In this modern era, as the business dynamics change with time, the need for a brand refresh and rebrand arises simultaneously. Most people confuse these two terms and think they are used interchangeably.
However, these two terms have entirely different meanings and are approached accordingly by brands with respect to their needs and demands.
Since the target audience is the most crucial factor for any brand’s success, it is essential to create a brand identity that customers remember. About 89 % of marketers’ goal is to create brand awareness.
For both young startups and well-established firms, branding is the key factor. A company’s brand is more than its distinctive colors and logos. However, 90 % of consumers focus on color while making a purchase. But, in order to keep them with your brand, colors are not just the thing.
Your brand basically represents the core values and principles of your company and thus represents what it can offer to the consumer.
According to a study, it takes about 0.05 seconds for people to form an impression of your brand.
Thus, if the representation of your brand is not appealing enough, there are high chances that you’ll lose your customers’ attention if you do not consider options like brand refresh and rebranding,
Rebrand And Refresh: What’s The Difference?
Most people tend to confuse these two terms with each other. Though these terms look similar on the surface, the difference in their meanings is like day and night. These terms indeed have a lot in common. However, they are also quite different if you look closely.
A brand refresh, though not a fundamental, change is focused mostly on the appearance of your logo, giving it a new look with a fresh lick of paint and adjusting your slogans and designs according to the world’s modern needs.
You may need to refresh your brand if you want to update it and make it more appealing to your consumers.
Rebranding, on the other hand, has an entirely different meaning for the companies. It completely changes the image of your business. Rebranding is a much more complex process requiring serious measures. It involves tearing down your brand and starting it again from scratch.
It requires designing a new background for your company, a new brand story and philosophy, the introduction of your brand in a new market, and refurbishing your entire image. Rebranding is usually needed when your target audience is no longer interested in your brand or you plan to merge with other franchises.
You may also think about rebranding if you want to capture more audience from a wider range and are trying to introduce more products.
Just what Dunkin Donuts did.
In order to have an influence on the audience, brands need to adjust themselves according to the audience preferences, which constantly changes.
Thus, to be relevant to consumer preferences, it has now become a necessity for the companies to choose between brand refresh and rebranding for their survival in the market.
Refreshing Your Brand
As businesses emerge, it is important to keep themselves updated with the needs of the marketplace.
If you don’t emerge and evolve yourself and remain constant throughout the years while the other brands are constantly in the loop with the newer marketing tactics, it is more likely that you’ll lose your customers to the other brands.
A simple brand refresh changes your brand voice, visual branding, and product offerings.
#1. When To Refresh Your Brand?
As a brand refresh strategy usually offers less risk than a complete rebrand, most of the companies usually opt for the former option. But the question arises, when is the right time for any company to refresh its brand?
To simply put, if you are considering yourself outdated, if you feel your brand message does not reflect what you offer, if you have always been inconsistent with your logo color scheme, if you are expecting to see a growth in your business, or if you feel you are not able to reach your target audience anymore, then this is the right time you should opt for a brand refresh.
#2. Benefits Of Refreshing Your Brand
A brand refresh is a powerful strategy that can make any brand more appealing to its target audience and thus can help the organization keep pace with the industry. With less risk, efforts, and investments, a brand refresh can give you an opportunity to preserve the integrity and image of your brand and can also increase brand recognition and community engagement. It makes your brand look fresher and modern, expands your reach to new customers, and helps you keep up with the constantly changing marketplace.
#3. Strategy For Brand Refresh
Since we’ve discussed the various benefits of a brand refresh, now a question arises. What does a brand refresh strategy usually involve? The answer is pretty simple. When you decide to opt for a brand refresh, you need to remember that a brand refresh usually consists of everything that is done on the surface. Hence it does not involve length consultations and guidance. According to a study, 45% of customers expect great design across marketing and sale collaterals.
So, to simply put, for a brand refresh strategy, you need to do proper research and discovery and have a competitive analysis so that you can have an idea of what is trending in the market. A bad graphic design can destroy your brand. Therefore you need to update your visual identity and brand message so you can stay within the current styles of the marketplace without blending in with the crowd.
