How to make a rebrand boost your business

Rebranding occurs when a business or organisation changes a significant element of the brand. This change can be in form of new logo or brand name or a shift in its messaging to communicate its vision better or to change it altogether due to several factors. There are two main types of rebranding.

Proactive rebranding: This is where a company may choose to rebrand in order to seize a new opportunity or evade a possible threat. New opportunities would be things like expansion into new markets or innovation while threats could be the risk of becoming obsolete due to technological advancements in the respective sector. A good example here would be how Telkom Kenya had to introduce Telkom Wireless service and later Orange as the introduction and growth of mobile subscriptions over the years rendered phone booths obsolete. Another good example would be how NSSF rebranded in 2012 as it geared towards its conversion into a pension scheme.

Reactive rebranding: This occurs in reaction to crucial or drastic changes to a company that demand rebranding. Such changes can be in form of mergers and acquisitions. A perfect example here would be how Airtel Kenya came from Kencell to Celtel to Zain and now Airtel after a series of acquisitions.

It is interesting to note here that while Airtel has maintained its number two position in the mobile sector, putting it at a distant second after Safaricom, these changes over the years haven’t been much help in increasing its market share. Rebranding done too often may confuse your consumers and leave them feeling like your organisation is unstable hence unreliable.

Here are the key steps to rebranding.
Build a brand-planning team: Branding or rebranding in this case is a project on its own not a decision to be hashed out in one board meeting. This team would ideally include employees and valued customers and should be representative of the organisations internal and external environments. This team will prepare the actual plan with every step outlined clearly from conception to research to roll-out and subsequently maintenance and follow up of brand performance.

Key questions this team will need to ask and answer include: Why are we doing a rebrand? What problem are we trying to solve? Why would people care about our brand and whether we change it? Will rebranding solve the problem fully and permanently? Who are our current customers and has that changed or is it anticipated to change in the future? What are the possible reactions to our rebrand, what is our projection? If we were starting our business today, would this be the brand solution we would go with?

Review the way the organisation operates: This will ensure the internal system can handle brand implementation. You must ensure everyone on every level is onboard to avoid glitches and communication gaps so the whole process doesn’t risk crumbling from within even before roll-out. Rebranding is not merely a marketing function but a company-wide endeavour.

Launch the new brand internally: Provide training and educate employees on all levels of the organisation on the new brand and its expectations.

Next, launch the new brand externally to the public.

Then, maintain brand integrity and follow up after rollout

Sometimes messing with a classic is a bad idea as your consumers may be attached to the old look. For instance, the international juice brand ‘Tropicana’ received all round negative feedback when in an effort to achieve a more modern look changed their packaging. Also, even though the new Cadburys chocolate packaging now is more practical, some still miss the old, paper on the outside, golden foil wrapper on the inside packaging.

Sci-fi rebrand gone wrong

Trying too hard to sound or look hip can ruin a rebrand entirely. For instance the US-based science fiction channel, ‘Sci-fi’ in an effort to rebrand to become more ‘hip’ changed its name to ‘Sy-fy’ sighting that that was how young people abbreviated ‘science fiction’ especially when texting.

SEE ALSO: BRITAM TO CHANGE NAME IN SHIFT OF TRATEGY

On further research afterward, they found instead that ‘Sy-fy’ is slang for ‘Syphilis’. Lesson: Do as much research as possible especially on brand names, logos and trademark symbols.
If you are changing your name or symbol, it has to mean something, it has to reflect your values; it can’t just ‘look good’ and have no meaning to your consumers.

Research is key: Ensure you receive external input from customers and branding experts lest you have to revert to your original brand due to bad reception.

Rebranding costs money: It’s not just about changing a name or a slogan or a package. Rebranding is a huge investment and your organisation is sure to incur costs from research, creative costs, training, rollout, marketing and follow-up which all have to be factored in before the decision to rebrand is finalised.

Don’t just rebrand and walk away: implementation of the rebranding strategy isn’t the end of the process; you will have to invest in a follow up system after the rollout to check for the continued success or failure of the new brand both in the short term and long-term.

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