6 Reasons Why You Need A Rebrand

April 29, 2020

Author: Georgia Townshend

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Should you re-brand your business?

There are many good reasons for a company to rebrand but boredom shouldn’t be one of them! If you’re tired of your look, it might be time to explore how a simple refresh could spark some life back into you and your customers so that you fall in love with your brand all over again.

Before you rebrand, you need to make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. So, here’s a helpful checklist to work out if a rebrand is in your future…

1. Your brand is painfully outdated.

This is probably the number one reason brands want to rebrand. If the look and feel of your brand is stale, then rebranding probably isn’t a bad call. However, there is a difference between an old logo and an outdated logo. So, if you have a well-established brand and logo you might be better off “modernising”, or you risk disconnecting your brand from consumers.

2. There’s a fundamental change in your business – could be direction, thinking, or your product/service.

Sometimes, a business gets the opportunity to expand or target a new market. If that has happened, it’s important to consider, can your new customers and prospects connect with your brand? Or does your brand still reflect your new direction?

3. You need to differentiate from your competitors.

Industries change and evolve, and savvy brands do their best to keep up. However, sometimes brands in the same industry start to think and feel the same, for example, Netflix and YouTube are both streaming/video services that use a similar red, white, and black palette. Facebook and Twitter – both blue and white.

If everyone in your industry has adopted each other’s traits, you’ll see there is little differentiation or originality.

4. You need to shed negative perceptions.

While you should NEVER think that good branding can hide bad behaviour. If you’ve faced bad press, and have taken the steps to make things right, then, and only then, a rebrand might help you move on.

5. Your brand doesn’t reflect your values.

As you likely know, people – especially millennials – want to align themselves with brands whose values they share. If your brand values have evolved or they weren’t properly articulated when your brand was created, they may not be reflected in your brand identity.

6. You’ve merged or acquired.

With new ownership or partnership comes a new era – so it makes sense to rebrand. But while it’s normal to rebrand in situations like this, this type of rebranding should be done with care – and with common sense. For example, Verizon was a successful rebrand, born from the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE. However, Yahoo was widely mocked when it was renamed Altaba.