Has your marketplace changed? Have you changed? Are you ready for a strategic rebrand?
Clients usually turn to us for a strategic rebrand when their marketplace has changed or they have. Or both!
But rebranding is not something to be undertaken lightly so we thought we’d share some pointers to help you work out if you are ready for all that a strategic rebrand involves.
1. Are you ambitious?
Undertaking a full strategic rebrand, as opposed to a lighter brand refresh, is intended to be transformational on many different levels. It can reshape your strategy, goals, positioning, offer, and your culture. That’s before we’ve even started with the brand naming, architecture and identity system.
You need to be ambitious for your organisation’s future, up for the changes that may be required and ready for the positive impact that will follow.
2. Are you open-minded and open-hearted?
Opening your existing operations up to scrutiny and inviting employees, customers and partners to share their honest views requires an openness to constructive criticism and a willingness to truly listen and learn.
You need to be ready to look long and hard in the mirror and decide if you like what you see or if you want to make some fundamental changes.
3. Are you able to think differently about your marketplace and opportunity?
Sometimes a rebrand has to start with the marketplace and the opportunity and NOT with your own business. What’s changing the fundamentals? What’s the direction of travel? What are the possibilities? In 10 years time, what will be different? Look long and hard at the forces shaping the world in which you operate and try to identify how you can position your brand to be part of the positive change.
4. Are you thinking long-term?
Most rebrands need time to deliver results that trickle down to the bottom line. There is always upfront investment required and it takes patience to change the way people think, feel and act.
You need to be thinking strategically and looking for positive impacts that become evident over years not months. That’s not to say there won’t be a strong initial response, but that’s not the goal. Sustainable, fundamental and positive change is.
5. Are you diligent?
It takes careful planning to orchestrate a strategic brand review, consider who should be involved and determine what is the best way to engage key audiences. It can’t be rushed.
Any sceptics will be more supportive of a methodical approach that carefully considers existing research and allows for fresh input from across the organisation and beyond.
6. Are you collaborative?
It’s very easy for the leadership of an organisation to think they have all the answers. Experience tells us that any brand strategy handed down from ‘on high’ is less likely to resonate with people than a brand that has been created from the ground up with the input of many diverse voices.
A strategic rebrand is also a journey: the more people that travel along that road with you the better. Don’t underestimate the value of involving people at each stage and letting the story evolve through creative collaboration that involves many different perspectives.
7. Are you willing to say ‘no’?
Inevitably the scrutiny of your current organisation will identify some activities or behaviours that are at odds with your future business and brand strategy. It’s important to ask what you will stop doing in order to make room for new initiatives and ways of working.
People won’t take you seriously until you have demonstrated that you are willing to make tough decisions and be clear about future priorities.
8. Are you willing to invest in your own people first?
Too often clients think a rebrand is all about their external positioning and profile. But we think differently. We believe the primary audience for any rebrand is your own people and they need to feel fully vested in the process.
We put the emphasis on involving your team at every level and turning them into passionate brand advocates who will share and promote the brand message to a wider audience and bring our service personality to life through everything they do.
9. Are you social?
All brands need to embrace a complex world of online and offline communications. Being willing to talk to people, face-to-face, in one-to-one conversations, in large forums and through a myriad of online and social media platforms requires a gregarious, outgoing, social personality. You have to be both interested and be interesting!
10. Are you brave?
Change is disruptive. Not everyone will be positive. You need to have courage to lead from the front and set out the rationale for the changes being made. Successful brands inspire people with a vision of the future that delivers value on many different levels.
Take a deep breath and dive in.
See more pointers from our strategic brand experts.
Watch the video ‘Are you ready for a strategic rebrand?’ here.
Has your marketplace changed? Have you changed? Think you are ready for a rebrand?
Call our MD and Founder Rebecca Battman for an informal chat on 01926 678368 (rebecca@rblteam.com)