So the other day, I received a question from one of my listeners on my podcast ‘The answer is brand’.
‘What’s your top tip for rebranding? All at once, or slow and steady?’
This is a fantastic question, as most people when rebranding tend to do it piece by piece, or they rebrand all in one go, and it takes forever for the finished brand to be out in the market.
I want to answer this in the simplest way I can.
The answer ultimately is both.
From what I understand the ‘all at once’ part of the question describes changing all the strategy, messaging, behaviours (perhaps even the logo) and having a big launch to celebrate this.
They’re then left wondering;
- Why did this take so long?
- Why is there an underwhelming response?
Slow and steady
On the other hand, you can rebrand at a slower pace.
This means thinking about everything described above but getting a feel for the changes, and responding/listening to your audience.
Strategising what works and what simply doesn’t in your rebranding.
Creating messaging guidelines from the responses.
Unfortunately, this is where I believe people go wrong.
You’ll feel frustrated at the stagnant nature of the process, and that things are taking longer than they should have.
From my experience in the industry, most rebrands that happen in segments ultimately don’t happen at all.
Apart from solving a specific problem, which is why most businesses rebrand, you’d miss out on the momentum, the launch, the ‘buzz’ that you would get from a complete rebrand.
Normally the rebrand will be around changing markets, customers, and trying to refocus to a specific element on the market.
Unfortunately doing the slow and steady approach won’t achieve either of those goals.
My advice is to think about the problem in a slightly different way.
The reason I answered suggesting both directions, is because you’ll want to do the slow and steady approach, followed by the ‘all at once’.
“Think of ‘slow and steady’ as an internal process, and ‘all at once’ as an external one.”
Essentially once you start this process, you’ll be looking at your brand internally (your personal P.O.V, your workers, the leadership in the business).
You’ll then want to inform your clients of the process, and this will spark curiosity around the decision.
Asking the clients/customers for input in the rebrand is fantastic as they have the intel/insight on the company.
Once you’ve completed the rebrand you can start to put things in place to launch the brand into the open market.
This is where the ‘all at once’ comes into play.
In both situations what you want is to have everything ready for the launch, to make sure you attain buzz/momentum.
Its also important for it to be a communal effort, not only yourself but clients (current and previous) having a say in the company’s journey. The clients ultimately will give you a fresh perspective on where you should go next.
Hopefully, this has answered the listener’s question and helped others out there thinking about the process of rebranding.
If you have a question about starting, growing, or scaling your business head here to record and send your question in. It’s not only a great way to promote your business, but it also helps other businesses who might be encountering a similar issue/question to you.
