Sasha has been working in the field of brand strategy and design for 13 years. Her career started in retail development and store design across the United States and shifted to digital marketing and brand development.
Every quarter brings an influx in rebrands and “new era’s loading,” but are these rebrands necessary? or are they an impulse decision to keep up with the aesthetic pressures of online businesses? It’s hard to remember that rebranding isn’t just a change of logos, fonts, and colors; it’s an actual change in brand identity that starts from within.
Aesthetically, rebranding your business has become a fun and exciting way to drive instant hype around one's business, but where many business owners get it wrong is by rebranding for the sake of their own confidence. Not rebranding for the sake of their audience.
What we mean by this is that the rebrand is a personal decision to make them feel good instead of an outlined decision that will produce results based on their potential buyers. The hype comes and goes, and you’re back where you started. You resent your brand, want a change, and do the easiest change of all: fonts, colors, and imagery.
A rebrand is a process that requires a lot of data on the audience you’re trying to tap into to drive growth. So, how do you know if it’s the right time? More importantly, how do you do it correctly? Let’s break it down.
The purpose of rebranding
A rebrand is a complete change of a company’s identity, not just visually. The goal is to change the perception of your brand through its image. This shift is a strategic decision to drive growth, reposition within your market, and tap into new arenas.
Rebranding is not always the right decision and shouldn’t be a trigger-happy decision, either. If sales are low or you’re not growing, the solution can be found in multiple ways, such as adjusting your marketing strategy, better understanding your audience, or fine-tuning your offers.
A rebrand can be a costly mistake because if the issues at hand are not based on your image, they will still present themselves after a rebrand.
In addition, if your brand has become known for its image and identity, you risk confusing your audience and losing that visibility because they won’t have the previously established brand recognition.
Often, a brand wants to change its positioning to attract a higher-caliber client or increase its rates/prices. However, both can happen without a rebrand. A simple shift in messaging, vocabulary, or prices can achieve the same results.
This is why having a brand strategist come in and work with your brand makes a huge difference: not knowing what needs to change and just impulsively making a decision based on what’s the most exciting do more harm than good.
Determining factors for a rebrand
There are quite a few reasons why a rebrand would be something you and your company explore, and the reasons vary beyond that, but to break it down as simply as possible, you want to look back at your brand goals and determine if you’ve been able to hit them in a desirable amount of time.
Now, the phrase desirable amount of time is loose because we all want instant gratification. If you haven’t seen any progress towards hitting your goals between 3-4 months, it’s time to problem-solve.
Some common factors that could result in a rebrand look like:
Your external brand perception (the perception others have of your brand) is not in alignment with your internal perception (how you see your brand or wish to be seen)
You want to target a different ideal consumer or audience
You’ve tested different solutions (marketing strategies, messaging tweaks, and sales strategies), and with no solution, your brand needs to be revitalized
Your brand identity is outdated (not based on trends)
Your services and offers have changed
Your brand mission has changed
Your positioning isn’t giving you momentum to become the favored option in your industry
All of these are examples that could drive the decision to rebrand, but again, it is so wildly important to work with an expert in this field to help better understand the problems and come up with a solution backed by solid reasoning that will give you the greatest ROI.
Where to start
As a CEO, entrepreneur, or creative, there is no such thing as too much information (when utilized correctly). Research will be your best ally, and you have to search long and wide to find your market positioning.
A rebrand is no easy feat, and it requires a great deal of commitment to ensure that it is not necessary to do it again and again.
When you decide to rebrand, I can’t stress this enough: you have to look at the big picture of your brand.
Stop looking at your brand as an Instagram feed or a social media project. Your brand has a brain, a heart, a system and an experience that your consumers will require consistency on.
This involves digging deep into your brand purpose and making sure it is felt by those you wish to work with or serve.
It requires looking at your internal operations to ensure that your brand can handle an influx of sales with extreme attention to detail on how your brand leaves anyone feeling who comes into contact with it.
To get more insight into where your brand is currently in comparison to where you want to take it, dive into your brand from an aerial point of view. Get outside feedback from previous or current consumers or through market research, and work with a strategist.
A proper rebrand could be what takes your brand from small business to full empire.
DTLD secret tip for success
If and when you decide to rebrand, phase it out over a few months. Do not change everything all at once, or you won’t have any insights or data into what is working and what is not.
In addition, these shifts can be overwhelming all at once for an audience who has to now relearn your brand.
Ease yourself and your audience into it.
Read more from Sasha Monique Lewis
Sasha Monique Lewis, Brand Strategist and Designer
Sasha has been working in the field of brand strategy and design for 13 years. Her career started in retail development and store design across the United States and shifted to digital marketing and brand development. She has helped numerous companies and businesses fine tune their branding, see exponential growth through marketing and improve their organic traffic. Ultimately she's help entrepreneurs find their unique attributes and leverage it. She finds the uncommon denominator in a world full of duplication.
