Branding is an important concept for many years because a brand gives your products a separate identity. It differentiates your products and services from that of competitors and this affects the market share you have. The ultimate aim of brands is to win customer loyalty after going through a rigorous process of brand awareness, brand positioning and actually selling the products.
Why Rebrand?
When brand managers work so hard on their brands for years and establish a name, why do they often decide to rebrand? The term rebranding is quite self-explanatory as managers decide to reshape the brand by changing its name, logo, slogan or any other association to position the brand differently in the minds of consumers.
While you may think that rebranding is only done by brands not performing well or having negative brand equity, a lot of well-performing brands may rebrand as well. Walmart is an example of a well-performing brand that executed rebranding and performed even better after that. This is because brands need to reshape themselves as consumer preferences and trends change.
Techniques of Rebranding
In order to improve the chances of success in rebranding, use the following techniques:
Understand Consumer Insights:
The main reason behind rebranding is to make the brand attractive and useful to consumers. Therefore, before you even decide whether rebranding is required or not, obtain as detailed consumer insights as possible and evaluate how can you serve the updated needs of consumers via rebranding.
Establish a Purpose and Have Transformed Vision:
Any activity without a purpose is a wasted effort. If you are not sure about why are you doing it and what you want to achieve, there will be negligible motivation among the team. If you have a vision for your new brand, the team is likely to work hard to achieve a common goal.
Defending Consumer Base:
The major risk in rebranding is that you may potentially lose some or many of your existing customers who have an emotional association with the current brand position. Therefore, focus on how you still value your existing customers and make the market aware of this rebranding.
Try Not to Change All Brand Elements:
If you have an already established brand but your products are only being outdated, you can rebrand by shaping a few brand elements differently rather than changing everything from the logo to slogan and name.
While these techniques may not guarantee success, it would help you achieve a smoother rebranding process.