Rebranding is ... What is and how to properly rebrand

Rebranding is a kind of "repair work" of a brand or brand. Repair can be capital or cosmetic. The choice depends on the initial state of the object. In addition, you can carry out a full rebranding and partial. Rebranding a company is a lengthy and time consuming process, so it must be justified and justified. It should be done when the brand actually requires an update.

When rebranding is required

Rebranding is necessary if:

1. Marked changes in market conditions, and the existing brand is no longer consistent with these changes. If the market branch of your brand has decreased, consumption has decreased, the product is outdated and not in demand by the consumer. Also, the reason for rebranding can be a change in the preferences and requirements of the target audience.
2. The position of the trademark on the market has significantly weakened. At the same time, the problem can be not only the positioning of the goods, but basically it is the rebranding that helps to radically change the situation. Often the reason for changing the brand image is competition, and after a successful rebranding, there has been a rapid increase in sales.
3. Positioning your brand was not effective initially. Specialists who develop the trademark, were mistaken, the idea that you approved, the audience did not understand or did not appreciate. In this situation, rebranding is also required.

Complex or cosmetic rebranding

If you take into account what is rebranding, then the choice of how this process will be complex or cosmetic depends on the degree of complexity of the problem that your company faced. Rebranding should be focused on overcoming difficulties with minimal losses. You need to start it with an assessment of the current situation of your brand. If the reason is the very idea of positioning, then the brand idea needs to be changed drastically, which in turn will be accompanied by a change in all other attributes. This rebranding is called complex.

If, for example, the brand itself is popular with consumers, but the design of the package is knocked out of the general concept, then it is possible to confine itself to cosmetic rebranding, that is, to make minor changes. For example, rebranding a cafe may include not only changing the logo and interior, but also changes in the menu or the orientation of the institution. It is worth noting that the rebranding of a well-promoted and popular brand of the brand needs to be carried out wisely, so as not to disrupt its position in the market and not reduce its recognizability.

The essence of the process

Rebranding is a long and gradual process. At its core, this is the creation of a new brand based on the old one. And sometimes the changes come from the opposite, contrary to the existing trade mark. Therefore, a competent rebranding should always begin with marketing research, and only after that it will become clear in which direction it is necessary to work.

The carried out researches will help to define, from what it is necessary to get rid, and that it is necessary to add. They reveal what qualities of your brand consumers consider as advantages, and in what your brand lags behind competitors. Consequently, it is from the results of marketing research that the whole further process of rebranding depends.

Main Rebranding Goals

The tasks that are put before rebranding are simple and understandable. It is necessary to strengthen brand loyalty among the target audience, differentiate it and attract new consumers. Other reasons to make any changes, in principle, no. Rebranding, as, indeed, branding is one of the marketing tools, the goals and objectives of which should be maximally oriented to the growth of economic indicators.

Uniqueness and attractiveness of the brand

The brand reflects specifically the attitude of the target audience, and the signs, packages are just brand attributes, a kind of identifiers that cause the consumer's consciousness to associate with the product, service or brand. So, branding is the process of developing, creating and maintaining the right image in the minds and subconscious of consumers. Attributes are an important part of the brand, but still the key concept is the image, the image. And of course, this image should maximize the realization of the object of consumption. That is, in other words, influence the choice of the buyer.

Searches for a new vector

As already mentioned, rebranding is a change of image. These are changes that should positively affect the consciousness of customers and improve sales. And since the required ratio is formed under the influence of the motivating value that is embedded in the brand vector, you need to think about changing the motives of the target audience of this brand. In some cases, it is even possible to switch the brand to a different audience in general. The essence of rebranding is that a brand that focuses on one value that has significance for the consumer, suddenly dramatically changes the vector.

In this case, changing the attributes is not always necessary. This is required only if they do not correspond or contradict the motivating value inherent in the new brand vector. A new image is created in a complex way. This is the restyling of the logo, the redesign of the interior. But all the same, the main tool by which changes are formed in the mind of the consumer is advertising. And all the other attributes are just an addition to the motivating value of the new vector. It is worth noting that to limit oneself to changing one thing, a signboard or assortment, if we are talking about such large-scale changes in the brand image, as the rebranding suggests, it is meaningless expenses.

Rebranding: examples

Starting to change anything in a successful and topical brand is inexpedient. But at some point the rebranding may be required even for the titans of the market. As an example, you can cite the often-changing Pepsi logo and the almost unchanged Coca-Cola logo. The first brand is focused on new values, and the second is inclined to adhere to traditions. It is worth noting that both brands choose the right direction, they consistently promote the value component and adjust (or do not change) the attributes for the chosen vector.

Rebranding Effectiveness

The process of rebranding in its complexity and scale can exceed the creation of the image of a new brand. At the same time, changes are not guaranteed to be successful. And you can not limit yourself to half measures in this process. The more saturated the market becomes, the more important branding and its attributes become. The created image is very important for ensuring the adherence of consumers. Nevertheless, the brand is not created out of nothing, the brand is the result of a long, thorough and detailed analytical work, and if initially it did not turn out to be quite effective, then when rebranding it is necessary to take into account previously made mistakes, and not to hope that the image will appear simply from the very Process. Otherwise, the monetary and time costs for rebranding will not justify themselves.