REBRANDING & RISK

A company rebrand is an inevitable truth. Similarly, it is a dreaded truth. Typically, companies associate rebrand projects with painful expenses, constraining time and work commitments outside of their ‘normal’ scope of work, and overall discomfort. Why discomfort, you may ask? Simply put, rebrands are notorious for their intimidating risk factor and obscene workload.

Fact is, rebranding is risky; however, choosing not to rebrand your company due to fear of risk is quite worse than taking a risk in the first place. Playing it safe on behalf of your brand is a death sentence — an accepted defeat.

A brand that is in their market to play the ‘finite game’ may not be able to understand why a rebrand is crucial to remain relevant and seal the fate of the company’s lifespan. Brands that are, on the contrary, playing the ‘infinite game’ will rebrand multiple times in order to satisfy and alleviate stakeholders.

It is important to understand audiences. In the digital era, consumers are constantly being treated for pains that they did not originally identify as pains. This means that brands must anticipate trends and constantly provide users with a newfound status quo and expectation to uphold.

In order to grow with ‘said’ audience, brands themselves must evolve. How might a brand evolve? The obvious answer is to rebrand. Rebrands are not limited to physically apparent differences such as a company logo or company slogan. Rebrands can be both internal and external. This requires a lot of work that is not always guaranteed to pay off. This fact alone is enough to scare companies away.

The reality of the matter is that, naturally, you want your company to grow. If your company successfully grows, it generally looks much different in new heights than it did from its small beginnings. Many companies outgrow their original branding or no longer align with their original brand positioning. This is good reasoning to rebrand among other reasons such as a new audience, unclear messaging, expansion, etc.

A rebrand does not always imply an entire company face transplant. Companies can partially commit to establishing change by opting for a minor facelift. There is a scale for rebrand efforts that range from full-blown company transformations to minor company changes or pivots. The smaller the change, the less risk is involved. This choice should be based on what the company needs to achieve their next milestone while keeping their vision in mind.

There are ways to reduce risk while still appropriately and effectively rebranding. To begin by dipping your toe in the water, companies can test their market by first publishing small, thoughtful changes intended to improve customer experience overall. This could include an integrated campaign potentially foreshadowing the company’s new direction, altering the brand tone, recreating sales deck protocol, updating materials, etc.

The best way to measure what does and does not work is to observe audience reactions and seek validation. Depending on actions taken, this will inform the company whether or not further investing in rebrand efforts is worthwhile. This is a surefire, safe method to ease into changing the brand blueprint overtime. These small adjustments also serve as a useful tool to treat and alleviate problems experienced by the brand and its consumer.

Unfortunately, that is the only option to truly play it safe while pursuing a company rebrand. The contrary is diving right in and overhauling the entire brand. A company undertaking a brand overhaul has the option to be as proactive as possible and practical by foreseeing potential obstacles. By developing a battle strategy and breaking the process down, execution is not only assuaged, but it becomes more feasible.

While restoring and reframing your brand, utilize as many resources as possible. There are many departments involved in this process. It is important to assess the company bandwidth before taking on the entire project internally and putting employees into overdrive. Evaluate strengths and weaknesses. Don’t write off external help such as creative and ad agencies, but be sure the rebrand mission is clearly expressed. Creative strategy and execution can blur lines and leave concepts up to interpretation. Eliminate risk by expressing complete transparency and keeping communication lines wide open and accessible.

The most dramatic rebrand effort is a company name change. This essentially translates as starting from scratch or starting fresh with a blank canvas. This scenario is the last resort exertion that is only necessary if a company is experiencing profound issues directly correlated with its current name.

A company rename is accompanied by the typical rebrand agenda and additionally requires a PSA. The company must justify its renaming and announce a timeline to preface implementation. The PSA serves as a warning or heads up to loyal consumers who will be on the receiving end of the startling change.

Unsurprisingly, this rebrand option includes the most amount of risk. Outside of measured and anticipated rebranding risks. A company rename abandons all relationships previously established in its former name with customers and completely rids of any cushion for provided comfort. In some ways, consumers must convert all over again.

On a hopeful note, rebranding, despite the inevitable risk, holds immense potential and opportunity for a company to access promising new waters and expand their reach that could have been limited by their former brand positioning. Risk has a negative connotation, but it can truly have a positive impact. This can be achieved by properly aligning with your companies message. Audit your company often and thoroughly by staying faithful to your company vision.

Reminder: Once your company launches a rebrand, be sure to keep the momentum going! A brand playing the infinite game is constantly evolving.