The modern world is changing very, very quickly. It concerns literally everything – people, technologies, products, offers. Brands are no exception. They have to not only change along with the environment, but to act proactively. This is the only way to stay relevant and in demand. Moreover, this applies to both manufactured products and visualization elements. Fonts, graphics, logo – what yesterday was fresh, original and breakthrough, today is becoming banal and outdated. In order to bring back novelty, firms carry out rebranding, restyling, redesign and other activities aimed at updating the brand.
Let’s start with the basics
Very often, the word “rebranding” refers to any changes in the image of the brand. This is not entirely true, so before moving on to the main topic of the article, a little theory. Depending on the depth of transformation, there are three main types of changes.
- The first is rebranding. This is the most complex and costly type of work, which involves a comprehensive reformatting of the brand. Starting with a change in external attributes and ending with a rethinking of the values and mission of the company.
- The second is restyling. It can be compared to visiting a beauty salon. A new haircut, a solarium, hair coloring change a person outwardly, but do not affect his character in any way. The same thing happens in the process of restyling. The ideology (character) of the brand remains the same, while the external elements (corporate style, packaging, label, etc.) partially or completely change.
- The third is a redesign. The simplest option, involving the change of one or two elements. For example, a logo and font or a corporate color scheme. At the same time, the philosophy, mission, values and goals of the company are preserved. If we continue the analogy with a beauty salon, then a redesign can be compared to a manicure.
Which update path to choose? It all depends on the initial state of the brand and the tasks that are planned to be solved with the help of the identity.
10 Reasons to rebrand
Brand updating is the most common reason for rebranding, restyling and redesign. But there are other reasons as well. We will talk about them today.
Initially low quality identity
It often happens that at the start an entrepreneur is limited in funds. There is enough money only for the essentials, and the budget for branding is formed according to the residual principle. As a result, the logo is drawn “on the knee”, corporate colors are chosen based on personal preferences, and no one pays attention to fonts at all – they use the first ones that come across.
If the product is good, then the company can hold out for a while. But then problems begin, since the visual elements were chosen at random and do not meet the preferences of the target audience. And with the uniqueness of such brands, usually everything is not very good. And this means that it will not work to register a trademark and protect yourself from unscrupulous competitors.
Turning to professionals and rebranding a company or product is the best thing you can think of in such a situation. Based on the results of a comprehensive marketing research, specialists will create a corporate identity, mission, values, and philosophy of the company. And if necessary, they will develop a strategy for the development of an updated brand.
Corporate identity no longer matches the brand
An effective business cannot be static. External conditions are changing and the brand is transforming with them. It can update its values and philosophy, expand its product line and target audience, change its price segment or field of activity. After some time, the visual image ceases to correspond to the ideology or even enters into confrontation with it. To restore integrity to the brand, it is worth rebranding.
As an example, let’s recall the Yula free ads site, which was launched in 2015. Initially, its identity was focused on women. However, over the past three years, the service has grown significantly. The headings “real estate”, “cars”, “vacancies”, “electronics” were added, which led to an increase in the male audience. Since the old design limited the service and slowed down development, in 2018 the management decided to update the identity. At the first stage, we rebranded the logo, then changed the design of the application, and a little later finalized the corporate colors on the website. As a result, the morally obsolete bulletin board is a thing of the past, and it has been replaced by a modern service that is attractive to various user groups.
The visual image of the brand does not match the preferences of the target audience
Why does this happen? First of all, because of the mistakes made at the stage of brand formation. If a full-fledged marketing research was not carried out at the start of the project, then the logo and other elements of corporate identity could initially not correspond to the tastes of consumers. The second reason is entering a new market. The mentality, cultural traditions, linguistic features of different countries differ so much that this can become a serious problem. For example, in the US Federation, white is associated with purity, joy, and solemnity. But in China, it is considered the color of mourning. This means that before entering the Chinese market, it is worth doing research and perhaps updating the color scheme.
The brand cannot be patented
At the stage of business formation, few people think about registering their own trademark. But with the growth of the company, many entrepreneurs have a desire to protect the brand from misuse. And here it turns out that the logo and the name do not meet the requirements of Rospatent. For example, a trademark must be distinctive. It should not use elements of the state symbols of the US Federation, words in superlatives, profanity. And this is not a complete list of requirements.
According to statistics, Rospatent annually rejects 93-95% of applications. In this case, the fees and payment for the examination are not refundable. In order not to waste money and time, it is worth making sure in advance that the company logo does not contradict the law. And if violations are revealed at the preliminary check stage, then the only right decision will be to rebrand the name, logo or brand as a whole.
Need to distance yourself from competitors
A manufacturer can produce a truly high-quality product. But if its packaging merges with a dozen others, then the probability of acquiring this particular product tends to zero. And without buying, the consumer will not be able to appreciate the high quality. That is why it is vital for brands to stand out from the background of products of other brands. And the higher the competition in the industry, the more noticeable you need to become.
Another example. In each market direction, there are several shades, on the basis of which the corporate color scheme of companies operating in this industry is built. In the banking sector, this is a palette of blues and greens. For a decade and a half, the Alfa-Bank logo has been designed in accordance with the traditions and was a blue circle with a white letter “A”. But in 2006, a rebranding was launched, as a result of which red became the brand’s corporate color. This allowed the bank to stand out from the background of other financial institutions and strengthen its positions.
