The Learning Center

So you’re planning on rebranding your business? While this is something that may have been on your mind for awhile, it’s quite the undertaking. To change your name, logo, or maybe even the ideas behind your brand, can result in backlash and a lot of unexpected negativity. Conversely, it can be a well-received change and open up a whole new realm of possibilities for your business. 

Why Your Brand is Important 

A brand is very important and that’s why your choice to rebrand is, too. Every business needs a brand, plain and simple. Without a brand, how will anyone know who you are? Not only are brands important for marketing, but they also create emotional relationships and responses from your audience. People wear and show off brands with pride — be sure you recreate yours so it will lead your business to success. 

Figure out What Has Inspired the Rebranding

Be sure you know why you’ve decided to go through the rebranding process. With a change, you may upset loyal consumers. But at the end of the day, if it needs to happen, you should go through with the rebranding to maintain your business. Pinpoint why it needs to happen. Have you outgrown your old logo? Does your name no longer represent the company you are or want to be? What has inspired the challenge of adopting a new brand?    

Decide How Much is Going to Change

Before you begin, you’ll also want to decide how much you’re going to change. Your name, logo, colors, mission statement — will you be changing it all? Or are going for a minor update to your logo or name while keeping the same values behind your brand? Decide on the amount of rebranding you’ll be doing.  

Tell Your Partners and Stakeholders About the Change    

When it comes to a branding change, you’ll want to make sure that no one is blindsided by it. The change could definitely lead to confusion if no one’s informed and it happens suddenly. If your rebranding is too drastic, people may not even recognize you and think you are a new company. Be sure to tell partners and stakeholders that you will follow up with them once you have finalized the version of your new or updated brand, depending on what it is you’re changing. 

If you’re changing your name:

• Check to see if a trademark is available. 
• Purchase your new domain name. 
• Create an introductory post for your new name, explaining the change to your audience. 
• Update your website.
• Update your social media profiles (don’t forget about their URLs) or direct your audience to new pages.  
• Create updated email addresses, a new one to replace every old one.  
• Begin collecting print pieces to update.

If you’re changing your logo:

• Acquire all file types for their respective platforms (you’ll need different file types for print, social media, your website, etc.) 
• Create an introductory post for your new logo, explaining the change to your audience. 
• Update your website.  
• Update your social media pages.
• Begin collecting print pieces to update.

If you’re changing your mission statement: 

• Research and survey your target market to see if they think your core values align with your current mission statement. Do they see you as you see yourself? 
• Create a well thought out post as to why you’re updating/changing your company’s core values, as they are stated.  

On occasion, a company might choose to update their brand in just one way, but oftentimes all of the above are done together or in some type of combination. And this is just the beginning. While these are things to physically “check” off, the steps to coming up with a new brand are less concrete. There’s no telling the amount of time it might take to arrive at a conclusive rebranding that feels right for your company.    

The Risks of Rebranding 

There are many risks involved in rebranding. You not only have your business to think about but your current audience and their perception of the business. If you forget to take their opinions into consideration, your business could easily run into trouble. Your audience could be upset if they had a strong emotional connection to your brand before the changes. With the rebranding, you also run the risk of not being recognizable to the audience you’ve built. If you change without making them aware, they could mistake you for an entirely new company. Be sure you stay true to yourself and your audience.