Whether you are recreating your brand or updating your current one, there are steps you must do. The first step is to determine if it is a total rebrand, or if an upgrade – a refocus is the way to go. Perhaps it is more the strategy you are working with that needs the update.
If you are rebranding because you’ve changed your product or service, say from selling your hand-crafted furniture by greeting customers at your door to appealing to shop owners who will now sell your work for you, for a cut, there may be more of a story to adopt. You need to look at your whole setup.
If you are not reaching your target market, you may find that a rebrand will not accomplish what you hope. You need to think more about analysis as to why you are not reaching your desired target.
While a number of the same steps apply, such as doing your market research, and determining the customers you are targeting, there are some differences. An update to your current brand requires an update to your processes and to your marketing strategy. The rebrand involves looking at all your whole picture from logo to fonts and colors and company vision.
Either way, the why of your choice in rebranding or updating is what you need to know, before starting out. You want to make the right decision.
It is possibly harder to do than starting out on an optimistic journey when first starting out.
You need to be honest about where you stand. Do you see yourself differently from how other people see you? Is it something you said or misspoke about? A poor web site? A mashup of ideas on what you do that gets lost in the spoken word?
Any one of these things can miss the mark on potential customers.
According to marketing agencies first impressions are vital although you can make up from initial missteps with some strategic rethinking and focus on relationship building.
What is your version of success? Who are you appealing to and where are you going with your brand? Take stock before you go all out to make a change.