Do You Need To Change Your Brand? (Part One)

DO YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR BRAND? (PART ONE)

IS IT TIME TO MAKE SOME BIG CHANGES?

Overhauling your brand, or even just giving it a freshen up, can seem like a daunting and expensive process. It might often seem like the costs far outweigh the results. We’ve all heard and seen the stories where companies have allegedly paid millions of pounds for what amounts to tiny changes that leave us asking ourselves “is that it?”

Sometimes though there are genuine and pressing reasons for taking a look at your brand and making some changes. In this two-part article we take a look at ten of the most common.

YOU MAY NOT REALLY HAVE A BRAND IN THE FIRST PLACE

You’ve probably heard the mantra by now that “a logo is not a brand”. Maybe you started out with some of the basic branding building blocks but now need to link things together. Maybe you want to brand your company uniforms but the logo will get lost on the colour of the shirts. Perhaps you have a website that has the right colours but no other elements that tie it to your values and services to create a memorable customer experience. All of the elements you have should work together, with others if necessary, to encompass every area of your business, creating a consistent experience for your customers.

All of the elements you have should work together, with others if necessary, to encompass every area of your business, creating a consistent experience for your customers.

IT IS OUTDATED

There is a difference between looking traditional and looking obsolete. Perhaps you created your brand several years ago and it is starting to show. An unintentionally old-fashioned brand creates negative perceptions in the minds of potential customers… Will you be able to deliver the latest technologies or fashions in your area? Will you understand the needs of a modern consumer? These perceptions may well seem unfair but your brand, or lack of one, will be a focal point for how your potential customers judge you.

IT NO LONGER REFLECTS WHO YOU ARE

Businesses evolve and their brands should evolve with them. A good brand mixed with some careful planning should have some flexibility in it but sometimes your business changes direction so much that your brand no longer accurately reflects who you are or what you do. Over the years you may have developed the way you do business to be better in touch with your customers. You may be in an almost totally different market from the one you set out in due to changes in technologies or fashions. Your brand either needs to be flexible or it needs to change.

A good brand mixed with some careful planning should have some flexibility in it but sometimes your business changes direction so much that your brand no longer accurately reflects who you are or what you do.

YOUR CLIENT HAS CHANGED

Depending on your industry and how long you have been around, it’s possible that your business has stayed the same but your clients have changed drastically. Perhaps the market has changed to such a point where you need to reassess the way you communicate with those clients; your core offering might still be the same but the message you convey about it might have to change. Consider the extreme examples of early technology companies like Apple and Microsoft. Their customers have changed drastically over the years from serious techies with an interest in the workings of their machines to, well, pretty much everyone!

IT IS GENERIC

As competition grows, quite often you will see similar branding elements emerge within an industry; such as particular colours or images. Very often you will find that companies will try to copy the style of the leader in their industry, me too branding. The problem with these scenarios is that you may not stand out to potential customers with messages and values that are unique to you. Your brand will help these customers understand why they should choose you over your competitors so it should be distinctive and unique.