This is a guest post by Sam Taylor, a senior writer and product manager from a trusted hosting reviews company.
Oftentimes a company will appear on the market and after years of its existence, a name change occurs. Not only is there a change in the name, but the company’s overall design, image, products or services takes on a complete new look. This is known as “re-branding”.
Re-branding is associated with a business that is trying to disassociate itself from a negative image as a result of an occurrence that has happened to the company or its product.
How important is re-branding?
The new image and the great impact that has been placed on the company’s product representation sends out a complete new message about who they are and what they represent. It is very important that the company’s identity be handled with some degree of sensitivity and care so as not to run old customers away and at the same time attract new clients.
Although there is a new look, strategies must be devised so that the customer’s attention instead of being drawn away by the changes, is refocused on the product and how it can best serve their needs. After all, it has to be a marketing approach that presents a product with great qualities, competitive pricing, value, and distribution that is efficient. This will ensure that the brand remains at the top of its category.
Why and when should a business consider re-branding?
Changes are taking place on a daily basis that include competition, consumer’s need, distribution, and above all technology. Therefore, it only makes sense to continually look for ways to modify and better the brand of product or service with new perspectives and ideas. Other reasons why a business should consider re-branding are:
1. Lack of customer interest
Reasons why a customer’s interest may be slacking include general image, customer service style, communication strategy, product design or an emotional message the brand is communicating. At this point, the company should analyze competitors with higher rankings, making sure the brand is unique enough that it differentiates its service or product from theirs.
2. Decline in sales
Your sales will be a good indicator. Bring in some “fresh eyes” to help determine if it is time to clean the slate and start anew. Too often internal company traditions, such as staying true to the original founder’s perspectives, can be an obstacle in moving the company forward. A new view can give a different outlook on what is working and what is not. There are companies that are known for sending their products out into the market and having taste test demonstrations set up to find out which product the customer preferred, the old or the new.
3. Ineffective brand name
Thought and research should be given to a brand name before placing it on the market. You have to look ahead at what changes might take place, customer’s opinions as well as attitudes, and the state of the environment years down the road. Analyze the international market; some brand names are not suitable or may be offensive to another language or group of people. Be thorough in your research by checking every avenue that might possibly affect and decrease sales because of the name that has been chosen to represent your product or service.
Elements that should be changed
1. Opinions
Increase the appeal of your service or product that will change the opinions of the mainstream. The new perception based around the brand’s name should persuade consumers to forget the old and turn their attention to the new.
2. Brand’s Name
This is not about what is said about a company, but rather its reputation and how it is represented. It defines who the company is, the values that they hold, and what products or services it offers.
3. Brand’s Logo
Changing a logo involves more than just replacing one font by another. One should keep in the mind when making the change why the changes are needed, the customer’s view, and the longevity of the logo. In addition, keep the changes to new design at a minimum and as close to the original as possible.
4. Image
When the image of a company has been tarnished, then it is necessary to revamp the good name and appearance by distancing itself from the negative images of the past. Negativity does not only damage the image, but also the good reputation and profitability of the company.
5. Marketing Strategy
Many companies do not understand the importance of developing a backup strategy to support their brand. Without a clear plan it is impossible to define a company. The best results can be accomplished by investing time and money in cultivating a clearly developed and effective marketing strategy.
6. Advertising
Advertising and promotion of the new brand is what gains the attention of the public. The planning and designing of an effective advertising campaign promises positive results. It must be a campaign that is affirmative, mind changing, and straightforward, calling the attention of people to the product or service that is offered.
Advertising through different forms of media can be effective if it is handled correctly. A lot of money is always behind the scenes of advertisements and it can make or break your campaign. Radio plugs and commercial ads brings high chances of getting your new brand to be noticed again and of course, ads will always be useless if everything on it isn’t true.
Avoid false advertising. You do not want to generate misleading expectations or disappoint your customers while you are redeeming your product or service and trying to get back into the spotlight.
Integrating a business web hosting service to update or design a website centered on the new brand is a also a good strategy to have your new branded product/service achieve an online presence. It will always be hard to establish your brand but you’ve got to start somewhere and having an innovative website for your product can be a good start.
