Brand identity is extremely important when starting a new business. Branding should never be left to chance as any experienced business owner or entrepreneur can tell you; a business can build a strong brand identity only if it makes deliberate choices. Less experienced business owners and entrepreneurs can sometimes mistakenly believe that the brand identity is nothing more than the business’s name and logo and will under-invest in branding.
A strong brand identity communicates what your company does and how it does it. It also establishes trust and credibility. Your view on your visual marketing assets tells the world whether you appreciate the importance of strong visual designs and branding or not. And unless you make good choices on branding when you start your business, you may find your brand identity is undermining your efforts to grow your business.
Why/When Should I Re-brand?
There are various reasons to re-brand a company. Maybe the company is evolving and it needs to happen in order to stay competitive. Maybe you no longer love the logo or your brand aesthetic no longer adheres to your company’s values and products. You could possibly be expanding and entering a new market and your current brand is too limiting. Or maybe you realized your brand isn’t doing a good enough job. Whatever the reason may be, even the most successful companies re-brand.
Re-branding can work wonders for any business struggling to modernize, wanting to differentiate themselves from competition or even escape a less-than-ideal reputation. You will want to assess carefully whether or not a re-brand is right for you and if it is the right time. The right strategy can put new energy into your business, but it needs to complement your marketing strategy and overall business strategy. Although re-branding can be complicated and introduces more risks and costs, it doesn’t have to involve a complete overhaul. For example, you will want to make meaningful changes but you don’t have to change your company name in order to re-brand your business.
Understand your mission, vision, and values
Prior to re-branding it is crucial to clearly understand your business’s mission, vision, and values. You will want to form a solid foundation to build your new brand in order to create a successful re-brand. Consider what makes your company special, what sets it apart from your competition? Why does it exist? What values are essential? The tone and voice you use for your brand must match the message you wish to convey.
Have a re-branding strategy that works with your current brand
If you aren’t starting from a clean slate and doing a partial re-brand, you will need to be sure to take the existing brand assets into consideration as you build your new brand strategy. Any new updates you make should be consistent with the present brand elements you are keeping. The overall value of your company can be increased by implementing a consistent brand. Basically, a small update to your existing brand can help it flow better with your new branding ideas; which allows for consistency.
Consider your audience, the market, and competition
Before re-branding, do your research to be sure it coincides with your target audience, current trends, and how it will help you stand apart from your competition. Consider testing your re-branding with your customer base. Examine current trends and make sure you embrace a trend that makes sense for your company and audience. Research what your competition does to determine how you stand apart from them or how you can choose brand assets to further the gap.
Collaborate with your trusted team
Some of the best ideas and feedback can be found within the people that help grow your business every day. Your team of employees are just as valuable and important as your company’s brand, they are the faces and voices that represent your brand to your customer base. Including the voices from within your company will also assist you in rallying your employees behind a re-brand that was a team effort.
TK Accounting & Consulting 