Congratulations, you’re going through a rebrand! Queue the champagne pop….
Okay, okay, before we get ahead of ourselves here, there’s actually a lot you have to consider when planning a rebrand. There’s determining your new brand identity; there’s strategizing your announcement and go-to marketing approach; there’s making sure you have your new branding updated in every software you use, every directory you’re in. Once that’s all done, you’re definitely ready for that champagne.
There are so many pieces that go into the process of a rebrand. It’s important to have a plan in place, so the appropriate people on your team can execute related tasks. And, so your company as a whole can have a successful rebrand.
Is a rebrand really necessary?
Before you begin the process, you need to determine why you are rebranding and if it’s worth your time and resources. As mentioned in our previous blog post, “The Difference Between a Brand Refresh and Rebranding,” there are lots of reasons to rebrand, including merging with another company, change of offerings or target market, new core values, etc. In some instances, a brand refresh works better with a business’ priorities.
Once you’ve determined that a rebrand aligns with your business goals, it’s time to work on your positioning. First, research your market and ideal clients. Having a better understanding of what’s working and not working in your field will be a huge help in deciding your positioning. It’s also very important to take into consideration what your target audience responds to, so you’ll want to speak to their problems and how you can solve them.
Define your brand through messaging and creative
After you’ve compiled your research and decided on your positioning, you can now work on your new messaging and brand identity. This step will take a lot of collaboration with stakeholders and other key members of your team. Your messaging is key to who you are as a brand and what your first impression is to the world. (So, no pressure!)
A great tactic to working towards this to use StoryBrand. StoryBrand is a seven part process that guides you through clarifying your messaging, putting your ideal client first. As mentioned in our previous post, “StoryBrand: The Process,” it’s about making your client the hero, so it speaks more to their problems and how you as their guide can solve them. When you work through this process right, you’ll leave with a clear and powerful message that actually speaks to your ideal audience.
Your brand messaging is complete. Congrats, you’ve made it through a big hurdle! You can now start the creative process of designing new logos, choosing your new color schemes, picking a new tagline, etc. This is also really important to how your present yourself and as well as a part of your first impression to the world.
Make a plan & stick with it
Now that you have the foundation of your rebrand complete (your market position, your messaging and your brand identity), you need to come up with a plan on how you’re going to execute all related tasks. Because there are so many moving parts, you need to stay organized, or things will be missed.
If you have a project management tool you use, make a dedicated project or space that is specifically meant for the rebrand. This will ensure complete visibility across your organization, so everyone knows who is responsible for what and when it is due.
It also can be helpful to organize these tasks by internal/process related action items versus marketing tasks. For example, you’ll want to make sure your new brand is reflected and changed in:
- Email address
- Domain change
- Software
- Social media handles
- Signage on your building
- Mailbox/banking
- Letterheads
- Business directories
- Etc.
Whereas in your marketing, you’ll need to focus on:
- Website design
- Business cards
- Social media icons & cover photos
- Marketing & sales collateral
- Email signatures
- Etc.
All of these are instrumental in making sure you have a smooth transition to your new brand, so staying organized on assigning who’s responsible and when they’re due is essential to your plan.
Not only is it helpful to keep tabs on progress through a project management tool, it’s also a great idea to meet regularly with your team on the rebrand. This process isn’t meant to be siloed, so having that dedicated time to collaborate and take care of any potential issues is key.
Get the most out of your rebrand
The work isn’t over once you launch the new brand.
In the planning process, make sure you build out a post-launch marketing plan, so you can get the most out of your launch. You’ve put a lot of time, money and resources into this campaign, so develop a plan that will promote and keep your new brand at the top of your target audiences’ minds.
Also, don’t forget to communicate to your current clients about the change. In your messaging, make sure to speak to what your new brand means for them. This is a great opportunity to be in front of clients who you don’t talk to as much, so it’s important to be strategic about what you say.
Rebranding is a lot to do on your own, let us help
As a company that just went through a complete rebrand, we completely understand that it is a tough process to go through alone. You don’t have to though. Contact us today, and we can help you with messaging, positioning and all the creative in between.
