Since its inception in 1850, Peugeot has rebranded its image eleven times– the most recent being a year ago. For most businesses, rebranding is a unique way of refreshing and simulating the various business needs in tandem with the evolving market. Global multinationals such as Peugeot consider rebranding as a technique to help them remain relevant in a volatile market.
Whether your business is new or you have been around for a while, a change can often feel as good as a rest. But when do you know that it’s time to consider a corporate rebrand?
Signs That Your Business Needs a Corporate Rebrand
Change while good, is often expensive. However, for your business to remain relevant, there are certain costs you must be willing to incur. Rebranding is among such critical costs. The problem, however, is that most businesses don’t know when to consider a rebrand. Here are common indicators top look out for.
1. Your Brand is out of Tune with the Market
Every year, millions of new entrants disrupt global markets with new products and ideas. Regardless of how successful your brand is, it’s inevitable that you might grow out of tune with the market as demands change. An outdated brand can be misleading and eventually fail to accurately represent your business and the products you offer.
When your markets start to shrink and your sales curve dips/nosedives, it could signify a stale branding strategy. It takes rebranding to recement your brand’s position in the market. Rebranding ensures that your branding campaign represents the caliber of products you offer and helps push sales.
Read More: How To Conduct A Brand Audit
2. Differentiating Yourself from Competitors is Becoming Increasingly Challenging
Even the most unique business concepts often suffer from imitation. When your brand is undifferentiable from your competitors, you risk ceding your competitive edge. Even if you have a particular brand message that reflects your products, it may be hard to convince potential customers that your brand is different from other brands with a similar branding approach.
Branding is about recurrently achieving competitive differentiation. Once you realize that it is impossible to differentiate your brand from other competitors, it could be a perfect time to rebrand.
3. Significant Corporate Structure Change (eg. Acquisition)
If your business resolves to merge or proceed with an acquisition agreement, it may be prudent to rebrand. Rebranding assists companies in assimilating into new organizations with ease. Before the acquisition or the merger, your business may have built a reputation behind a specific brand narrative.
Rebranding informs and reassures your customers about the change and its impact on quality delivery. Without proper rebranding after a merger, it’s easy to lose some loyal customers along the way. Sometimes, two brands merge and create something new and fresh, which may be unknown in the market.
Under such unique scenarios where mergers and acquisitions happen, it may be helpful to plan for a rebranding campaign. This helps keep your customers on the loop about the changes.
4. Offering a New Product Launch
Deviation from the norm is often part of a successful business marketing strategy. Such deviations may include launching a new product or a complete shift from a preexisting strategic objective. If your business has adopted a different business model or a new product line, it may be essential to consider fostering a fresh yet cohesive brand identity.
Rebranding in such cases helps you reintroduce your brand and the products you offer. It may be a costly mistake to try and ride on past brand loyalty and awareness even when launching new products.
5. Your Brand Has Become Diffuse Over Time
As businesses grow, they tend to add numerous products and offerings under one umbrella. If the brand narrative does not align with such changes, you might quickly fail to gain the desired customer attention.
In case your brand experience has become scattershot with confusing messaging, then it may be time to realign your brand identity to reflect an integrated brand narrative. Rebranding if often the best solution in such cases.
Read More: The Importance Of A Clear Brand Message
Rebranding is a Matter of When Not If
Every brand strategy has an expiry date. The only way to ensure that your brand messaging and the narrative remain fresh and appealing is by constantly rebranding. But when do you make that all-important decision to proceed with a corporate rebrand? This article can help you make that critical call.
Andy Bush is President of Bush Marketing. Contact him today at 416-214-4298 or andy@bushmarketing.ca for a discussion about how Bush Marketing can help your website do more for your business.
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