Staying ahead of competitors and at the
forefront of your customers mind is a daily challenge for many
businesses. Whether a sole trader or a multi-million pound organisation,
brand recognition is one way of standing out from the crowd.
Here Roger Taylor, Director of Montpellier Creative (www.montpelliercreative.com),
considers the implications of re-branding for a company that
has already secured a firm foothold in its market.
Your brand – or simply put your
corporate identity - should succinctly communicate to both current
and potential customers your company’s aspirations and
core values. But if your business has developed or changed tack
it could be seriously at odds with the direction you are now
taking. In short – it could be holding you back.
But should the change of brand be radical,
risking the alienation of existing customers or is just a gentle
tweak sufficient to keep the identity fresh whilst retaining
its heritage?
If a business has changed its direction,
a major re-brand may be required. Often, the customers who are
alienated by new branding represent the low margin areas of
the business that you wish to move away from.
Timing of a re-brand needs to be carefully
considered. You obviously don't want to be left with mountains
of out of date literature or a recently built website displaying
an old identity. It should be remembered that an identity is
more than just a logo, so simply switching to a new insignia
without updating anything else is to be avoided. An identity
update will keep the brand relevant and fresh, preventing it
from being left behind in a fast moving market.
The way that your brand manifests itself
spans from your literature and online visual identity to the
way your phones are answered. For this reason the message that
your brand communicates and the reasons for this need to be
understood and embraced by everyone in your organisation.
Allow plenty of time to put together
the new or amended identity. In this way you can plan for right
time for the big reveal. Launch the new identity to coincide
with an exhibition or an event that you sponsor. Launched in
the right way the new identity is like a wave on which you can
ride. The trick, of course, is in maintaining that momentum.
That’s where planning your re-brand is so critical and
helps ensure that you maximise exposure. So a quick makeover
on a whim is not the answer. Consider the business goals and
then plan for the new you.