A re-brand is an important time for any business, no matter how large or small. It marks a new era for the company, a blank sheet of paper on which to redraw and reinvent the image and ethos of the company and hopefully, bring in new customers and greater financial success.
Such a crucial project requires a great deal of planning and preparation. Unless you have a limitless budget for web design, branding consultants and digital marketing specialists, you will only really get to do this once – so you had better be sure that you’re heading in the right direction.
Here are the 5 crucial questions you must answer, and have really strong answers for, as you start your re-branding process:
- What are my company’s core values? Your brand’s core values will inform everything from your web design to your social media content, so it’s important to nail these down at the start. Are you quirky and fun but with ethical, eco-friendly values, or perhaps simple, cutting-edge and modern?
- What are our USPs? What makes us different from our competitors? As well as knowing what you stand for, you also need to know what makes you stand out. Be honest about what you offer that your competitors don’t – if you draw a blank, you need to find or create a USP.
- What does our branding say about the service/products we offer? Consider the example of technology giant Apple, which keeps its branding very simple, clean and minimal. This simple branding and clean graphics suggests that its products are easy to use and straightforward, and that the user experience is no fuss, no hassle. With this example in mind, think about what your branding conveys about what you do.
- How does our new branding resonate with customers? The only real way to find out whether your new logos and branding messages have an emotional impact on customers is to test it extensively. Set up some focus groups to test out different options, and make use of social media as a testing ground too – you can even get your customers involved in choosing the new branding, as making them feel part of the ‘journey’ will help them engage more with the brand.
- Will our new branding stand the test of time? It’s very tempting to hop aboard a cutting-edge trend in web design or branding, but it can be risky too. What’s red-hot right now may be old hat in a couple of years, meaning you may have to shell out again for yet another re-brand. You can future-proof your branding and your website by incorporating the latest trends in small ways into a classic, timeless design, so you can easily change and update it without having to do a complete overhaul.
What other questions do you think it’s crucial to answer before a re-brand? What do you think is the most important element in successful branding?
