Image Source: Freepik
What does rebranding mean?
Rebranding is essential for companies to refresh their brand identity in line with goals, values, and audience. It’s crucial for adapting in today’s business world. Through evaluating the brand and market, then developing and implementing a new strategy, companies show innovation and modernity. Rebranding helps companies stand out, express uniqueness, and leave a lasting impression. It can attract new customers, build loyalty, and fuel business growth.
Image credit: katemangostar
When should a company think about changing its brand, and why?
Rebranding is a big deal and needs a lot of time, money, and hard work. But there are good reasons for it. When a company’s brand no longer connects with its customers, rebranding helps to fix its image and how it talks to customers. This is important when sales are down, people don’t like the brand, or there’s a lot of competition. Here are some signs to check if your brand is experiencing these issues:
- Decline in relevance
When the brand no longer resonates with the target audience or fails to reflect the company’s current mission and values.
- Shift in market trends
Changes in market trends significantly impact consumer preferences, which the current brand doesn’t meet.
- Negative reputation
Instances where the brand suffers from negative associations or experiences a public relations crisis, necessitating a brand overhaul.
- Expansion or diversification
Rebranding may be necessary when a company expands into new markets or ventures, requiring resonance with diverse audiences.
- Competitive landscape
Brands may consider rebranding to differentiate themselves or respond to changes initiated by competitors to stay competitive.
What are the common challenges faced during rebranding, and how to overcome them?
There are 3 main challenges that your brand might face. Here are simple proposed solutions for your reference.
Image credit: prostooleh
Challenge 1: Employees Reluctant to Change.
Whereby employees that work with you for a long time might resist the new brand due to the old brand. Top management needs to communicate clearly about the reasons for rebranding, involve employees, and listen to their thoughts. Making them feel part of the process helps them embrace the change and support the new brand.
Challenge 2: Keeping Everything Consistent throughout the Rebranding Process.
Changing the brand involves more than looks; it’s about values, brand message and how customers feel about the brand. Make a plan covering all changes needed, like updating latest ads, websites, and how employees outfit look. Being consistent builds trust in the brand.
Challenge 3: Figuring Out if the Rebrand Worked or Not.
Checking and measuring whether the rebrand worked isn’t easy without clear procedure and planning to measure it. Companies would need to set clear goals like changes in how people or audience see the brand, customer satisfaction, sales figure, and market share. Asking customers and other people for feedback. Keep checking and adjusting accordingly based on what you get the data with from market researching and so on.
What is the guideline for effective rebranding strategies?
Image credit: katemangostar
Step 1: Research and analysis
Assess the current brand, gather feedback from customers, employees, and stakeholders. Also, conduct market research to understand competition and audience preferences. You may use tool like SWOT Analysis Template to do analysis for your brand and compare among it.
Source from Mind Tools
Step 2: Defining brand identity
Defining a clear vision, mission, and values guides the direction. This means creating a clear picture of where the brand is heading, why it exists, and its core beliefs. Working closely with important stakeholders is crucial to match the company’s values. You may do a targeted customer profile analysis template to connect well with the target audience.
Source from: https://www.infodiagram.com/slides/targeted-customer-profile-analysis/
Step 3: Developing rebranding strategy
Creating a strong rebranding strategy means planning how the brand will be seen, what messages it shares, and how it looks. It involves finding what makes the brand special, telling consistent stories, and designing visuals that match the brand’s identity. You may use brand controls in Canva to create locked elements, branded templates, and other resources to scale and maintain quality.
Sources from Canva
Step 4: Implementing rebranding
Developing a clear timeline with tasks and who’s doing them is key.You always can use Google to create a clear timeline for your project or you may use Monday.com. Engaging employees within the company is crucial to get them interested and part of the changes. Externally, sharing messages that suit different groups, such as customers and stakeholders, helps them understand what’s happening and why.
Image screenshot taken by author from Google Support.
Image screenshot from author from monday.com
Step 5: Measuring rebranding success
Set up important measurements such as how people see the brand, how satisfied customers are, sales figures, market share, and the number of visitors to the website to assess progress. You may use google analytics, social media reports and so on to identify overall performance.
Sample screenshot for references:
- Google Analytic (GA4)
Image credit: Search Marketing Resource
Image credit: Landing Pages – Google Analytics
- Social Media Report
Image credit: Later
A Good Example of Rebranding
Image credit: Logos-World.net
To illustrate the power of successful rebranding, let’s explore the case studies of Samsung that going to do latest rebranding campaigns:
Early Stage Of Rebranding and Its Challenges
According to Proecho Solutions, Samsung faced challenges in the 1997 Asian market crash due to a low-cost competitive strategy that led to declining sales and excess capacity. CEO Yun Jong-yong recognized the need for change, aiming to position Samsung as a premium brand by focusing on superior product development and rebranding efforts. The objective was to establish Samsung as a stylish, high-quality brand with technological innovation appealing to younger and upscale customers worldwide. Yun emphasized moving away from price-based competition to avoid potential downfall and build a unique brand image. Samsung prioritized a brand-building campaign in their marketing strategy to bolster their brand image. Understanding that effective marketing is crucial for product success, they revamped their approach to ensure better visibility and value perception among customers.
