How to avoid mistakes in rebranding and get fast calculated great results?
Any product/service has a life cycle, and even if once a product was innovative, then it can become a traditional one. It means that the product has entered the tradition of consuming some people, who usually don’t want to change this tradition.
On the one hand, it gives strength to the brand; on the other hand, it allows competitors to catch up with the brand and be ahead of the curve.
The brand requires a constant update. It must think of the future and build the ground for it. At the same time, rebranding is a good chance to attract new customers, adjust brand values and products by linking them to an overall update.
Constant changing market conditions, economic crises, new opportunities could be another trigger for a change.
In this situation, the brand loved by customers can either change its strategy and become more affordable or be supplemented with new products as good as the leading brand.
There can be many strategies, yet the main goal is a success.
Rebranding is a set of actions aimed at updating the brand to the market, adjusting values, brand impressions for current and future trends and the needs of the target audience. This is the formation and vision of the brand’s future for 5–7 years.
Step 1. Research
Like creating a new brand, rebranding begins with analytics and data collection. As a rule, the market is already formed, the competitive environment and trends are known. Rebranding seems to be a more understandable and transparent process than creating a brand from scratch. But it is important not to succumb to this apparent lightness because competitors don’t sleep and look for new opportunities.
What can you do? You must once again predict and simulate all the aspects: potential audience, trends, future possibilities. Also take into account the local characteristics and preferences of your clients, because they can vary significantly from region to region.
In the end, you should make brand mapping and “put all competitors on one sheet”. Understand what is happening with similar brands in different countries. Soak up the best experience from around the world.
- Internal and external brand audit
- Competitor analysis
- Target audience analysis
- Analysis of consumption patterns
- Analysis of the best world practices
- Find out the needs of the target audience
- Market trends
Step 2. Adjustment of the Brand Platform
The second step is to consider the need to adjust the brand strategy and brand platform.
Brand management tools that need to be adjusted or clarified:
- Positioning
- Brand vision
- Values
- Brand platform
- The rational and emotional benefits of the brand
- Motives of choice
- The visual style and character of the brand
What is a brand platform, and why is it needed?
The platform of the brand leads to a clearly defined perception, character and design of the brand. A brand platform is a vital tool for managing the brand and its manifestations.
It is a logical structure in which the rational and emotional advantages of a brand are spelt out. Parity points are the basic properties of a product or service that all players in a market segment possess.
Top of the platform is the quintessence of the brand. It is a brief description, which we try to form in the minds of consumers.
An ideal brand can always be described briefly and concisely. This is the key to success. This is the brand uniqueness. You need to shape it so that the desired image can be easily conveyed to clients’ minds.
Why do I recommend using this friendly tool?
The brand platform allows you not to guess “which design you like more”, it allows you to analyse the design language, subordinate it to logic and manage it consciously. This is especially important when we look far ahead. We must maintain the “strength and essence” of the brand and transmit them both to customers and within the company without distortion.
Step 3. Naming and Copyright
After adjustment or creation of a new brand platform, a new brand vision is formed. It can become a new descriptor or slogan. And sometimes you may need to adjust the brand name.
- Correcting the name or developing a new one
- Name development for a subbrand
- Checking the name for patent purity
- Design a tagline or brand descriptor
Step 4. Communication Strategy
The whole process of rebranding is an Imaginarium and visualisation of the future. Before proceeding with brand design and identity, it is essential to take another step — to develop a strategy for launching rebranding.
To do this, answer the following questions:
- What message will we tell different groups of our current customers?
- What message will we tell different groups of our new customers?
- In which communication channels will we broadcast the message?
- How quickly will we update the brand at all points of presence?
- Will the strategy differ in the regions, and which markets are in the first place in view of the new brand vision?
- Make a brand launch plan.
Communication strategy is a long-term program for achieving strategic goals through communication interactions with the external and internal environment.
Step 5. Identity Concept
Now we come to the visual side of rebranding. It is important not to confuse the concepts of branding and identity. You now have ready tools for modelling and shaping a new brand. You can understand what needs to be adjusted and how.
Identity is the visual communication of the brand, the aesthetic and selling side of the product. It is a visual brand world that creates emotions from contact with the brand.
