How do you know when it is time for a rebranding? When starting a new business, many business owners don’t pay much attention to branding beyond the name of the business and the logo. However, what happens when the direction of the business changes or the current branding doesn’t align with the company goals anymore?
Branding expands to more than just the basics. Your company’s brand is the entirety of your customers’ experience, and prospective customers have with your company. A good brand communicates what your company does and how it does it. A good brand also establishes trust and credibility with your prospects and customers.
Should I Be Rebranding?
According to Hubspot, rebranding typically occurs because of your company’s vision, mission, values, and market not being reflected in your brand. If this is the case, then a rebrand might be the right decision.
Reasons to rebrand:
- New locations – You might need to refresh your brand if you’re expanding to international markets who won’t identify with your current logo, messaging, etc.
- Market repositioning – We design brands to connect companies with their customers. If you reposition your business to target a completely new customer profile — whether through product, place, price, or promotion – your brand will need to follow suit.
- New philosophy – Your business’s mission, vision, and values (MVV) should govern every decision you make – including brand decisions. If your MVV is shifting and pivoting the direction of your business along with them, you’ll need to reevaluate your brand.
- Mergers and acquisitions – when two companies come together, two brands come together, as well. If your company was acquired or joined with another company, you can’t just let both brands battle it out. Finding a new brand that reflects the new entity will prevent confusion and build trust.
Reasons not to rebrand:
- Boredom – Too often, people consider a rebrand because they’re sick of seeing the same logo and slogan every day. When you’re starting to feel restless with your brand, remember that your customers (who see it much less frequently) might love that signature color you’ve come to loathe.
- Covering up a crisis – Whether you’re working against persistent internal issues or fending off of bad press, a rebrand isn’t the answer. Most consumers and employees are smart enough to see right through your rebrand and recognize it for what it is – a cover-up.
- Impact and ego – For new managers, a rebrand might seem like the fastest way to make your mark. But most new managers aren’t implementing the kind of institutional change that justifies a rebrand. More often than not, new leadership that insists on a rebrand is doing it more for themselves than the company.
- Looking for attention – Maybe sales have been floundering, or perhaps brand awareness efforts aren’t picking up, but either way, jumping into a rebrand is the wrong move. At best, you’ll generate short-term buzz, without the sales and marketing strategy to sustain it. At worst, you’ll lose whatever brand recognition you had and set back your sales and marketing efforts.
Fortunately, rebranding is not uncommon – many brands like Dunkin’ Donuts have successfully rebranded in the past. Let’s take a look at their rebranding efforts.
Dunkin Donuts Rebranding
Started in 1973, Dunkin’ Donuts is one of the most iconic food and beverage brands. Beginning in January 2019, Dunkin’ Donuts adopted a new logo that dropped the “Donuts” on their name — now, signs, logos, and marketing materials simply read, “Dunkin'”.
The new name signifies the companies focus on being the go-to coffee place. Tony Weisman, Chief Marketing Officer, Dunkin’ U.S., said in a statement, “By simplifying and modernizing our name, while still paying homage to our heritage, we have an opportunity to create incredible new energy for Dunkin’, both in and outside our stores.”
Despite the change in name, Dunkin’ continues to use the same pink and orange colors and iconic font to ensure long-time customers still recognize the brand. In addition to changing its logo, Dunkin’ took the opportunity to modernize U.S. stores’ interiors to the excitement of their loyal customers.
Synthesio Rebranding
Another rebranding that hits close to home is that of our very own Synthesio. At our founding in 2006, our colors were red and gray, and the logo and branding looked like this:
When Ipsos, the world’s most innovative market research firm, acquired Synthesio in 2018, we decided that it was time for a refreshed, updated look and feel.
The new logo and color scheme revitalized our brand while also drawing attention to our inclusion in the Ipsos family. We integrated this rebranding across Synthesio collateral, from the platform itself to evergreen PDFs and content. The rebranding was a successful way to usher in a new chapter of the Synthesio brand with Ipsos, thanks to a fresh look.
What Do I Do Next?
Suppose your brand chose to take the leap and rebrand. If so, congrats! You’re a whole new you! However, how do you know if your efforts have been successful? Now Social Listening comes into play. Using Synthesio’s best-in-class Social Intelligence Suite, you can follow the conversation about your brand online in real-time.
A sophisticated Social Listening dashboard can pull in mentions from across the internet about your brand. Learning what people say both positive and negative is hugely beneficial. Using sentiment analysis, we can analyze how people feel about your branding change by using specific keywords.
Want to get a holistic view of your customer’s views of your brand? Learn more about Synthesio sentiment analysis and how it urged a major CPG brand to make its packaging more sustainable here.