Under the leadership of Eric Kim as head of a global marketing effort, the company restructured its distribution channels. They shifted their focus from discount chains to prominent electronics stores like Best Buy and emphasized online retail through platforms like Amazon. This change aimed to position Samsung as a premium brand. To maintain consistent communication worldwide, Samsung reduced their advertising agencies from 55 to one global group, WPP. This unified approach allowed for the launch of the company’s inaugural brand-building campaign. The campaign featured fashion-forward TV commercials to project a modern style while highlighting product sophistication. WPP utilized various promotional tools like product placements, social media ads, sponsorships, earned media, and online advertising to reinforce the brand message.
Image credit: TheKoreaTimes
Change in Direction: Targeting Young Audience
According to Baek Byung-yeul from TheKoreaTimes reported on 8th March 2023. Samsung Electronics in Korea is renaming its physical stores from “Samsung Digital Plaza” to “Samsung Store” to attract younger buyers. These stores, found nationwide, sell various Samsung gadgets, from Galaxy phones to Bespoke home appliances.
The rebranding aims to create a more youthful image by focusing on gadgets like Galaxy phones, Bespoke appliances, and SmartThings. They want to turn these stores into local hubs offering personalized experiences for customers. Samsung plans to provide unique content and programs tailored to local interests, aiming to make their stores a community gathering place.
For instance, they’ll have a “Samsung Culture Lab” in some branches to teach customers how to use their latest gadgets and offer classes on cooking, interior design, and video-making—popular activities among young people. In Seoul, they’re introducing a “Samsung Store Coding School” for teenagers to learn programming using Samsung devices.
Moreover, Samsung is showing commitment to environmental responsibility. One store received a LEED certification for its eco-friendly construction and water-saving measures. The company plans to expand this eco-friendly approach to more stores globally.
To enhance customer service, Samsung will provide tailored advice through “D’tailor” employees who suggest products based on individual lifestyles. Overall, the rebranding focuses on appealing to younger consumers by offering personalized experiences, emphasizing environmental efforts, and providing customized services.
That’s how Samsung became a well-known brand through the process of rebranding.
Bad example of rebranding?
Rebranding could incur significant costs and require considerable effort for the entire company. This also extends to consumers’ acceptance of your revamped brand. Let’s examine a flawed rebranding example so that you can take note of this crucial point
- Gap
Image screenshot from author from Admind website
In 2010, GAP tried rebranding with a new logo due to a sales slump. The new logo, featuring a generic font, caused confusion and lacked connection to the old one. A major mistake was not explaining the reasons for the change to consumers or making any store or product updates. This led to public backlash and ridicule, prompting a quick return to the original logo after six days. The rushed rebranding, lacking strategy and communication, cost an estimated $100 million.
- Mastercard
Image screenshot from author from Admind website
In 2006, Mastercard, known for its iconic logo, attempted to enhance its image by adding new elements. This decision, made without considering audience preferences, received criticism. To address this, Mastercard kept the original logo for payments but used the new one for corporate communications. In 2016, they refreshed the logo again for consistency. The unnecessary rebrand, lack of customer involvement, and inconsistency were the main mistakes. Overall, these changes cost the company $1.5 million.
During Rebranding, what are the things needed to avoid?
By avoiding these common mistakes, companies can increase the chances of a successful rebranding campaign and minimize potential pitfalls. Here are some common things in rebranding need to avoid:
- Insufficient research and analysis
Not thoroughly understanding the current brand, market trends, and target audience can result in a rebranding strategy that doesn’t hit the mark.
- Message inconsistency
Sending mixed messages can confuse customers and weaken the brand’s identity. It’s crucial to ensure all communication channels convey a consistent brand message.
- Overlooking internal communication
Involving employees and aligning them with the rebranding effort is essential for a successful transition. Neglecting internal communication may cause resistance and a lack of support for the new brand.
- Hastening the rebranding process
Rebranding necessitates careful planning and execution. Rushing it might lead to errors, inconsistencies, and a lack of strategic alignment.
- Disregarding customer feedback
Customer opinions during rebranding are valuable. Ignoring them may result in a brand identity that fails to connect with the intended audience
In Conclusion
In today’s competitive business realm, effective rebranding strategies drive growth by revitalizing a brand’s image. Understanding the significance of rebranding, recognizing when and why it’s essential, addressing common challenges, and following a step-by-step guide empower companies in this journey. Rebranding necessitates careful planning, clear communication, and a deep understanding of the audience. Leveraging successful strategies allows companies to unlock potential for long-term success.Though unsuccessful rebrands exist, most yield positive results. Seeking professional advice for Content Marketing, SEO, and other aspects is advisable when considering rebranding. Expert consultation ensures a smooth transition for your brand.
