Five signs you’re ready to rebrand your business.
A lot of business owners are hesitant to take that leap because they’re worried of the adverse affects of what changing their logo, colours, website, packaging etc might do. The most common being that their audience won’t recognise them anymore. Sound familiar?
These are all legitimate and valid concerns and ones that can’t be taken lightly when considering a new direction for your brand. But there a few key factors to reflect on when you feel a little stuck about what to do. If any of these apply to you, then you’re most likely ready for a rebrand.
But it’s not as scary as you might think! A fresh new brand could be exactly what your business needs! Your current identity might be holding you back from hitting that monetary goal, or stopping you from expanding, or limiting your brand awareness and therefore potential customers!
Hiring a trusted designer whose values are aligned with yours and your business is the perfect opportunity to hand over the reins and take your business where it needs to go. Having a professional on your side will help ease the transition to a new brand identity!
So, let’s jump straight into it. Here are the 5 reasons why you might be ready to rebrand your business.
01. You only have a logo
A single logo is not your brand. A single logo doesn’t represent your business. A single logo is doing your business a disservice. Only having a logo (and possibly a DIY one) is like only having a fork in your cutlery drawer. It might seem like enough, but when you need to cut something, you can’t! It’s the same with your brand. You can’t use your one logo for every single purpose. It’s just not how it works.
An effective and versatile brand utilizes a number of different logo variations, patterns, colours and more to target and resonate with their ideal audience. At a minimum, we always suggest three logo variations, ensuring maximum usability and legibility across all platforms. A little bit of consistency is better than none.
And your business deserves more than just a logo!
02. Your brand is no longer aligned to your business
This is a big one. Your business may have grown, shifted, pivoted during COVID or has simply outgrown your current logo. Your values might have changed and are no longer aligned to your current brand. There are a number of reasons why a brand is misaligned and unfortunately, it’s one of the easiest things to spot. There is a mismatch of information, of ideas, of values and is overall quite confusing for the audience (which is not what we want).
An aligned brand is crafted through a custom brand strategy which zeros in on the nitty gritty details of your business like your target audience, audience profiles, mission, goals, tone of voice, colour theory, competitor analysis, industry trends and so much more. This becomes the foundation of your business as a whole and informs your visuals, ensuring an aligned and intentional brand.
03. You’ve had your current brand for a while
A well-designed brand doesn’t rely on trends, and if its foundations are in brand strategy, then your brand should be sticking around for a while. A lot of businesses that have had the same logo/brand make tweaks throughout the years to keep it modern and fresh, without losing that connection.
However, if you’ve had your DIY brand/logo for a while, then it’s time to freshen things up! Having an old brand that isn’t aligned to your business reflects poorly and can steer customers in the direction of your competitors. Eek – definitely not anybody wants!
You should take this time to reflect on your business, your audience, your goals and truly understand where and how your brand currently fits into this overall view. If there’s a disconnect, it’s time for a rebrand!
04. Your target audience is no longer resonating with your brand
This stems from a number of things. This happens when you’ve got a single logo, your brand is no longer aligned and therefore not resonating with anything or you’ve had your current brand for a while and your audience isn’t into it anymore.
A misaligned connection between the trinity – audience, business and brand – will be the downfall of all your hard work. Everything you’ve built will be undone if you stop resonating with your audience. They are the backbone of a business and should be your priority when strategising your brand. Genuine connections with your target audience are what converts them into paying customers and this key fact should not be overlooked!
That is why a rebrand might be on the cards. Let me go on record by saying that us designers are not here to execute the vision you have for your brand. We are here to bridge the gap between you, your business and your audience. Ultimately we take everything into consideration and use this as our foundation to begin crafting aligned and strategic visuals that will transform your business.
05. Your business goals have changed
This relates back to point 2. Your goals may have changed, maybe you’ve updated your offerings, maybe you’ve shifted the products you stock, maybe you just want something different – downsizing or upsizing. Your brand should reflect where you are now and be flexible enough to expand and grow as your business does. Once your goals change, you need to reevaluate everything in your business. It’s a total shift, so you also need to be prepared to revamp your visuals in order to effectively resonate and target specific audiences.
If one or all of these points accurately reflect where you are in your business right now, then it might be time to reconsider your branding. Great branding does wonders at increasing awareness, revenue and conversions. Your branding is an investment, so if this sounds like something your business might need, get in touch and let’s chat all about it.