What is a Rebrand?

More than just freshening up the look and feel of your brand touchpoints (a Brand Refresh), a Rebrand sets out to completely change how a business is perceived.

There’s different reasons for considering a Rebrand rather than just a refresh. Perhaps you’ve developed a dodgy reputation, new competition is forcing you to adapt or your target market just doesn’t seem to connect with you anymore. What can you do? Stick with the old, do a visual refresh or reinvent yourself and Rebrand. Can you recover with your current audience, or do you need to find a new audience? What’s the best way to reach this audience? What are the best touchpoints, marketing channels and ideas to change people’s minds about you?

When a business decides to Rebrand, it is usually the result of its objectives having changed so fundamentally that their Brand Strategy needs to change too. When wholesale changes are required to steer the ship in an all new direction, a Rebrand rather than a brand Refresh is where you’re headed. With a Rebrand, a business is really saying, we’re doing things completely differently to how we did them before. Take a new look at us. See us differently. It requires vision that inspires people and a commitment from everyone in a business to ensure customers see the brand in an all new light.

This might involve a new name for the business… – (think Brad’s Drink becoming Pepsi or Backrub becoming Google or one of ours clients – The Exchange Group becoming Marketplacer). Done right, a Rebrand can breathe new life into a brand that is struggling to inspire their own team – let alone potential customers.

A new Brand Name or new Brand Mark is not always a necessity for a Rebrand. A truly successful Rebrand is steeped in updating a company’s culture, positioning and goals and having that accepted by its target markets. Here’s a couple of examples… no name or brand mark changes required.

Burberry

Burberry was both outdated and old school (not in a good way) and was also at risk of being considered ‘gangwear’ due to its popularity with UK football hooligans. New, smart product design that mixed modern, classic and sexier looks and campaigns featuring high-profile celebs like Emma Watson and Kate Moss, turned the ship around from frumpy to fabulous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1OwrDmO8mY

Old Spice

Another daggy old brand that any self-respecting man under the age of 70 would not have looked at twice (since the 70’s) has transformed. Its name and logo remained unchanged but it changed the way people saw it thanks to Repositioning of the brand to connect with a new younger target audience. The clever ad and smart use of social media communicated this Rebrand in all the right ways. Smell like a man, man.

They say that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome is the definition of madness… so while Rebranding isn’t simple, cheap and it can’t be done overnight, if your brand isn’t working, something needs to change. Begin with your business and brand strategy, and decide if a brand Refresh can steer the ship in a new direction or if it’s going to take a full Rebrand. And if you’re not sure, give us a call.