As a rule, brand design is updated in one of two ways:
1. Consistent design improvement — if the brand platform follows the path of quality growth and follows its current audience.
2. New brand identity design (100% redesign) — when you need to change the language, become younger, reorient yourself to new markets and appear in an innovative way.
Identity concept consists of:
- Corporate identity concept
- Logo design
- Typography
- Corporate tonality of photo and video materials
Step 6. Redesign of Brand Corporate Identity Elements
At this step, unique design is created for each point of contact with the brand, thereby forming a world of 360 ° impressions.
It isn’t a copy-paste process. You must create an exciting and memorable brand for future customers. The most important task of the identity is to form invisible similarities in all communication channels.
All contact points, formats and advertising media have their characteristics, both technical and communicational. We don’t immediately hold a cup of coffee in our hands: we see an advertisement at first, a sign, open the door of the cafe, pay attention to the interior, see a menu, a barista, and only then we take a cup of coffee.
We talk about the unique advantages of the brand at different points of contact. Each contact point should be connected by a single visual line of design, yet at the same time, be independent.
The corporate identity of the brand always meets the needs of the segment, and it makes sense to do just what is needed:
- Documentation
- Uniform
- Transport
- Souvenirs
- Development of visual advertising standards
- Outdoor and print advertising
- Materials for sale
- Food packaging
Step 7. Spaces Redesign
Creation of visual standards for outdoor and interior design of the brand, navigation. This is another crucial way of communication between the brand and consumers. It should also be done in the same style, following the brand platform.
As I said earlier, your main task is to create a single set of brand impressions, an integrated brand world, with attention to the feelings of guests and customers. Interiors, points of sale are often key channels of this experience.
Particular attention in offline spaces should be given to aesthetics, navigation, secondary elements design, for example, signboard, interiors, pleasant things. After all, that which is not immediately noticeable is always remembered as a fantastic find.
- Moodboard of interior design
- Recommendations for interior designers
- Indoor navigation and branding of spaces
- Collaboration with architects
- Outdoor brand design
Step 8. Digital Channels Redesign
The digital realm is changing faster than the offline one. The new brand must update a website, a mobile version, a mobile application and delivery services — all this requires not just “pulling” the design on the same way, but a conscious communication approach through the prism of a brand platform.
You have a unique chance to talk about the advantages of the brand through video and non-standard approaches. Digital capabilities allow you to test the effectiveness of the design and achieve mutual understanding with customers by 99%.
- Digital brand standards
- Website Design Template
- Mobile App Design
- Digital Media Design
Step 9. Development of a New Brandbook
The development of a guidebook or a brandbook includes a description of the design of each point of contact with the rules of use. It can be made both in the form of a printed and electronic presentation and in the form of a video clip.
The purpose of the brandbook is clearly and quickly translate the brand concept and brand standards within the company and when working with contractors. The video format allows you to charge people with emotions and quickly convey brand features to them.
An ideal brand book is not a thick, expensive book — it is the essence and vision of a brand, a tool for managing the brand and its scaling, which contains just what is needed.
- Guidebook (a guide to using a single recognisable style)
- Brandbook (a guide to brand strategy including style standards).
- Video brandbook — it is convenient and effective to show to partners and employees.
Step 10. Brand Launch, Author Mentorship
The final step is the launch of the brand and the author’s mentorship by the agency.
It consists of checkup and supervision. The brand needs time to open up, so the first two or three years it should not be changed, it is necessary to follow the brand platform and the developed style strictly. It will create a valuable, sustainable image for customers and consumers.
In my practice, every quarter, I advise customers on brand development, implementation issues in unusual situations, formats. Sometimes we make adjustments to some materials and designs, understanding how they can be improved.
Okay, what about efficiency?
Branding changes people’s lives in moments of contact. Any project is building impressions for people. By changing some details, you affect people’s mood.
The beautiful, relevant and fresh design is an emotion that gives pleasure and joy from contact with the brand. Based on my own experience in the rebranding of well-known Russian network projects/large-scale companies, I can say that some businesses showed an increase of + 30% after rebrand launching.
Branding is about the future. Shape it consciously, and you will get a successful brand!