Whether it is a long standing or a new brand that has graced the red carpet of the marketplace, when it comes to making a change for whatever reason, sensitivity must be given to the action that is being taken. The vision of the change must be broad enough, that it leaves nothing and no one out; receptive enough, that it considers all whom it may affect; and simple enough, that no one is left with any questions.
About the Author: This article was written by Sam Taylor, a senior writer and product manager from a trusted hosting reviews company HostingObserver.com, provider of best quality webhosting reviews and web development resource.
REBRANDING VIDEO:
Do you need to rebrand or do you just need more visibility? Check out this video:
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Interesting article, it’s definitely something that should be taken seriously if you want to have a successful rebrand.
For big and well known companies, rebranding will be a long process. It also depends on the depth of their rebranding. That’s why it’s very important not to taint our image and reputation…it takes time for people to forget the “bad” things that we do and it’s hard to bring back their trust in us.
In acually Rebranding is the combination of something like create a new name,design, symbol & manymore.its done only for differtiated (or to create a new) postion in the mind of users & Competitors……Rebranding wud be must for any organization when the company not survive in market..the company revenue going down day by day………..
Rebranding can change the map of any company .
Rebranding is such a delicate and complicated thing to do. I’m not sure if I had the courage to do so, if the brand is already accepted and has an extensive fan base.
I think I’d dare to do it only if something really disastrous happened.
Although it’s not a very good thing for your company to happen. I do think it is a great moment to reinvent yourself and make the company say what you really want to, in stead of what it formed to when growing from a small company to a bigger one.
I would love to get hired as a consultant to re-brand a big company, that would be really interesting.
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Re-branding is a good way to freshin’ things up it’s can also be a good way to make your audiences comeback because they feel the looks are new to them even though the brand is still the same it’s like renovating a house or refurbishing most of the people wants new even in their own home it’s in our blood specially if we can afford it.
Yeah rebranding really is a thing that happens every so often no matter what, regardless of it “its needed” or not; often the new design will be inferior to the classic one, but its done just to “shake things up” and present the consumer with something new and different, just for the sake of it.
I thought to rebrand a company was a negative thing?
It can be. But sometimes things have to change, and if you’re smart you won’t lose your old customers but gain many new ones.
Good Post by Sam!
I agree with Kristina. Re-branding can actually take place little by little, strategically and as a way to evolve rather than change.
Hello, Sam!
Whether a company is doing good with business or not, it still needs re -branding. Some major companies like Coca Cola, for instance, do it very carefully-they constantly change their logo to be more appealing and it is hardly noticed, as they are always taking small steps with it. Minor changes-mega effect!
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oohhh..
i like it..
Great article. It’s important to consider rebranding if your company name doesn’t include what you actually sell. For the sake of your website’s SEO, this is now necessary for business success.
I think the importance of rebranding has increased drastically over the years, with all the new things coming up and increase of competition. It’s important to keep up to date on all the facets of your business, times have changed. Rebranding is a bit risky though, we should do all the research needed to make it work or else we just wasted a ton of money. It’s a make or break thing, really.
I remember Gap attempted to change its logo, I could no longer remember the exact reasons why they did so (probably re-imaging or something like that) but it generated a lot of negative reactions. Why fix something that ain’t broken? And the new logo they wanted to use was so bland, boring, dry, you name it. Good thing it didn’t push through.
These changes are typically aimed at the repositioning of the brand/company, sometimes in an attempt to distance itself from certain negative connotations of the previous branding, or to move the brand upmarket. However, the main reason for a re-brand is to communicate a new message for a company, something that has evolved, or the new board of directors wish to communicate.
Hi,
This is a good strategy of company to boost their sales or to attract new people for their product. Very interesting article! Thanks.
Regards
Andy
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It is part of good business to re brand. The management do decision by keeping in mind the behavior of market and customers trend.
I love the coke preference..It is a picture of re banding.. It is same product same company but it looks new..Thanks a lot for sharing this article.
Re branding is a good thing for every business but should do a lot of research to know if re branding will give them more .
great read but rebranding costs allot of moneey and sometimes it doesn’t pay of
Good read! But have you noticed some companies that are afraid to re-brand their products? They are afraid that people won’t notice them anymore, which is the opposite of what re-branding can do for them.
