Brands go through ups and downs, good seasons and bad seasons. Successful brands know how to navigate the bad times and overcome these challenges. There are a lot of reasons why brands go through such slumps and in some cases, rebranding presents itself as a solution for a lot of brands.
Did you know that 74% of S&P 100 companies have rebranded their companies within their initial 7 years? That’s right, it’s a very common thing in the world of business and marketing.
So in this blog, we will get into all things about rebranding products from what rebranding is, the signs it’s time for one, steps to rebrand as well as examples of some brands that tried to pull it off.
Let’s get into it.
Rebranding products is the process by which you change the corporate image of an organization, product, or service. It typically involves updating elements like the name, logo, visual identity design, messaging, or overall identity to better reflect changes in the company’s new goals, audience or shifted market position.
Now when we mean rebranding products, we don’t just mean tangible packaged goods. We mean in a much broader sense because anything that creates value for customers and can be marketed, sold, or consumed can be considered a product. Services and organizations are also in many cases products too, as they involve customer expectations, value propositions, and branding.
Now that we’ve established that, there are many reasons for a rebrand. So, let’s look at some of the main reasons to consider rebranding products.
If the logo, color palette, or overall design feels old-fashioned or no longer resonates with your target audience, it may be time for a refresh.
This doesn’t mean you bend to every trend that comes and rebrand now and then. But. some startups tend to create a very basic logo design at the start due to many reasons. For such companies, after a while, the logo may appear outdated and irrelevant. In such cases updating your logo is a good idea.
Sometimes a few tweaks to your overall visual identity like a change in color palette might help solve the problem of looking outdated.
Keds, an American Sneaker brand almost 100 years old, revisited their branding to suit modern times. It wasn’t a drastic change but their overall identity seemed a bit outdated and as a solution they made a slight change to their color palette and a more definitive change to their brand messaging and imagery. They also introduced 3 new products to align with this rebrand.
Here’s also a look at their revamped website:
If your audience has shifted due to trends, market growth, or demographic changes, your brand may no longer align with their preferences or needs.
In such cases, some brands would need to make drastic changes and engage in rebranding products. In such matters, it’s best to have experts involved who know the subject matter rather than going at it alone. A great brand identity consultant would be able to help you navigate this shift seamlessly.
If your brand is associated with bad press or declining customer satisfaction, rebranding products can help rebuild trust and improve your reputation.
It’s best to spring into action and immediately attend to damage control in such cases. Negative perceptions contribute to huge losses thus in such cases rebranding products is a fantastic idea.
For example, if your product meets controversy with its packaging choices, then switching to sustainable packaging and a refreshed design would do wonders.
Another real-life example is when Philip Morris announced a name change of its parent company to Altria Group along with a drastic change to the logo design. This was to combat negative perceptions due to lawsuits against its cigarette brand.
If competitors are innovating, improving, or have stronger brand recognition, rebranding products can differentiate your product and highlight unique selling points.
Market saturation is a serious problem for some brands. In such cases, improving and rebranding products can help you stand out in a saturated market.
When launching new products or entering new markets, your existing brand may not fully represent your expanded vision.
At times like this, you shouldn’t have to go for a full-blown overhaul. Just the right changes can make a world of difference. For example, if you have a logo that leans towards a particular audience preference, revamping it to be more inclusive would help expand better.
After combining companies, you might need a new identity to reflect the merged entity’s shared values and mission.
These can be very confusing times for brands and employees so it’s very important to refresh visual identities to better reflect a merger or an acquisition. It’s all in the details so tread cautiously and purposefully.
If your branding across various platforms (social media, website, packaging) feels disjointed or inconsistent, a rebrand can unify the message.
Inconsistent branding kills a brand’s trust and reliability. So sitting with your marketing and design team and coming up with a new visual identity as well as a solid brand guide would help you overcome lapses in inconsistent branding across platforms.
A shift in the company’s focus, such as a move towards sustainability or innovation, may require a brand identity that aligns with those new goals.
During such instances some brands like to completely change the visual identity of its products to align with the new mission and goals. The reason is because an outward change is the best way to announce an internal shift. It gets people talking and helps spread the message about the shift.
So you see, rebranding products can be a powerful strategy, but it also comes with several risks. And we believe that an awareness of these risks will help you avoid them.
If the rebranding is too different, especially in terms of visuals like the logo or packaging, you may lose the recognition your product has built over time, leading to confusion in the market. And that leads to the next risk.
