. My consumer's age group has changed, Change in demographic etc.
Change in your user group calls for a change in your Brand language. It needs to be more global and identifiable to who you are aiming the product to reach.
A toothpaste company that started selling toothpaste for kids, years later found out that their taste is very much appealing to adults as well.
In that case, we will definitely be looking at a Rebranding that can appeal to both age groups.
4. My brand is blending in with my competitors.
Rebranding most of the times help companies become more energized and excited about their brand and jet start things faster.
It grabs consumer attention and makes them excited too.
However, You need to understand that in certain sectors, design liberty is limited. Eg. if you're a dentist. Most likely a lot of your companions will have the same neat, tidy and modern-looking branding. In that case, you need to understand if trying something funky would help you. Sometimes, you might need to rely on your product quality more than the branding.
5. I am struggling to increase my prices.
Oftentimes, people struggle to change policies internally because the branding is stagnant.
Having a clean and new Branding helps the brand look more established and would help you increase your prices with changing times.
Other reasons could be :
6. My Brand is failing to convey what we do.
7. My colours seem very outdated.
8. I made my logo on a napkin years ago and need to rectify it.
9. I have too much - There are too many things happening with my Brand Language. Might need to make it more cohesive.
10. I have too little - just a logo.
Now that you've decided you need a Re-Branding.
Let's look at things to note while Designing.
Re Branding can be done partially or you can opt for a complete revamp depending on where you're placed.
Both the cases differ w.r.t the Design liberty the designer has.
Partial Re Branding also known as a Brand Refresh especially can be tricky because it challenges you to keep the core intact while giving them a fresh new look to the brand.
Especially for an established brand, the rebranding should help give a new perspective but not confuse the customers altogether.
(Check Tropicana, the world's most expensive Re-Branding fail if you need more insights on this topic)
So, here are some key points to look for, based on my experience.
1. Start with Study.
As a Designer, you need to understand what the Brand has gone through, what worked, what didn't and what can be done.
Sending out a brand perception questionnaire would help generate a good base for the study.
2. Understand what element they'd like to keep and to what extent are they willing to change.
We know ReBranding can be tricky. So, Drawing a clear boundary and knowing when to stop is critical. Make sure you're not getting carried away and completely changing the visual language where only smaller changes are required.
3. Is it just a Logo change or do the colours, fonts and tonality of the Brand need a change too?
Sometimes clients might think a logo change is enough. Understand if a change of colours, fonts, or visual style is required too.
Help them visually understand how new colours would work.
4. Think afar
Re-Branding a brand definitely comes with its own risk. It's also not sustainable for companies to frequently keep changing and adapting to new systems. So, make sure the new visuals go a long way.
Keep yourself away from fast-changing design trends.
5. Have fun
Working on a Re-Branding is a wholesome process. The fact that good design can completely change the game for a brand is so positive to look at.
Do not underestimate the power you hold, go all out and have fun.
Thank you for reading my blog and hope you learnt something of value today.
I tried to keep it as informative as possible and would love to hear your feedback, suggestions and good movie recommendations in the comment section.
Follow along for more blogs and if you like to buy me a coffee, do check out my shop :)
Love,
Ria.
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