15 Apr Is it time to rebrand your small business?
There are many good and necessary reasons to rebrand your small business. However, the reason needs to be strategic. Not because you are bored with your tagline or logo, or like a particular trend! That can be a costly exercise where you risk losing recognition and any brand equity you have built.
With the many changes the last year has wrought on many small businesses, now is a good time for a strategic review. Consider your vision, values, target market, products/services, positioning, reputation and more. All of these can influence rebranding. Use our list below to help you know if it’s the right time.
A rebrand or brand refresh?
One of the first decisions you will need to make is if you need a rebrand or a refresh. A rebrand is more comprehensive than a brand refresh.
A brand refresh is evolutionary. It is essentially a makeover. Strong connections to your existing brand would be maintained. You might tweak your logo, or update your colours. Perhaps change the style of imagery and graphics, or modify your messages and tagline. The aim is often to modernise, or to reflect a slight shift in your business direction or goals.
A rebrand is a revolutionary transformation. It involves a complete review of your business positioning and personality that will need to be reflected in your visual identity and voice. It would include a revised logo, new colours, typefaces, imagery, graphics and icons, tagline and key messages. A rebrand may even include a new business name.
The reasons to rebrand your small business
The following reasons might be an indication it is time to rebrand your small business:
- You have significantly changed your business approach, direction, or products/services and need to reflect this.
- To appeal to a new industry or ideal customer. If you want to reposition your business and your target market changes it’s likely you will need to rebrand.
- You have modified or outgrown your original vision. Generally a rebrand is required to align with, and symbolise, this.
- To move away from a poor reputation. A rebrand can change the way customers perceive you. This often happens under new business ownership, sending a message to customers there are positive changes. However, it should be noted a rebrand will not work to cover up a crisis.
- Following a merger or acquisition. Brands may be a combined, or a completely new brand created.
- Your existing branding is outdated, stale and needs modernising and invigorating to remain competitive. Keep in mind branding is all about differentiation, not conformity. So modernising is a good idea, but don’t follow trends.
Mini case study: EBR Physio rebrand
As part of Beyond Business Groups program our members spend time on modules that take them through reviewing their businesses starting with purpose, vision, values and target market. They then spend time reviewing and honing their branding, because business reputation and perception in the marketplace is so critical to business success. This has led to many of our members undertaking business rebranding, including Miriam who is Practice Manager at her family-owned physiotherapy practice EBR Physio.
EBR Physio has been operating for a long time, and the brand identity had become stale and outdated and was not differentiated enough from competitors in the local area. While their core values hadn’t changed, they wanted to reposition the practice and strengthen their brand.
With values of being friendly, caring and honest, EBR are focused on patient care and are committed to getting their patients back to doing what they love. A new tagline, ‘Keep your body smiling’, was devised and this influenced the logo design which now incorporates a smile. EBR’s colour palette was reviewed to ensure they stood out from competitors. A new shade of blue was chosen, and yellow incorporated for its connotations of being sunny, happy and vibrant. Key messaging was honed and aligned to the new positioning also.
The visual changes can be seen in the logo designs below:
The decision to rebrand your small business requires consideration and planning. The process involves significant work and investment. So be sure there is a compelling and strategic need for it before you take the plunge!
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