Rebranding Strategies to Start With

Summer is upon us! As each season changes, it can represent a new start and in your case a much-needed rebrand for your organization. In honor of the start of summer, I’m going to discuss some rebranding strategies that may prove useful if you’re considering a shift. But also remember, your brand is not just your organization’s visual identity, it also consists of elements like the brand’s promise, its values and principles.

Assessing your current brand

There’s never a wrong time to assess and evaluate your brand. In fact, one could argue that a brand audit should be done on a regular basis.

Take for example, at my current position at Disney, we’ve recently announced an appointment of a Chief Brand Officer to ensure our company stays relevant and that we protect the brand in a changing, fast paced, information saturated world. Disney is a global company and one of the most beloved media companies in the world. The fact that we’re commemorating 100 years and our focus is on maintaining the integrity of our brand, shows that we understand the importance of maintaining our brand.

Before you decide the new direction you may want to go in, there are three rebranding strategies you can put to use, and that’s testing your brand, reassessing how you communicate about your brand, and measuring your brand's impact.

Rebranding Strategy 1 - Test Your Brand

It’s really important to know and understand what your audience thinks about your brand. Once you know this, the next step is to measure this against what you want them to think about your brand. Focus groups are perfect for gathering the qualitative data you need to understand what your target audience thinks.

Depending on the results of your testing, it’s time to evaluate. Look at where you went astray and where your brand has not lived up to the brand promise. Adobe defines a brand promise as a value or experience a company’s customers can expect to receive every single time they interact with the company.

If you haven’t lived up to your brand’s promise, then it’s time to fix some things. It’s almost like a New Year's resolution. You’re recommitting to the brand promise and planning your communications and public relations strategy around ensuring that you’re true to your brand. That the products and services not only meet that promise but the way you communicate about your products, your services, and your communications are also in alignment with your brand promise.

Rebranding Strategy 2 - Reassess Your Communications

If your brand promise is convenient or accessible, is your communications accessible?

Do people read it and think it’s a bunch of jargon? Do they understand what you’re saying? Is your language accessible?

If your brand promise is to be unique and individual, are you targeting your population? Or are you producing trash? Do we need to go back and speak to our audience?

Answering these questions lets you know if you need to go back and look at the targeting. To ensure your brand is speaking the language of its audience, you need to strike a balance between understanding who your audience sees you as, and who you want them to see you as and understanding that gap. Sometimes the gap is your communications with your audience.

Rebranding Strategy 3 - Measure Your Impact

According to Business News Daily, corporate social responsibility is crucial for an organization’s brand perception. Employees, customers and investors look closely at an organization's community impact which can inspire brand loyalty. Have you had the impact you needed to have in your corporate social responsibility? How are you measuring your impact, if at all?

You know it's time for a rebrand when your brand has fallen off on its commitment to contributing to the well-being of its community. To be perceived as a trustworthy company, your company needs to do what it said it would do.

How to know when it’s time for a rebrand

Rebranding is natural. Even the most successful companies take a step back and realize that something has to change. But here are three signs that it’s time for a rebrand.

1. Your brand is no longer relevant: The world is ever-changing. In a blink of an eye, the habits of yesterday are no longer relevant. Your brand aesthetic could no longer be relevant or your message could no longer be the language of your target audience.

2. You’re no longer providing value: If your brand promises to deliver xyz but they’re not delivering x, y, or z, then it’s time for a rebrand. If your deliverables aren’t aligned with your brand promise, then it’s time to get them aligned.

3. Your audience has changed: A pillar in communications and public relations strategy is knowing your audience. If your audience has changed and your brand no longer speaks to them, it’s time to get back to the drawing board.

If you are considering a rebrand

If you are considering a rebrand, understand that the value of your brand lies almost solely in what your audience thinks about your brand. Understanding what you want your audience to think, being faithful to your brand promise and understanding the gap between what your audience thinks and what you think.

Then realigning with that promise and the vision for your brand. Remember to include these rebranding strategies; testing your brand, reassessing how you communicate about your brand, and measuring your brand's impact.

If you’re interested in booking a call with me about building your organization's strategic communications and public relations capacity, click here.

Joey Gaskins is a public affairs professional with a formidable record of designing and executing innovative strategies, campaigns, and tactics—turning around negative perceptions, reaffirming trust, amplifying and influencing policies, and achieving unprecedented results.