To rebrand or not to rebrand, that is the question

If you own or manage a small or medium-sized business or a recent start-up, you may instantly recognize this question. That is, to rebrand or not to rebrand?

And to help you to answer this question, here are three commons scenarios that we find in our work with prospects and customers in Pakistan that often lead to a decision to rebrand.

1. Owners or managers who aren’t satisfied with their brand but can’t articulate clearly what’s bothering them. These are usually businesses or organizations that are typically young (less than two years old). They may have created some of the brand assets themselves to save money; or asked a friend with relevant skills to help them. Some will even have paid for the work that they’re not totally satisfied with. So, they live with what they created because it’s not a priority to do something about it. In one case, the Brandeeq team was shown a new brand developed by the owner and an associate. We were presented with assets that certainly weren’t terrible but, professionally speaking, could work a lot harder as brand assets. The owner knew things weren’t quite right but didn’t know what should be done. So, without throwing away the concept, we evolved the logomark format and composition and created corresponding identity standards. This made it more functional and more impactful as a brand asset.             

• Business owners and managers who were happy with their brand but, over time, have fallen victim to brand asset mismanagement. In one company, we found 13 variations of the brand logomark – and no one could say which one was the original, authentic logomark. This was because they didn’t manage their brand identity, so when employees needed the logo, for whatever reason, they’d literally design a new version based loosely on what they could see on printed files. For them, rebranding was more akin to something like a brand refresh. It was first an exercise in focusing on and creating one contemporary master logomark, plus a set of visual identity standards that determine the rules of using the master logo and support its consistent application. Then, educate the organization on how this most valuable of brand assets should be properly managed: the Do’s & the Don’ts of managing your brand assets, you might call it. We rarely see processes and systems in SMEs to manage and protect brand assets: and this case illustrates the unfortunate end result of that.
• Businesses have evolved to such an extent that what the company does today doesn’t really fit the original brand. This can happen organically over time, or it can be a result of a purposeful change in strategy. This could mean that a total rebrand is required, or it could be changed to one or two key brand assets. For example, a new brand name and brand promise, but retention of an existing logomark and a supporting, visual identity. This means carrying the brand equity in the old name over into the new one and creating a plausible story to make the connection between the two. Again, something that we have experienced at Brandeeq.                

Rebranding means different things to different organizations, but in any case, it’s a big decision to take. The spectrum of associated choices is even bigger still.

If you’ve been asking yourself the rebranding question, either introspectively or of others, then why not ask Brandeeq to help you arrive at the right answers?