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Rebranding is an amazing one, nicely shared good post, thanks….
The example makes sense of why it is important to consider rebranding. In the present Coca Cola is one of leading soda company, no wonder that rebranding also incorporates good marketing strategy more aggressive aadvertising all over the world.
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Rebrandong can be both the last way out for an unprofitable company and for a company that stalls in stagnation. Anyway, rebranding gives you an opportunity to create a new image for your product or company without failing to provide the product the people know. Even profitable companies should make some changes in their image to show that they develop with the market.
Yep. That’s called keeping it fresh. As with all things, people grow numb to advertising and given enough time, they don’t even see it anymore.
For some reason, our brains are wired to filter out noise which is mostly what advertising is.
What would really be funny would be to see Coke put the Cocaine back in.
Now that would stir the pot!
Mark
Branding is the most valuable asset in the business world be it a small or medium-scale corporations. Branding must be constructed by considering various aspects that really an advantage because if the branding of the product is deceiving the public then it becomes counterproductive to the effectiveness and efficiency of the business.
Rebranding is needed if there is a fundamental change of product and production concept at the company. but if not followed by changes that the rebranding will also be less useful.
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The purpose of re-branding is to bring the attention of people and increase the sales of product or service. I totally agreed here that you need to perform all these steps with complete care or else it may force your existing customers to leave your company.
Hi, Sam! Your article made good points about re-branding. This is a good strategy of company to boost their sales or to attract new people. Of course it will depends on customer’s feedback. Like that pic, I think their sales will go down since I found it pretty lame. LOL.
Change should be constant to keep everything in your business fresh and new. Customers always love something new or something they haven’t seen yet. When branding and re-branding your product or business, the points you mentioned here are all true. There are various reasons why there’s a need to re-brand. Even famous and mostly loved products and items changes its appearance and packaging regularly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but still, the re-branding goes on until changes are seen in the increase of sales and customer response. Thanks for this post. I learned a lot.
Even bloggers also consider re-branding their blogs.
Yes, you’re right. But only time when its desperately needed. It is not easy to re-brand knowing the possible risks but you know…blogger would go for the gold no matter what.
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A lot of companies really stuff this up… especially because they completely change their image.
ANZ (a bank in Australia) recently did a re-brand (last couple of years.. you can see the before and after here –
While the logo has been hotly debated (because of the blatant play to Asian cartoon stereotypes in their attempt to target the Asian market), they have at least maintained a continuing theme between the old and the new logo.
For me that is the most important thing… the continuation of the theme.
Hi Sam,
You’re mentioning good points about branding and the necessary mindset required for the companies.
I’ve seen many examples of low-scale re-branding for bad business-polices, for taxes and other motives that took, almost, a new brand to fix those problems.
Today, we must add to the equation all the changes on the social sites and how they manage the opinions of the customers online about their new-brand, especially on negative cases, that still prefer the former brand or product 🙂
Cheers,
Gera
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I liked the picture of Coke/New Coke. It is the perfect example of a re-branding mishap.
Branding is something that takes long time and a lot of effort for a company to achieve. Like you pointed out it is something that should not be undertaken on a whim, but only with a very-very good reason and some market research to back up the new brand.
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I’m with you too Steve, I loved the picture reference to the Coke/New Coke re-branding. But think about it, was it really a mishap? It really put the emphasis on Coke and how we as the consumer wanted the “old” Coke back, hence Coke Classic. Coke’s re-branding worked, it just made us more aware of an old friend, the Coke that we remembered from our youth. It all worked out for Coke in the end, they’ve been back on top ever since. It’s something that Pepsi hasn’t been able to do.
I look at rebranding like those makeover shows. At first the brand looks boring and real bland, there’s nothing that catches the eye. Then you take it backstage to give it some modern style clothes, a lively haircut, and a little bit of makeup, and you have a completely different looking brand. Same company, same products, but it looks new and fresh.
Great article. It’s important to consider rebranding if your company name doesn’t include what you actually sell. For the sake of your website’s SEO, this is now necessary for business success.