Rebranding can be one of the most powerful things you can do for your business, because it lets people know that you’ve changed as a business..
What makes it so powerful? We’re going to find out.
1. There’s Been Major Changes In The Industry
Change is something you can’t avoid. As technology progresses and economic conditions fluctuate, the needs and wants of your customers will follow suit. However, change is a constant process and doesn’t always require a big response. If you needed a complete rebrand every time a new iPhone came out or every time the ASX went through some turbulence, you’d be out of money very quick.
Change only becomes relevant when it affects your business or industry in a very direct and profound way. This might be in the form of a new technology that makes your business obsolete, or a change in economic conditions that affects the price of a commodity you regularly import. In situations like this, its not always viable to hold out and hope that the conditions go back to the way they were. You may need to change how you do things and how people perceive the way you do things (i.e. your brand).
2. Your Business Has Changed Into Something Different
Ask any successful business owner about the life cycle of their business and they’ll tell you that the business they started with was radically different than the one they currently run. Like we said earlier, change is an unavoidable part of life and will undoubtedly affect your business.
For a number of years at least, it’s possible to get away with changing your business’s goals, products/services and structure without changing the brand. Businesses that can get away with this usually exist in a very niche market and have close relationships with regular customers, who are aware of the changes.
However, inevitably there comes a point where the ‘brand’ must change. Like the day in your childhood where your old clothes suddenly don’t fit your body anymore, so comes the day where your old branding doesn’t fit your business.
There are some telltale signs that this has happened:
- Your old branding looks…old. Outdated colour schemes or graphics that belong in another era usually means you could do with a change (at least visually).
- People don’t know what you do. You might notice that customers or other business owners’ perception of what your business does is out of line to what it really does.
- You see competitors who are providing less and getting more (this is a big one). If you notice that your competitors are less qualified or provide a lower quality product or service, yet still perform better than you, take a look at their branding. 9.99 times out of 10 their branding will be newer, clearer and more effective than yours.
- You read through old branding material and don’t feel a connection with it. Try and find some old ads that still have the same branding as you do. If things need to change, you’ll get a distinct ‘this isn’t the business anymore’ feeling.
3. Your Growth Has Stalled or Gone Backwards
As a business owner, it’s probably a safe bet to assume that you want your business to grow, but the word ‘growth’ might mean something different to you as it would to someone else. You might see growth in a purely financial sense, wanting to increase your profit margin over time. You might see it in a reputation sense, with a goal to be more highly regarded in your industry. Or you might see it as something completely different or a combination of many things.
Regardless of what growth means for your business, a clear sign that you might want to rebrand is that the growth has stopped or has gone backwards.
In a financial context, this is very easy to detect, as it just takes an analysis of the annual turnover over the years. In a reputation context, this may present as less customers recommending your services to friends or an increased number of complaints.
However, there doesn’t always need to be a clear-cut, objective proof for stunted growth to be recognised. Many business owners simply describe a ‘feeling’ that something is off. They begin to feel a loss in the level of passion that they feel about their business and things start to feel very monotonous in its day-to-day workings.
Rebranding is crucial to your success as a business and staying relevant in the marketplace.
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