By Kelly Gasior
Jan. 27, 2011
Through consistency, repetition and fulfillment of a brand “promise,” a company creates a real (or perceived) relationship with its customers. A brand is more than just a logo, slogan or color palette, it encompasses the thoughts and feelings a customer has about a business, organization or company.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Apple? How about General Motors? Comcast? Google? Chances are everyone has a slightly different reaction to any one of those brands – positive or negative – but the reaction isn’t due to the font of the logo or what colors are used. It has to do with the customer’s knowledge and opinion of a company.
The mere act of seeing a logo or hearing a company’s name, elicits emotions and thoughts about that brand. So what’s a business to do when the public perception of their business is negative, a new competitor enters the market, there is absolutely no brand recognition or the brand itself has become stale? They look at rebranding.
Rebranding a business can be a tremendous undertaking. But if a company has decided to take a completely different business approach, their brand elements no longer meet their needs. One of the ways a company can set itself apart from new competitors who have entered the market, is to completely rebrand their business – a new name, new marketing materials and a completely new logo design. But what’s the first step?
Much thought and research must be put into a rebranding process. A business can’t just take the “spaghetti” approach to marketing – throwing something at the wall and seeing what sticks (or works). That simply leads to a waste of time, money and resources.
Sometimes a simple tagline change is all that’s needed. Maybe a company starts working with a new ad agency, or chooses a different magazine in which to advertise. Extreme brand changes usually aren’t necessary, unless a company wants to take a completely different direction, decides to target a completely different audience, or has a tremendously negative image. No matter what brand changes a company makes, big or small, it’s important to take deliberate baby steps.