Is it time to rebrand your business?

Most of us have pretty positive associations with spring. Warm weather, cute kids in their Easter clothes, colored eggs, and even college basketball come with this season. What’s not to like? One part of spring that’s not quite as universally loved however is spring cleaning. If you’re like me, the idea of spring cleaning does not fill you with joy. Nevertheless ever year I get down to business and get cleaning.

Rebranding your business can be a bit like that. You know it will cost time and money to rebrand, and you’ll have to risk confusion from your customers. There are a few scenarios though where, just like with spring cleaning, you can't avoid getting down to business and rebranding.

The plan has changed

When your business has fundamentally changed, it's often the case that your branding needs to change as well. A classic example of this would be diversifying your products. Say you start out as a pizzeria, called "Tim’s Pizza". Your logo consists of a giant pizza pie with your business’ name across the center. Then as an experiment you start selling chicken wings. After a few years, your wings are hugely popular! Today wing sales account for 60% of your revenue. Does it really make sense that all of your branding is focused on pizza, with no mention of wings? Definitely not, and a rebranding is in order. In addition to changing your name to "Tim’s Pizza and Wings", you’ll likely want to get a new logo made to reflect your new line of business. A similar logic applies when expanding your business to new markets with different tastes, or changing from a value-priced to a luxury-priced business. Sticking to your old branding will prevent you from making the most of your current business model.

Moving on up

As important as branding is for a business, sometimes there just isn’t money in the bank to get what you want. As a tiny startup business with meager funds, you may have been happy to have your brother-in-law or your cousin design you a free logo. Even if it wasn’t completely professional, it got the job done. Similarly you might put up your own bare bones website, or pay for a low-budget website that doesn’t look ideal. Once your business has achieved a certain escape velocity and is bringing in more revenue, you might decide that it’s time to revisit your branding and do things right.

You’re a little out of style

When you reach a certain age, you can get a good laugh at seeing the clothes that you and your friends wore in decades past. If you’re too young to have had this experience, ask your parents! No matter how good your sense of style is, what people perceive as attractive or appropriate changes over time, and if you don’t change with the times you can end up looking a little silly. Just as clothes can go out of style, design sensibilities incorporated in your brand can go out of style as well. It’s a good idea to re-assess every few years or so whether your branding is still conveying the message that it’s supposed to.

If any of the above sounds like it describes your situation, or you just want a little more advice on whether a rebranding effort is right for you, VES has got your back. We offer a full spectrum of design services to freshen up your brand, including logos, websites, email marketing and print marketing materials.