What happens when a rebrand is ugly?
UGLY. That was the only word I had.
Love it or hate it, as a professional, a brand expert and designer by trade, working across multiple industries and companies, I know better than most what constitutes as an outdated, unbalanced and just plain unaligned brand that will not serve their business to best of a brands' ability.
I've seen two businesses recently rebrand their businesses. They're totally unrelated, I just happened to stumble across them. In both cases, the rebrand was so bad. It truly felt like they've gone backwards. A rebrand is meant to be better than what you had, to serve you better, to make it easier. But these just didn't look like they were serving the future of that business. I actually feel a little bit bad saying that, but it's true.
Why are people thinking that reverting back to uninspired logos, flat, boring, stock standard colours and the most basic graphic elements is actually going to be good for their business. Rebranding is a fresh start, an opportunity to expand and grow into the business you're becoming and future proofing, but these brands took 10 steps back, straight out of 2015.
If you're scared about rebranding, you shouldn't be. Because that is NOT what's meant to happen. It's meant to be a collaboration with your designer to work out the future of your business, where you want to grow and how, find out where your brand is lacking and how it can be better than the competition and make you stand out. A rebrand is meant to last you years. Not 12 months and then you hate it again.
Well, at least that's how I operate for my clients. Taking the step to rebrand is an exciting time in your business, because it means you're growing and finding your path. It shouldn't be marked by a decades old logo design.
Why were these rebrands bad? I have no idea. It can come down to a number of reasons, and this is no shade on the designer or the clients. For whatever reason (and in my educated opinion), these just didn't hit the mark for the businesses, their industry or their audience.
What should a rebrand *actually* do for your business?
Align your goals and future with your visual identity
Help you feel confident and ready to move forward with plans
Take the time and energy out of monotonous, time consuming tasks like content and website updates
Differentiate you from your competition. If you look the same, then people will only compare price, not quality
Reflect the changes you’re wanting to make in your business, around direction, target audience, products and offerings
Create a strong foundation for our to relaunch your brand
If you're ready to rebrand, do your research. Find a brand designer you connect with. Make sure you love other things they've created. But most of all, work with someone who knows what they're doing, who others have trusted, who will work with you, not against you.