When to Consider Rebranding (and How to Do It Right)

Rebranding a company or product isn’t easy and shouldn’t be undertaken lightly. The marketplace is strewn with stories of rebranding disasters (remember Qwikster by Netflix, anyone?) That said, there are times when rebranding is necessary, and many organizations have managed the process successfully. Getting rebranding right requires meticulous planning and deliberate execution.

The following five steps will help you recognize when change is needed, develop a strategic game plan, and successfully launch your reimagined brand .

Step 1: Clearly Understand Why

As you consider a rebrand, it’s important to think about why you want to do it and make sure that the benefits outweigh the risks. There are few instances when rebranding makes sense:

• The company, product, or service has outgrown the old brand. Is your primary product or service different than it was when you created the original brand? Has your customer base expanded or grown considerably outside what it used to be? All good reasons to rebrand.
• The company has experienced a serious negative event and it’s time to shed the bad memories/association. When a company’s brand gets damaged due to a serious problem like a significant product recall or liability in a lawsuit, it might be time to start over with a rebrand.
• The company has gone through a merger, acquisition, or similar reorganization. Similar to the first reason, if the company has changed dramatically, it may be time to shift so the brand clearly expresses the expanded direction. It’s important to note, however, that not every acquisition or expansion requires a rebrand, only when it’s significant.

The decision to rebrand should be based on both quantitative and qualitative considerations, but it really comes down to this: Is your current brand inhibiting or limiting growth? That question should be answered with analysis from every part of the company, from marketing to the CFO’s office (they can help quantify the problem).

Once you clearly understand the reasons to rebrand, clearly document them. Those reasons will serve as your anchor for the entirety of the rebranding effort.

Step 2: Develop a Creative Brief

The next step in the process is the most critical. Once you’ve decided to move forward with a rebrand, create a document that will serve as your roadmap. Key elements of the creative brief include:

• Defining and documenting key stakeholder profiles: Customers, suppliers, investors, the market at large…it’s critical to understand exactly who these people are, what will resonate with them, and what will turn them off. For a small company, this might be a day or two whiteboarding session. For a large company, it might involve months of market research and focus groups.
• Reviewing the competitive landscape: What are key competitors doing? What messages are they using? What are your company’s differentiators, and where do you face risk? Your new brand must communicate your unique strengths and navigate around weaknesses.
• Determining the balance between the brand and the product or service: A powerful brand is much more than an amalgamation of features or benefits. It’s a promise that you make and keep to your stakeholders every day. At the same time, it’s important that your brand effectively communicates what the company does. Figure out what that balance looks like for your company, document it, test it, and revise it until it’s right.

Step 3: Rebrand

This is where the rubber meets the road. Using the creative brief as a guide, it’s time to get to work. Many companies will utilize outside expertise to create a few major concepts to choose from. If you work in a small company and don’t have the resources to hire a big firm, work with internal resources but take the same approach: Let your creative team run with new ideas and create a few options to choose from. The concepts may include the company name, logo, colors, and key messages like the tagline, mission statement, differentiators, and elevator pitch. Every company is different and the elements you need may vary from that list, but the key is to review several comprehensive concepts and settle on one.

Some organizations will test two or three concepts with a customer focus group, investors, board members, or other stakeholders. Such testing is generally helpful to ensure a successful rebranding, but keep in mind that final authority rests with the Chief Marketing Officer and the marketing team. Don’t let too many opinions dilute or alter the core brand promise and message.

Once the concept is decided upon, the creative team can build out the full suite of marketing assets, including the website copy and design, digital media, and printed materials.

Step 4: Develop the Rollout Plan

Ideally, this step takes place at the same time as the rebrand. This is when marketing and senior executives think through how to best introduce the new brand to the market. This is a big task, and it should be tailored to the stakeholder personas. Just a few things to think about when defining the rollout strategy:

• Pace: Will the rebrand be rolled out in one moment or gradually (like Google used to do)? Most rebranding efforts are distinct events that allow the company to make a clean break, but that may not be ideal for your organization.
• Advertising: For a big company, this might include everything from TV to print to digital. For a smaller company, it might mean YouTube, Facebook, and email. The key is to explain to the stakeholders (customers being the most important) why you’re rebranding, what it looks like, and what it means to them.
• Public relations: It could be just a press release, or it could be a full media blitz that includes interviews with the CEO. The media can be a critical asset or a liability, depending on how the strategy goes.
• Internal communications: The internal audience is extremely important. Everyone, from accounting to operations to finance, needs to understand the rebrand and the key talking points. The accounts receivable rep is just as likely to interface with a customer as the salesperson is, and everyone needs to be on the same page.

Like everything else, the plan should be clearly laid out, broadly distributed, and everyone should be on board. 

Step 5: Execute!

After all that work, now it’s time to go live. Deliberately implement the plan, but keep that old military adage in mind: No plan ever survived first contact with the enemy. Don’t be afraid to tweak the plan and adjust as needed. Listen to the customer throughout, and document both positive and negative feedback. Communicate what you’re hearing back to the internal teams, so they’re prepared to address concerns and criticism.

Rebranding isn’t an easy exercise, and it’s often fraught with risk of alienating old customers and losing recognition. But when done right, a rebrand can offer your company an opportunity to grow far beyond the confines of the old brand. Like all things, that success or failure will depend on how it’s done.