When rebranding products, going for a drastic change in brand identity might confuse or frustrate long-term customers who are attached to the original branding. They might feel disconnected or distrust the changes.
In a previous instance we covered the Tropicana visual identity change crisis that was not received well by loyal consumers.
If your product is already performing well and there’s a loyal customer base, then rebranding products could risk said loyal following. This brings us to the next risk.
If customers perceive the rebrand as unnecessary or superficial, especially if it’s not aligned with the actual product improvements or changes, it can result in backlash or even brand boycotts, which then could result in the need to revert back to the previous branding or go for another rebrand.
One such instance was when British Royal Mail changed their corporate name and visual identity to a more modern name and identity.
Because it was not received well they had to revert back.
Rebranding products can be expensive and time-consuming, involving changes to design, packaging, marketing materials, websites, and more. The return on investment (ROI) isn’t always guaranteed, especially if the new branding doesn’t resonate.
Hiring brand identity consultants, graphic and video designers are an added cost and a hassle because you’d have to allocate room from your budget for them and then also spend time screening them on top of the other impending work.
Inconsistent implementations are the results of working with an unprofessional and bad team and having no proper brand guidelines. The risk is too great because poor or inconsistent execution across various platforms can dilute the effectiveness of the rebrand. Customers might encounter different versions of the brand in different places, which can damage trust and credibility and altogether diminish sales. So use good designers and equip them with a carefully crafted brand guideline.
For long-standing brands, rebranding products might discard valuable brand equity built over the years, including emotional connections customers have with the brand’s legacy.
This again highlights the importance of knowing the difference between needing a touchup or a full rebrand.
If the new brand message doesn’t clearly communicate your product’s values, it can confuse what the product represents or lead to misinterpretation of the brand’s purpose.
So you see there are many things that could go wrong. But proper planning and strategy can help mitigate these risks. And that brings us to the most anticipated portion of this blog – the steps to follow for a successful rebrand.
First it’s important to evaluate why you’re rebranding. You can refer back to the reasons we mentioned above like having outdated visuals, exploring a new market, or having negative brand perception.
Once you’ve figured out the reason then it’s time to conduct customer and market research to confirm the necessity.
Next, get together with your team and clarify the new brand’s mission, values, and unique selling proposition (USP).
Along with that it’s best to identify your new target audience and key differentiators from competitors. These will be critical aspects to know and communicate during the next step.
Based on your brand strategy it’s next time to start developing visuals and a verbal identity.
You should hire reliable professional designers to work on your logo, color palette, typography, and overall design. A strong visual identity makes your brand recognizable and appealing.
Along with rebranding products, we recommend updating brand messaging, including tagline, tone, and core message, to reflect the new direction. Because these will need to go on your news designs.
Similarly, it’s time to apply the new branding to all touchpoints including your website, social media channels, packaging, and other marketing materials like print ads and business stationery.
Make sure that your designers follow clearly set out brand guidelines for how your new visual assets should be used. This will ensure consistency across all of these platforms.
At this stage most of the prep work is done, so it’s time to communicate the change. To do this, you can plan a launch campaign to explain the rebrand to your audience.
You can do it virtually or by hosting a launch event. For that you can create product launch designs where you can tease and highlight the reasons for the rebrand and how it benefits customers.
When you’re in the midst of rebranding products, implement the new branding in phases to avoid overwhelming your audience. You shouldn’t dump it all in one go. This could frustrate customers. The goal is to be strategic and wise in how frequently you’ll roll out the new brand.
Also, rolling it out gradually helps control and track performance metrics to gauge the effectiveness of the rebrand. More on that in the next step.
While communicating this change over a period of time it’s important to monitor customer reactions and gather feedback to make any necessary adjustments. Yes, if required you’d have to make slight and seamless adjustments to accommodate the feedback your customers give.
And while you’re at it, ensure employees are also on board and fully trained on the new brand identity to keep things smooth.
So as you can see there are plenty of reasons to think about rebranding products and many risks associated with it. But a step by step approach to it will help do it successfully.
One recurring piece of information we can derive from the content we covered is that the outer look of a product rebrand is very important.
So, good designers and a well-executed design strategy are key to maintaining brand consistency and quality, ensuring that your rebrand is successful.
Unlimited design services can be very useful to speedup the process of rebranding products and their visual identity assets because they offer unlimited designs and revisions all for a flat fee. They even offer dedicated teams to oversee designs and help manage projects. If you glance at the risks for a bit you’d see this solves a few of those problems.
Here are some of the best unlimited design companies to check out.
