It’s important to distinguish between a brand refresh and a rebrand.
Depending on what your business and brand goals will determine which is the best for you.
Let’s Debunk 3 Important Myths
“Isn’t a brand just a logo?”
Your logo is part of the bigger picture. A logo is a symbol of what your brand stands for.
“Branding is just marketing, right?”
Branding is the foundation for how your business is perceived, while marketing is how to communicate with your customers.
“Branding is a waste of money”.
Branding is about more than just throwing dollars at a marketing campaign. When you have a proper brand strategy it includes taking advantage of all of the opportunities you have to create a connection with your customers.
It’s important to highlight these misconceptions because each of these plays a part in your rebrand or brand refresh.
Is a brand refresh right for my business?
It’s important to start at the end and engineer your brand strategy based on your business goals.
An important question to ask yourself is “What is your exit strategy and why are you considering it?” Are you looking to sell your business in 10 years or perhaps considering handing it down as a legacy brand? It’s important to work on building brand equity since building brand value takes time.
Each of these factors plays a vital role in determining whether it’s time for a rebrand or refresh.
You might consider doing one or the other if you find yourself considering one of the 6 situations. Consider these six situations to determine which option is right for your business goals:
- You want to reposition yourself in the market.
- You are preparing for a merger or acquisition.
- You have a negative brand perception, and it’s time to clean up your reputation.
- You want to revitalize the brand and show growth.
- There have been significant changes to the business model.
- It is time to expand or diversify your business. Expansion or diversification
3 Reasons to consider a rebrand
Reason 1 to rebrand: Marketing repositioning
If you’re looking to make a shift in your business strategy, expand into new markets, update your target market by looking for new buyers or you are looking to communicate a competitive advantage showing that you’re making big changes, this is a reason to consider rebranding.
Reason 2 to rebrand: Mergers and acquisitions
If you are looking to position yourself to sell your business or acquire another business, this is the time to rebrand. There are several reasons you’ll want to rebrand that go beyond a logo redesign. Mergers and acquisitions for a brand will require you to consider the cultural impact on the brand, the alignment of both brands and an opportunity to move away from any previous negative associations.
Reason 3 to rebrand: Negative brand reputation
One major variable that will determine your brand equity is your reputation. You might have noticed from time to time a banner announcing “Under New Management” in an effort to rebuild the brand’s credibility. In an effort to rebuild trust from a damaged reputation or continued bad customer experience rebranding is a viable and necessary strategy.
3 Reasons to consider a brand refresh
In most situations, you don’t need a complete rebrand and a refresh will better suit most businesses.
Reason 1 to do a brand refresh: Revitalize your brand
Your target audience and loyal customers want to see that your brand is evolving, growing, and putting energy to continue to deliver a great brand experience as much as you are delivering a great product or service. This doesn’t mean you have to perform a complete overhaul but a well-thought-out brand strategy would typically include an update to the logo, marketing materials, improvements to operations, and a website update, just to name a few.
Reason 2 to do a brand refresh: Updated business model
If you’ve made major changes to your business such as offering new services or you’ve made major improvements this is a great time to communicate those changes with your current customers and to target new buyers that overlooked you before. One effective way to do this is to simply improve your communications strategy within your brand strategy. A refresh doesn’t have to cost you a ton of money if it is well planned out and aligned with your operations.
Reason 3 to do a brand refresh: You’re growing your brand
If your exit strategy is to grow and expand your brand I would highly recommend doing not only a brand refresh but also using this as an opportunity to develop an expansion strategy. For example, if you are looking to create a franchise there are a number of action items to consider when it comes to maintaining your brand integrity as you expand.
Case study: Dicks Wings
At Fisher Agency, we were challenged with performing a rebrand for the Jacksonville-based franchisee Dick’s Wings & Grill. They wanted something modernized while keeping the integrity of the brand personality. This is one reason it’s vital to work with branding experts because a logo is not just a mere logo anymore when there are a lot of variables that go into a brand redesign.
We successfully delivered this brand refresh to Dick’s Wings & Grill after several months of working closely with their marketing team and CEO. We are excited to see this new brand identity on their Jacksonville locations as they continue to expand and grow with new franchisees across the state and possibly the country.
If you’re wondering if it’s time to refresh or rebrand and expert insight reach out to us at Fisher Agency so we can consult with you, guiding you in the right direction.
