When Is the Right Time to Rebrand?

A brand is the greatest asset for every business. It showcases who you are and brings you to the limelight. The brand acts as the first impression you leave in public. It’s the face of your business that people can initially perceive. So, When Is the Right Time to Rebrand?

Just like any other business asset, your brand needs to be well maintained. After all, corporate branding holds a vital role in building perception among customers. 

When people highly associate your brand with a particular situation or solution to a problem, that’s how you know you’ve succeeded in building a brand. 

The question is, will you keep your brand forever? Does your business need a moment to rebrand?

Before answering these questions, you should know that rebranding takes time and a long, fumbled process. You may picture yourself ending up in frustration where you’ve put so much effort knowing a possible failure. 

Rebranding requires dedication. 

If you’re planning to rebrand your business, make sure that you’re totally up for it. Once you’re in, there’s no turning back.

But when is the right time to rebrand? Here are some insights you may consider before embarking on your rebranding journey. 

1. Your Brand Name Doesn’t Reflect Your Business Vision Anymore

The first sign you may consider rebranding is when you find out that your brand name is no longer relevant to your business’ vision. This is a clear warning you should know because a brand name is vital. It displays your business as a whole. 

Your business may expand throughout the years. That doesn’t mean you can change your brand name every here and there. The clue to make a change lies in how your brand name affects the business in the near future.  

Do not let your brand name drag your business that you’ll find hard to run the company. Choose a strong name that reflects your company vision, not a certain product. This allows you to expand your business without worrying whether you’re crossing your brand line. 

2. Customer Preferences Have Changed

Like fashion, design styles have evolved over the years. What people found interesting 20 years ago may change today. That’s what happens to your brand.

In the beginning, customer preference is one of the considerations when making a brand’s name. People will resonate better with something they find in correlation to their life. 

That’s why you find old brands radiate similar energy and newer brands give off the same sense. You may notice that lately, major companies have reshaped their brands to look fresh and modern. 

The picture above is a great example of how the sans serif font has dominated many brand logos that you begin questioning yourself. Why is every brand sans serif?

The answer is simplification. 

Although the old logo design has the most beautiful, unique font that only a brand can have, it’s not applicable for mobile devices. People find it hard to remember, let alone be amused by a logo that looks complex on a smaller screen. Old brand logos are typically hard to read, given the sense of complexity that people at this age want to avoid.  

As mobile devices become inherently important for a marketing campaign, utilizing a simple brand logo can leave a good impression on the audience.   

3. You Are in a Tight Competition

If your product is something that people are looking for, there’s a chance you’ve fallen into fierce competition. You may end up being one of the ‘big guys’ or the underdog in the industry.

That’s common in business to grab market share and possibly take some more from the competitors’ audience. However, there’s also a chance where you can lose to your competitors as the competition becomes tighter. 

Every time the marketplace changes, you need to plan a better marketing strategy in order for your business to stand out in the crowd. Make sure to maintain your unique selling point so that people can distinguish your brand right away. 

After all, people’s needs change over time. Instead of rebranding your business every time the marketplace changes, you may need to improve your marketing strategy to keep yourself in the limelight. 

If a marketing campaign can no longer help your business get customers, rebranding is a good solution. The rebranding will help you build from a new start. This change may surprise people; however, they may grow curious about your business and end up looking for your products.

4. Your Business Structure Has Changed

When you first establish your business, you may have set up a well-rounded, reliable structure to help it grow. However, as your business expands, things may change throughout the years. 

Suppose you build a business to focus on serving a certain product. Apparently, that same product is no longer relevant today. Or, you find your other products have gained more traction and brought you more revenue than your main product. 

That’s when you know you need to rebrand your business.

A great example comes from Dunkin’. You may previously know the brand as Dunkin’ Donuts before they decided to rebrand in late 2018. The company shortened its famous brand name to Dunkin’ to answer the healthy eating trend when people had consumed fewer donuts. 

In addition, Dunkin’ will focus more on promoting the company as a beverage-led brand since the sales of coffee-related beverages have steadily increased. There’s also a big demand for a fast beverage chain, and Dunkin’ can now freely add other dishes to its menu.

Although it’s a risky tactic, it’s worth considering if you really need to change your business model from the start.       

5. Entering or Targeting a New Market

Market research is critical to your entrepreneurial journey. Understanding what the market needs allows you to provide the right service or product before launching in public.  

As the years pass by, the demand for your product may have changed. You may need a different marketing strategy, like using video marketing tools to attract a new audience. Or you can go all out and change your brand instead. 

Remember that entering a new market doesn’t mean changing the whole product. You may readjust to the product or service that fits your new audience’s needs. 

It’s essential to rebrand your business as you aim for a different audience. After all, the younger generation won’t be interested in the same thing their grandparents were 50 years ago. That’s why readjusting your product and rebranding your business can help attract their attention.  

6. Get Your Brand Out of Negative Light

Sometimes, you can’t fully control what will happen within your business. If your employees or even yourself make a big mistake, your company image is on the brink. 

Everything surfaces quickly on social media, and every mistake or business faux pas can land on the top headlines in hindsight. Bad news spreads like wildfire. Once it’s everywhere, fixing the company image will be a great challenge.  

When customers perceive a brand negatively, the impact is uncontrollable. People may go from giving bad reviews to boycotting your business as a result of the preventable faux pas. 

If fixing your brand’s name can no longer help you get out of this situation, you have no choice but to disassociate your company from a negative light. You can hold a press conference and explain things clearly. Or move forward and rebrand your business. 

This may seem a quick, immature move, but there’s nothing you can do except to refresh the page and cut all the relation to the missteps in the past.

7. Undergoing a Merger with Other Brands

Another obvious sign to rebrand your business is when you’re undergoing an acquisition. If you agree to merge with another brand, you need to consider making a new brand that combines two previous companies into a single entity without cutting down their original persona. 

Merger and acquisition of two or more companies will eventually need a new brand to present themselves as one. You need to work on designing the personality of your new brand needs and fit the current market. 

With a merger, not only do you start fresh to build a new entity, but you also provide more services your previous business doesn’t. The merger and acquisition will also let you have a wider target audience from both companies that you need to maintain and nurture the relationship.  

Maximize your connection with existing customers from both companies by ensuring that your brand merging won’t cause any bad changes to them. Therefore, rebranding is your chance to convince your current customers that the merging decision will help you improve your service.

8. Top Talents Aren’t Interested in Your Company

Ultimately, employees are your next most valuable asset. Having a dedicated team working with you is a blessing. 

A brand doesn’t only work for enticing customers. New talents perceive corporate branding as a critical aspect of embarking on their career journey. That’s why many top-tier candidates always look up a company brand before applying for a job. 

Good rebranding means that you’re working on the right path. When people perceive your company greatly, many will fight their way to associate with you, whether it’s by becoming customers or employees.

When you see your business is losing talents, you know it’s time to consider rebranding your business. Think of it like this: if people don’t want to work in your company, many more don’t want to buy your products.

Bottom Line

Rebranding isn’t always necessary for every company. It’s a risky move. You’ll either succeed or fail when trying to reshape your company image in public. 

However, there are a few reasons or signs that indicate you need to rebrand. Whether you’re stuck in harsh competition or your business model has changed, you know that rebranding is sometimes the only way to alleviate your business in the future. Good luck!

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Author Bio
Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).