Critical Elements To Address When Thinking About A Re-Brand

Critical Elements to address when thinking about a re-brand?

• Do you really know the audience you want to influence with your brand and what they think of your company? If the answer is, “We think so but are not 100% sure or in agreement,” start with research into your customers and prospects to understand your brand starting point. Determine the channels they use to interact with your brand. Do they visit your site via a mobile device but you have not optimized for mobile?
• Don’t rebrand for the sake of re-branding. What are the corporate goals you are trying to accomplish? Are you launching a new product or service line? Have you slowly transformed your market but your current customer base does not know it? Do you need to energize your employee base?
• Analyze and agree upon your story and message. Many people can design a great logo, but it is the story behind the logo and brand initiative that is critical.
• Use the rebrand as your chance and excuse to re-introduce yourself to current customers.
• Think about all the brand elements to drive consistency. A new logo without a matching website experience, family of templates, new business cards, office signage, etc. can really fall flat. Make sure you design a corporate style guide that is strictly followed across the board, and can be expanded to business partners and other audiences.
• Start with your internal audience to roll it out. Your employees are your number one brand ambassadors. If they are excited about the brand and message you will immediately have a fleet of people ready to share it.
• Measure the impact of the rebrand. What are the key performance indicators you are measuring? Are you getting more meetings? Are you getting more website visitors? Is there a better understanding of your brand six months after launch? 12 months?
• Is your rebrand designed to scale as you enter new markets or expand with new products?
• Are there international considerations now or in the future related to your brand that you need to address?
• As you think about all of these, remember that planning is critical. A strongly mapped out strategy will get you the required results you desire for your brand.