How do you know when its time to rebrand? Maybe you know that something is not quite right about your brand strategy. Perhaps your brochure copy sounds a little clunky and stale. Or your logo does not render well on mobile devices. Maybe the overall design of your website seems, well, old.
A rebrand can be a time-consuming (and potentially expensive) process. Before you jump in, ask yourself a few key questions.
Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash
Does your brand look dated?
Design trends come and go. What worked for your company in say, 2006, might not work for your company now – especially if part of the crux of your business is offering the latest technology or ideas. The Apple logo is a perfect example.
Has your product or service changed?
Where you started out as a company might not be where you are now. A few years and a couple pivots later, your company might offer a totally different set of products or services. Does your brand reflect everything you offer today?
When Amazon first started, they were an online purveyor of books. Now they are an online (and offline) purveyor of everything. And their brand has evolved to reflect that change.
Has your customer changed?
Kids these days. With the hair, and the clothes, and their insistence on disposable furniture… Now, before we jump on the “Millenials ruin everything” bandwagon, consider this:
- Less than 60% of Americans live in the same state they were born in. That may seem like a lot, but according to US Census Data, it was almost 70% in 1950.
- People born between 1990 and 2000 are now more than 2.4 times more likely than the average American to be paying off student loans, and have a median income of $24,973; older millennials’ median income is still just $47,854.
How One Generation Changed The Way We Think About Furniture. Buzzfeed.com
I can see why Millenials would prefer to buy a dresser from Ikea, rather then a matching bedroom set from their local furniture store.
Have your customer’s tastes and aspirations changed? How do they like to communicate? Does your brand speak to where your customer is now, or where they were 20 years ago?
Ultimately, when your brand doesn’t reflect who you are, it’s time to make a change. Is it time for a rebrand?