#4. Examples Of Brand Refresh From Recent Times
For a brand refresh, you need to make sure that the history and the heritage of your brand should remain the same. According to a study, 22% of consumers considered authenticity as the most important brand attribute.
So, if you are changing the fundamentals of your brand, then you are doing a complete rebrand. To look at some of the recent examples, companies like Walmart and Starbucks opted for a brand refresh.
Walmart updated its dark-colored, bold, and capitalized logo to a more friendly lighter shade logo with lowercase fonts.
Similarly, Starbucks has too evolved a lot over the years. They changed their brown shade logo to a greener one, giving it a more environment friendly look.
Big Picture Of Rebranding
If brand refresh is a makeover, then rebranding is like plastic surgery of your brand. A much more complex process requiring serious preparations, rebranding intends to completely transform the image of a brand.
#1. When To Rebrand?
The goal of rebranding is to completely change a customer’s perspective about a service or product that a company offers. There are ample reasons why a company might want to change their brand image and identity. According to a study, only 60% of marketers think that their brand is well-aligned with their long term goals.
Most of the time, businesses consider rebranding when they think their marketing strategies are old, they are no longer able to reach their customers, their current brand identity is out of date, industry and market expectations have changed, or they are planning to launch any new product in the market.
So, if you think you are not able to reach your audience anymore or if you are facing any of the above-mentioned problems, then you should consider rebranding as your option.
#2. Benefits Of Rebranding
Rebranding is a complete change of the brand, requiring a new story and philosophy. Though it’s risky, if held successfully, rebranding can give a whole new boost to your stock market values.
Improvement in marketing tactics, being able to reach the relevant target audience, better assessment by customers, being able to set yourself apart from customers, and staying current in the constantly changing marketplace are some of the major benefits that rebranding offers to any organization that opts for it.
#3. Some Successful Rebranding Strategies
You are opting for rebranding because your brand is outdated, or you are choosing it because you cannot reach your audience anymore.
Whatever the reason is, you must bear in mind that rebranding always requires a great deal of commitment and originality. If done wrong, it can cause a great disaster for any brand that opted for it. Therefore, it should be done according to a proper strategy and in a professional way.
As rebranding can be a slippery slope, so for rebranding, first and foremost, you need to have a proper business reason behind your rebrand. Then you need to do clear-cut research for your brand to analyze where it stands in the marketplace and what are its points of differentiation from other brands.
45% of a brand’s image can be attributed to what it says and how it says it. So, you need to develop an architecture for marketing positioning and messaging. After that, you need to create your new brand identity, and finally, you can create a strategic plan for the strengthening and promotion of your brand.
#4. Inspiration From Recent Examples
A successful rebrand is more than a change of logo and tagline. It requires a whole new perspective to inspire consumers, investors, and even employees to see the company in a different way.
Now let’s look at some of the big names who opted for rebranding. Old spice, when launched, was regarded as a brand for older people. However, after a massive rebranding stunt, it was launched for the younger generation. This was proved to be a huge success for the brand.
Similarly, if we look at McDonald’s, we can see that a complete rebrand has evolved from a mere fast food location to a healthier one offering a range of fresh foods and salads.
Brand Refresh Or Rebrand: What To Choose?
As the world is constantly evolving, with constant demands and requirements, it has become the fate of every brand to change. Thus, if your brand is doing well, a slight brand refresh will enhance your existing brand and will help you stay competitive.
On the other hand, if you feel that your company has grown and your industry and audience has changed a lot, then a rebrand may work for you. At the end of the day, the choice is yours to make!
About the Author!
Annie Megan is currently working as a Marketing Manager at Assignment Guarantee UK. She is a tech geek and frequently read articles related to technology involved in business and marketing. She also writes for UK Essay Writing Services.
[…] Rebranding your business might be an option if your clientele might have decreased, which could also not be a great idea. Keeping track of your clients boosts your business growth, and hence offering satisfactory sales services could serve as a starting point to getting the remedy to your needs. […]