A business rebrand is a usually a lofty undertaking, often requiring a comprehensive analysis of a business's every facet. Ultimately, a successful rebranding makes a brand feel new and exciting, while still connecting with the right customers and potentially retaining some of its previous charms.
The comprehensive nature of rebranding often involves high costs, though it's feasible to rebrand without breaking the bank. Especially today, where technology presents myriad low-cost promotional avenues, a successful rebranding is likely even with a limited budget. Business owners and professionals can consider these tips to help guide an efficient, productive rebranding process.
Harness The Power Of Storytelling
Studies show that the human brain is fond of storytelling, with stories motivating voluntary cooperation. People's love for stories extends to successful branding. In wanting to know more about a product, consumers enjoy the fun, organizational nature of storytelling to relay a certain sentiment. For example, a produce business can emphasize its connections with small farms by highlighting partnerships with local farmers.
Storytelling can help enhance a brand into something capable of a human connection. Since consumers crave a connection to products they are seeking out, storytelling is a great way to promote a brand, often requiring very little regarding cost.
You can use a variety of media to tell your brand's story. A video is a great format for storytelling. It offers a leisurely form of entertainment that makes learning about a brand more engaging, compared to the somewhat arduous nature of reading chunks of text.
Social Media Promotion
The rebranding process can reach a broad audience via social media, a great platform to tell your brand's story. The cost ranges from free to negligible to post on social media, with the option to spend to increase visibility and target specific demographics.
Whether you're posting on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest or all of them, effective storytelling content has the potential to go viral, immediately launching a new brand into recognition. For any rebranding effort, social media promotion is a low-cost and effective way to get the word out.
Logo & Tagline Excellence
A business's logo and tagline play pivotal roles in branding. When rebranding, it's prudent to upgrade both the logo and tagline. Although some graphic designers may charge extensively, there are a variety of freelancers on sites like Fiverr that can do a great job on a smaller budget. Freelance sites enable you to communicate directly with freelancers to describe what you're seeking, putting their talent to work.
Local Involvement
The rebranding process is easier when you have a solid presence in the community. Hosting or attending local events are a great way to make your mark, in addition to donating to causes or sponsoring certain events. The cost of sponsoring these events tend to be much less than general advertising while going to a good cause and providing exposure.
Events also provide opportunities to get your business cards, pamphlets and freebies adorned with your logo and tagline. The cost of producing items like pencils, pens and bookmarks with your business's logo, tagline and website are well worth the exposure they can provide as freebies.
Keep Your Best-Performing Demographic in Mind
Rebranding is certainly a great way for a business to expand its reach. However, a business should not alienate its best-performing demographics when rebranding. For example, a business whose best- performing demographic is 75-year- old retirees should be wary of its rebranding appearing overly sleek or modernized.
Alternatively, a rebranding business with a millennial demographic should embrace sleekness and modernity. Your branding and sales copy should speak to your ideal audience, or else the cost to create and promote copy may be wasted.
Maintain Your Mission
Rebranding should enhance your brand, not eradicate it entirely. Before rebranding, analyze your business's values and mission, specifically in the context of your future. If anything, a growing business can expand its mission within the rebranding process. For example, if an organic food business has the mission to promote the benefits of organic in addition to also selling its product, the rebranding process can incorporate video content that compares organic produce with nonorganic produce.
Rebranding should incorporate a business's mission and personality, enhancing the overall presentation without tossing aside its previous charm.
Update Tools & Equipment Wisely
A rebranding that modernizes a business's look should also involve upgrading its infrastructure and equipment. Upgrades are available at a lower cost through auction sites, where businesses sell a variety of commercial, industrial and personal property. These auctions provide an affordable method for updating or refurbishing equipment in alignment with modernized rebranding.
Learn From Historical Branding Blunders
Branding, good or bad, tends to stick. As a result, there's a wide variety of infamous branding campaigns that backfired still fresh in our memories. For example, Gap's branding campaign in 2010 drew ample criticism, mostly focused on the subpar design quality and Gap's over-embrace of crowdsourcing, as if anticipating their target audience to create design ideas for free.
Owners and entrepreneurs can use the Gap debacle and other branding blunders when rebranding to learn what not to do. In Gap's case, we know that relying on crowdsourcing for free ideas, while acknowledging spending huge sums only to end up with a subpar result, is something to avoid. Similarly, changing your logo from something that works to a logo that feels artificial, as Olive Garden learned, is another bad idea.
Knowing potential rebranding mistakes ahead of time can help in avoiding these mistakes, which can save ample time and sums of money.
Don’t Skimp On The Creative Team
Ideally, a successful rebranding means you won't have to alter your business's brand for the foreseeable future. As a result, it's worth investing in the ideal creative team. Businesses can cut corners in a variety of ways, though doing so regarding a creative team for rebranding is not a good idea. This team is responsible for comprehensive rebranding, tinkering with everything from the new letterhead and logo to a new website template.
A subpar creative team may lack the cohesive vision and experience to rebrand successfully. Although such a team may be cheaper to hire, the result may end up losing you money, compared to a great creative team that can give you revenue-creating branding for decades to come.
Seize The Marketing Opportunity
It’s wise to spread out a marketing budget, so your brand remains relevant year-round. However, there’s certainly reason to increase spending during certain time periods, like the holidays. The rebranding process also presents an ideal time to boost marketing efforts, since the rebranding itself is an event that’s worth sharing.
A business can come up with exciting unveiling ideas, such as an event or contest, to draw attention to rebranding. If a business treats its rebranding like a celebration and holds a memorable event, everyone there will look upon that branding fondly in the future.
Rebranding is an extensive process for any business, regardless of niche. Fortunately, business owners and entrepreneurs with the proper foresight regarding aspects like storytelling, social media exposure, local involvement and creative branding can help guide a successful rebranding without breaking the bank.
Nathan Sykes is a techie, blogger and beer drinker. To read more posts by Nathan, check out his blog, Finding an Outlet.
I hope you enjoyed this article about how to rebrand your company without breaking the bank.
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