Should I Rebrand?

Does your visual branding make you cringe or bring you joy? Maybe you are reluctant to send people to your website or embarrassed to post on social media. If you are not feeling the love, then chances are something isn’t right.

For the purposes of this blog I’m discussing the visual branding elements of your brand; not just your logo but how your business is visualised across all touchpoints with your audience. It should be noted that there are many other ways your brand is communicated, such as tone of voice or your customer service.

Your business’s visual branding should give you pride and be something you are not only comfortable showing off but that motivates you to show up. Showing up for your business will mean you post that social media content, you send people to your website and happily share those business cards. All of this of course markets your business and helps you gain more customers or clients.

Now let’s delve a little deeper. You feel something isn’t right but is it reason enough to invest in a rebrand? After all, you might just be bored of it. Remember the Gap rebrand which only lasted a week? 

Four reasons you may need a rebrand:

1) Your branding looks dated

Maybe the branding you had was based on a trend which has gone out of fashion. Perhaps your business is older and the branding has been ignored for too long. Maybe the logo is just not digitally friendly­­ or it feels dull against your competition. Mastercard’s rebrand was a great example of how simple design changes gave a much more modern feel.

2) Your branding is attracting the wrong people

Either it never connected with your audience, or your audience may have changed as your business has evolved. 

3) Your business has significantly changed

Quite often in the early years of a business things move on, your business may have had a change in direction, a name change or even merged.

4) Your business has outgrown your branding

Your branding which served you well to begin with no longer aligns with your business objectives. It needs to work harder so your business can step up to the next stage and it should fit with your business values and vision. When Clearworks Coaching approached West9 Design for a rebrand they wanted the branding to elevate their business to work harder for them – see the full Brand Identity Clearworks case study here. 

If one or more of the above points resonates with your business, then it may well be time to take that leap and start on the road of rebranding. You can read more about the branding process on my blog Building a Brand where I talk you through what you can expect from a branding process from discovery stage to delivering it to the world.

If you are still unsure, maybe a “brand audit” is what you need. 

A Brand Audit

Is a method to review all your current branding in all its permutations: from stationery and social media to uniforms, printed materials and packaging. A discovery session is done to take a snapshot of the business’s values and goals, and to look at its audience and competition. An analysis is then done to assess whether the two align and to look at strengths and weaknesses, giving recommendations for going forward. It’s similar to the initial discovery stage in a branding project and it’s a good tool to help you create that design brief for your new project.

If a rebrand or brand audit is something of interest, then do get in touch for a FREE 30 minute discovery call.