How to rebrand with confidence: tips for a successful brand makeover

Revitalize your branding for maximum impact

Suchismita Roy

1/21/20233 min read

Considering a branding makeover?

Well, you're in good company! ;)

Before you jump in with both feet, it's important to evaluate your goals for the rebrand. What are you hoping to achieve?

More customers?

Stronger reputation?

Higher profits?

It is essential to assess your current situation

This means taking a close look at your company's history, products/services, target audience, and competitive landscape. Ask yourself some tough questions about your brand. What are your core values? What sets you apart from the competition? Why should customers choose you over the competition?

Only by answering these questions can you develop a clear and cohesive brand strategy that will serve as the foundation for your rebranding efforts. Once you know your goal, you know it's time to start planning.

Follow these tips to help ensure your rebranding is a success.

(Re)Identify your target audience

For a brand makeover, it's important to know who your target audience is. You may have a fancy new logo and a snazzy color palette, but if they don't appeal to your target audience, it's all for nothing.

So how do you identify your target audience? Start by thinking about who your current customers are. Who are you trying to reach with your new branding? Once you have a good idea of who that is, it'll be easier to tailor your branding to appeal to them specifically.

Know (stalk) your competitors

Study your competition and see what they're doing—not just their branding, but also their offerings, and how they're positioning themselves in the market. Figure out what it is about your competitors that's attracting your target audience. What are they offering that you're not? Why do they seem to be resonating more with consumers? Take this information into account when crafting your own rebranding strategy.

Differentiating yourself from the competition, and doing your research will give you the insights you need for your brand makeover.

Make a list of keywords and sentiments

As you embark on your brand makeover, it helps to have a few keywords or phrases that capture the sentiments of what you’re trying to achieve. These words and phrases will become the basis for everything else you create, and can be helpful to stay true to your vision.

Take time to brainstorm what words or phrases evoke emotion related to your brand. Think about the core values and qualities that your brand stands for and add them to your list. This list of words will make it easier to create imagery, tagline, messages, and experiences that fortify your branding.

The next step is to ideate sentiments that you want people to associate with your brand. These should not only describe what people feel when engaging with your products/services, like trust, luxury, but also help to distinguish you from competitors.

Develop a brand identity guide

As you develop your new brand identity, having a clear set of guidelines can ensure success in the future. A brand identity guide includes everything, from what fonts and colors to use, to how to represent your brand online. A good brand identity guide should also include how to create content, what the tone should be, and how your visuals should be used across different platforms so that it aligns with your new branding. This will ensure that your audience can easily recognize your company no matter where they see it.

Don't forget to share the updated guidelines with vendors and contractors so that they can be sure to stay on brand when creating materials for your business.

A lot can happen over coffee but a lot more than that goes into a successful brand makeover! It's much more than just a new logo or a color scheme. It's about taking a look at your company through your vision(ary spectacles) and making sure that your rebranding is aligned with them (your vision).

Raise a toast to a smooth and successful rebranding!

Let's discuss the role of technology in the rebranding process in the next article.