Tired and old. It’s how many business owners and marketers describe their brand. The question is…what’s the best path forward when a brand starts feeling outdated? In our experience, most outdated brands need a scalpel, not a sledgehammer. Here are a few reasons why a brand refresh is often a better choice than a complete rebrand.
Your brand already has equity.
You’ve spent years building up awareness and trust for your brand. Are you sure you’re ready to throw all of that out the window? Equity is the reputation you’ve established for your brand through years of marketing, word-of-mouth referrals, and actual customer experiences. A complete rebrand means you would essentially be starting over, eliminating all value and familiarity that your current brand holds in the eyes of a consumer. If you’re going to rebrand completely, you need a plan to build an actual reputation behind it.
It’ll cost you…time.
Most in-house marketing teams don’t know how to actually execute a rebrand. They waste months doing things the hard way because they have no defined process or timeline. It’s not hard to overlook the complexity behind a full rebrand, and it’s not as simple as changing the logo or brand colors. Without a proper brand audit and goal-setting for your new brand, the rebrand is destined to fail. Unfortunately, in-house marketing teams tend to lack the time and bandwidth, as well as the experience and expertise, to efficiently manage the intricacies of a rebrand.
It’ll cost you, money.
It’s not just the cost of an agency building a new brand from scratch. The digital assets are relatively easy, but you also have to turn over every physically branded asset your organization has. There is no denying the cost of business is increasing, as is the cost of tangible assets such as signage, business cards, print ads, and more. Even the most basic change of an updated logo can cost you thousands of dollars in reprints, and to avoid any brand inconsistencies, there’s no real way around it.
Your business isn’t actually changing.
If you’re not making any large-scale changes to your business, it might not make sense to make large-scale changes to your brand. Are you just putting a shiny new wrapper on the same old product? Unless your core product, values, or voice are changing (or are totally misaligned with your current brand), a total rebrand is probably not worth it. Going after the same audience with the same essential offer and positioning can lead to unneeded confusion, erosion of brand trust, and customer loyalty, and can ultimately do more harm than good.
It’s not worth the squeeze.
Some marketers think a complete rebrand will solve all their sales problems. Maybe…but probably not. Before you even start a rebrand, you should start with a goal – how will you determine that your rebrand was a success? What exactly do we expect to achieve, or what outcome are we trying to drive? A rebrand might not be the path to the goal you’re actually trying to achieve. Start with a goal first, then determine the tactics. Not the other way around.
It’s important to keep in mind that your in-house team probably won’t have all the resources or answers, and without those, your rebrand or refresh will be a massive confusing headache. Don’t go it alone. If you’re feeling stuck, get in touch with us and get your questions answered.
