Five Tips to Include in a Rebranding Strategy
If 2019 is the year that your organization or company will rebrand, here are some useful tips to include in your rebranding strategy:
Define your rebranding strategy.
For many business people, branding is all about the logo and ‘look and feel’ – colors, typography and website design. But for branding experts it all starts with the words and meaning, what we consider the brand architecture. The brand architecture is what defines your organization – it is its purpose, promise and personality. The brand architecture is what informs outward facing branding elements like logo and key messaging. You can learn more about the components of a brand architecture here. For your logo to “feel” right, it is essential to define your brand’s architecture. Make sure that before you rebrand you agree on what that means to the stakeholders.
Get to know your business better.
Think about your competitors and do a little online stalking to see the way that they talk about themselves? Is their message clear – how do they set themselves apart from other organizations. Is there consistency in their messaging? Do they have a distinct ‘voice’? After you look at competitors, take a look at your own organization – speak to stakeholders (internal and external). Ask them to tell you about the organization – is there any consistency? Finally, think aspirationally about your brand. As you develop a rebranding strategy, it must include past, present and future faces of your organization.
Hire a brand expert.
Before you get started – consider hiring an expert. Most branding and communications experts have a process and methodology that they use time and time again to help organizations define who they are and develop their brand identity (logo/mark)! The best brand experts can ask the tough question that will help translate into the right rebranding strategy for your organization. When you hire a brand expert ask them their process – ask to see it, is it documented? Also, of course ask to speak to some of their past clients to see how the process helped to facilitate the outcome.
Get buy-in and agreement.
It is important to include staff in the process, not just the executive team or customer facing team, but staff that represent all parts of your business. A proper brand roll out permeates the organization. A component of the brand architecture, like the brand promise will change most process, including things like procurement, finance and HR. And don’t forget the board! A mistake that we learned early on in our agency’s lifetime was to not include the board until we were near the end. Bad idea. It was too late. Our team had crafted final brand architecture and were already touching up the final brand identity (logo) and the board disliked our progress. It was a mistake worth learning, but a hard one nonetheless. Get buy-in early and often.
Plan for a brand rollout.
In order to finish what you started, make sure there is a plan for rolling out the new brand – a real plan that includes resources, budget and a timeline. The new brand will affect each department – it touches processes, both internal and external, materials and training. Consider the needs of each department. And if you are working with an agency – let them help you with roll out – including a strong internal and external kickoff to introduce the brand, as well as planning.
Red Bamboo Marketing is an award-winning marketing agency that has helped nonprofits, B2B and B2C organizations with their rebranding strategy and creative. Download our DIY brand workshop guide or contact us to help your company transition its brand.
