As consumer habits and motivators change—including via social movements and generational trends—companies may also need to change to maintain relevancy. When a company is struggling to connect, a major rebrand can breathe new life into a company. However, if done poorly, a rebrand can confuse or alienate consumers and make a bad situation worse.
It’s critically important that company executives extensively consider any rebranding choices, noting where the company has been, what’s currently blocking it from success and what it would take to move forward to establish meaningful connections. Yet, that is easier said than done. To help your efforts succeed, 12 members of Forbes Agency Council discuss the most important steps executives can take during a rebrand.
Members of Forbes Agency Council offer advice on the important details for leaders to remember when considering a rebrand for their business.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Start With The ‘Why’
A rebrand can be risky business. If you are going to rebrand you have to know the real reason why. Your “why” must be legitimately based on facts and defined. Just being ready for something new or feeling like you need a fresh look is not good enough. It’s a trap that brands fall into when they are searching for what they think will be easy answers to what may actually be bigger business questions. – Katie Harris, Spot On Solutions
2. Always Consider The SEO Implications
Consider the SEO implications of a rebrand so you don’t lose existing search engine equity. If you’re making updates to your website, ensure you have a redirect strategy and larger SEO strategy in place to help Google understand, review and re-index your new website or larger website changes. Not factoring in SEO could cause significant long-term damage to your current SEO ranking and indexing. – Donna Robinson, Nina Hale – Digital Marketing Agency
3. Overcommunicate
Every audience will likely have some attachment to the old brand unless it’s been tainted somehow. We tell clients undergoing a rebrand to overcommunicate to stakeholders the fact of and rationale for the new brand. Explain why the new brand better aligns with values, detail any changes to services or products, and create a forum for questions. These steps can reassure and get people on board. – Michael Gordon, Group Gordon Inc.
4. Speak To Your Solution
You need to be able to answer why your brand exists and what solution it offers to consumer problems before moving forward with any brand refresh. If you don’t have a solid idea of why your product or services should exist, then you don’t have a stable brand to start with. Once you’ve determined this, rebrand to the intent of your product/services and to how and why consumers should use it. – Rebecca Kowalewicz, Clearbridge Branding Agency
5. Build Internal Brand Champions
Ensuring that your employees believe in the rebrand is the single most important step. Employees are the heart and soul of any company—they live and breathe the brand, day in and day out. If they’re aligned to your vision, you’ve created a strong foundation on which the brand can grow. And if done right, they’ll develop into brand champions who will advocate for the company for years to come. – Stephen Rosa, (add)ventures
6. Go To The Source
This might seem obvious, but spend time with your customers. Too often executives get carried away with what they “think” their customers love and value about their products without actually getting into the trenches and talking to them. This feedback is important to integrate into rebranding efforts, from graphic design to key messaging and value props. – Nicole Jordan, Radix Collective
7. Ask The Right Questions
Determining where your brand is and how/why it ended up there would be the crucial first step—what has or hasn’t worked and why. Only after you establish that can you avoid similar mistakes and make objective decisions on the direction of a rebrand. Consider voice, market, buyer persona and social approach, to simply name a few. That should paint a vibrant picture and allow for a clean canvas. – Michael Smith, iTribe Social Inc.
8. Don’t Forget Consumer Testing
Consumer testing ahead of a rebrand launch is critical. A rebrand is invigorating for everyone who works on it, so it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and want to push everything live before it’s been tested. Before you even begin your rebrand, ensure adequate time for consumer testing (from concept through execution) is built into your project plan. Then you can launch with confidence. – Kathy Broderick Selker, Northlich
9. Don’t Throw The Baby Out With The Bath Water
I recommend a full brand audit, including a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, be conducted before a rebrand takes place. It’s critical to understand what, if any, equity remains in the name, visual identity and brand sentiment, while fully understanding the ebbs and flows of the marketplace. Change for change’s sake, at the risk of destroying an existing positive brand association, could be disastrous. – Kenny Eicher, The CSI Group
10. Identify The Underlying Issue
The most important step to take when considering a rebrand is to answer the question, “Why?” Rebranding poses a huge risk and is a giant step for businesses to take, regardless of the things you do during the process. Often, companies misdiagnose problems as a branding issue and end up hurting themselves even more. Make sure that a rebrand is actually the solution to your problem. – Erik Huberman, Hawke Media
11. Nod To The Old When Introducing The New
The most effective way to transition an older brand is to make sure you incorporate something from the old brand into the new—whether an element of the logo, the color palette, a tagline or combination. Your existing customer base will recognize the old, as well as the transformation to the new. We like to create new, modern design elements incorporated in new ways, especially with digital. – Francine Carb, Markitects, Inc.
12. Let Your Audience Know
Transparency creates trust, and when you’re looking to reimagine your brand, it’s important to keep your customers in the loop. The last thing you want to do is blindside your loyal followers with a new look or voice that they don’t recognize or trust. Sharing the process, timeline and ideas for rebranding with your audience through social media or email will help prepare them for the change. – Darian Kovacs, Jelly Digital Marketing & PR