A brand is much more than just a name, colour scheme and a logo. It’s the embodiment of an organisation’s reputation and identity. The brand is the focus of the public’s perception of a business. In most cases, companies don’t need a complete overhaul of their brand. Often it is recognised that some change is required but there is a lot of inherent value – or positive equity – in the brand needs to be retained.
Here are some of the most common reasons that you would consider refreshing your brand:
A brand needs to do more than just generate an image for your company. It is a bold declaration that commands your target customers to sit up and take notice. If you aren’t commanding your target customer’s attention, then chances are they are slipping away, and a steady decline in sales is resulting.
If customers are just as satisfied with your products or services as they ever were, but you’re not breaking any new ground in the market, this is a sure sign that your brand has lost its mojo.
Refreshing a brand doesn’t mean torching what you have. A brand refresh can be something as subtle as making your logo more contemporary, rolling out a new slogan, or updating a colour palette. Refreshing a brand’s primary function is to send a message saying ‘we’re updating’ while maintaining your brand’s core values.
Making an impact is becoming increasingly difficult. The online environment means any business anywhere on the planet is potential competition. Having great products or services is no longer enough if customers can’t distinguish your brand from the other players in your niche.
If your brand’s image is starting to feel like just another runner in the field, then you need new and unique ways to stimulate your target customer’s interest.
This means getting to the bottom of what your company actually promises – what it stands for, what it can do today, and how it outperforms your competitors. Leveraging differentiation will not only mean improved levels of awareness and trial but will result in enhanced loyalty and customer retention as well.
Sometimes a business can be too successful! A company can grow and evolve to the point that it reaches and even surpasses the founder’s initial vision. Or, a company may need to divest itself of particular lines of business to stick to their knitting.
A change in ownership can also flag some significant changes throughout an organisation. New ownership is often the catalyst for a brand refresh.
Changes like this mean that the company needs to adjust the ‘promise’ that it makes to its customers.
Building a brand is about funnelling values and ideas into a projected image that can be sent to the market. This is a never-ending job and is incredibly complex. These ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere, so it is not uncommon for messages to become mixed and confused.
A brand refresh can be used as a license to press the reset button for the organisation. Refreshing your brand can help to realign your message to the company’s values. Aligned messaging helps deliver a consistent branded experience for your customers. If you have aspirations for your brand to be considered a trusted name in your industry, you have to provide the same, familiar experience whenever customers interact with you.
When a brand is new, and a business is just starting out, its often easier to target a small, well-defined target audience. As the brand and business grow, new audience segments and markets will need to be targeted.
Addressing a new market often requires changing your voice or image to appeal to a broader range of customers. A brand refresh can help you re-imagine what the future looks like for the company.
If your business results are not where they need to be, it may not be the fault of your product or service. Your brand no longer connecting with your audience might be the issue.
Rather than a complete overhaul, strategically refreshing your brand will enable you to reset the relevance of your brand to your audience and to provide an opportunity to modernise your image. A brand refresh will also allow you to salvage valuable equity of the brand.
So, get in touch for a consultation with one of our expert Brand Strategists and we’ll help you to revitalise your brand is whichever way you need.