When Should A Company Re-Brand?!

There are many good reasons why a company might want to re-brand. Entrepreneurs by their nature see the benefits in upping their game. Constantly raising the bar within their category keeps the competition on edge. They spend more time keeping up or as I like to say. "following, not leading."

A common mistake you'll see all around you is companies who think re-branding is changing their logos and marketing materials. Without a doubt this may indeed happen with a re-branding, BUT it is by no means the definition of re-branding. You would want to re-brand if you are looking for positive change and growth for your company and you want to do it from a leadership position. A lot of companies look to branding when sales have fallen flat or growth has hit a wall. They are not happy with the status-quo and they have a keen desire to be stronger and to have a brand that resonates this with their current and potential customers. Sometimes the culture of a company has become tired and there's a sense of spinning their wheels. Every brand stretches and contracts over time. Perceptions of the brand miss the mark simply because there were no strategies in place to lead the brand. 

An unfortunate  time to re-brand is when a company is in its death throes. Due to circumstances that aid to the demise of the company, realistic finances are never available to properly address a re-branding. This is where you'll see people who think changing the logo is going to solve the problem and fool the customers into thinking the problems have corrected themselves. This is lipstick on a pig. If you hate the taste of Pepsi - is changing the logo going to make you enjoy it more? Of course not. Same goes for branding.

You re-brand because you see an opportunity to take your company to a higher level. You have the confidence to determine where your brand sits today, analyze it and determine where your leadership exists and build on that. Essentially you know what you'd like your brand to stand for - this is your chance to freshen up and build towards that end. I use a pretty extensive process to get this done. There is also plenty of information out there to at least get a fix on the direction you should take. I've had many cases where a logo change wasn't needed and this was because the logo was highly recognized and that kind of cache is hard to recover. 

Be sure that you get your brand right and not build on false hopes at the risk of alienating existing customers. What ever brand you have it's a must that you be authentic. There are plenty of examples in the marketplace where companies scream great service only to slowly eat away at it. Grocery chains are good at this. In the last few years (in Canada anyway) we've had them start charging for bags that were once free, having us pack those same bags where they once had bag boys. Introducing self-checkout under the guise of speed when it's about greed. Airlines and their charging for blankets, pillows, snacks etc. when they were once free. Both these industries tout service, but are actually re-training their customers at the expense of their brands. One day you will see something come along and replace their greed models and they will be standing agape with open mouths and wondering where they dropped the ball. i.e.: Blackberry today. 

Your brand has to be about them not you. If you must re-brand, do it strategically. If you desire a new logo, be sure your motives reflect your corporate culture not just because you're tired of your image. An old adage I've always used is, "the point when you tire of your own image/marketing is just the point when your clientele are beginning to notice it."

Fix It. Brand It. What Comes First?

The title of this article is rather a trick question. The fact is you have a brand already. Everything does. If your brand is essentially your reputation, then your brand is created through the relationship it has with it's audience. Small businesses don't consider their brand unless they think there may be a problem, and something is holding them back.

Issues like:
• an unmotivated staff • lack-lustre sales • poor customer service • a tired brand image • bad PR
... to name a few.

In order for your brand to grow strong you have to fix the broken parts. Taking a hard look at what your brand stands for and determining what your differentiator is will correctly define your brand. Leaving it broken compounds the problems. So to answer the question posed in the headline, I'd recommend a little of both, because they really can't be separate issues. Solving one, strengthens the other.

When To Know When It's Time To Re-Brand.

Re-branding. It's a term that you hear a lot these days. When you hear the term in relation to changing one's logo, this is an incorrect use of the term. Changing the logo won't re-brand anything. If you understand that your brand is essentially your reputation and is the result of every touch point in your company. If you’re merely change your logo without addressing the core issues for the re-brand then changing the logo changes nothing.

To help you determine if re-branding is for you, let's look at some brand viruses and see what we can do for them:

• Prospective customers don't know what we do.
Over time, you become known for doing so much for people that they have trouble putting their finger on your one big specialty. This results in your becoming a commodity. If they could focus on one great thing about you, they are more apt to knock on your door for that one compelling thing. The differentiator is your door opener.

• Your image is dated.
Your noticing that your customers are getting older and older. The younger skew doesn't even have you on their radar. Your logo looks as if it were designed in the sixties or seventies, and you are supposed to be a progressive company. Updating your logo and corporate palette freshens up a tired image.

• Sales are flat, and the sales staff are not motivated as much.
Chances are that they have no compelling story to tell. Going to market with a unique positioning strategy making you the leader in something, or the only distributor of something reinvigorates the sales staff. They have a focus and are embolden to drive the message home, especially if the positioning strategy is a powerful one.

• Advertising isn't effective as expected.
Many B2B advertising is simply all about the wrong person. Grab a trade magazine and you will notice the advertisers bragging about themselves. They show a picture of their building, tell a great story of how successful they are in your field, and show pictures of work similar to yours that they've done. What they (or you) are not doing is explaining how you can take their pain away. Your goal should be to remove the barrier that keeps them awake at night. It shouldn't be about you; it should be about them.

• You're a little out of touch.
Remember when you started your business, you used to attend all the Chamber functions and networking events, but over time you fell away from it? Well as younger businesses came on stream, your brand fell off the screen with each generation. It's time to reconnect with your business community. Get out there and share your knowledge. One thing great about graying hair - it represents wisdom.

Over all re-branding your company should involve an overall strategy that juices every stakeholder in the company. It is a wonderful opportunity to start over and position the company for growth in the emerging economy.

5 Reasons Why Branding Won't Work.

They're never going to buy you're the expert.

Here's the thing, you really are an expert in your field, but here's the rub - YOU don't believe it. If you don't believe in yourself , don't expect customers to believe in you either. You have plenty of sales-worthy knowledge and a waiting audience. Roll up your sleeves and jump in. Failing isn't the problem, refusing to get back up is.

You've got a wild idea, but nobody's going to buy it.

Isn't it better to try your idea and fail KNOWING they don't like it, rather than presuming to know they don't like it and never really finding out?

The timing isn't right.

That's the same as giving me a dozen reasons why you CAN'T do something rather than reasons why you CAN.

Branding is expensive.

Ignoring your brand is the real money pit. Placing ad after ad saying nothing special or countering a competitor makes you a follower. The competitor is actually defining your brand and you're throwing money at defending yourself rather than leading with a strong positioning strategy, which gives your customer a compelling reason to buy from you.

I tried re-branding: I got me a new logo and tag line and guess what? Nothing changed!

What did you expect to happen? Your brand is your REPUTATION not your logo. All you did was spend some cash putting a new face on an old problem. If somebody tells you that re-branding is changing your logo - RUN as fast as you can - they have no idea what branding is!

As much fun as this post was to write, the honest truth is that all of us have to pay very close attention to our brands, how we sell ourselves and be open to new opportunities. Stop blaming the economy, stop blaming yourself and stop blaming finances. If you try and win - great! If you fail - so what? Keep moving, keep learning. You can't reach your goal by standing still and that I can guarantee you.

Are you up to re-branding?

You're starting to hear it more and more in the business community, "We need to re-brand ourselves!" If this sounds like your current battle cry, ask yourself this question:

Am I really prepared to do what it takes to actually re-brand ourselves?

And with this question, let make sure that you actually understand what you are taking on.

If your intention is to re-brand yourself, then it is a forgone conclusion that you are not happy with your existing brand. Something has triggered you to want to re-invent yourself. Perhaps your brand has been left behind in a competitive environment where technology has passed you by and now you are left without the necessary tools to compete effectively. It could be a plethora of market conditions that leave many companies floundering, searching for anything to help keep them from imploding. Re-branding is a worthy goal but it is also a risky venture if taken lightly. To launch a new logo and catchy slogan is NOT re-branding yourselves - if it was only that easy. Putting a new face on the brand will not make the issues go away - they never go away.

From the out-set, let me say that you must be prepared to make fundamental changes to the way you currently do business.
You must tackle the issues head-on. And by issues we don't mean just poor sales, but anything that affects your brand, ie: environmental problems, labour issues, integrity - anything that potentially has the power to tarnish your reputation (whether true or not).

If in preliminary investigations you discover that your brand results in a very unattractive personality profile then you've got problems at the core of your brand. Are you now prepared to devout the necessary effort to change your current brand reality? Are you prepared to allocate the time necessary to see the changes through? Take for instance the question I have posted on several blogs concerning my city, Windsor. The results coming back show a very unflattering brand. As much as the information collected is unscientific in nature it does provide an interesting glimse of how we may be viewed from distances greater than a day-trip. If our city fathers truly want to re-brand ourselves to change these perceptions and move forward in bold new direction, they must take steps to change the negatives that persist in dragging down our brand. Not an easy or short-term task.

The simple fact that you are out here among the branding blogs shows that you are an optimist. You are looking for solutions to do more business. Re-branding your company will feel like starting over and breathing new life into your vision.
Give your brand the opportunity to be great and work it to keep it there. Build your brand strategy first and then strengthen it visually based on that strategy. It is a winning combination. If you have questions, there are a lot of us out here who are more than willing to help you through a tough spot. That is why our blogs exist.