The term ‘rebranding’ frequently gets thrown around, even by people who know next to nothing about it. What it actually means is that your brand needs a structural reconstruction in order to appeal to a different demographic, a different market or in order to adjust to a merger or an acquisition.
In most other situations, however, this course of action is not particularly cost-effective and might even backfire. Instead, you could probably go with a much subtler change in the form of refreshing your brand. Here are a couple of reasons why refreshing your brand is often a much better alternative, as well as a couple of pointers of when this option should be considered instead of rebranding.
1. What are the risks of rebranding?
First of all, you need to keep in mind that any rebranding attempt might alienate your already loyal customer base. Sure, opening yourself up to new markets and demographics can be lucrative, but losing some of your regulars can result in a horrible net change for your business. You see, there is a study claiming that only 8 percent of your return customers make up about 40 percent of your entire profit.
From this point of view, losing a portion of your regulars can be simply devastating for your company in both the short- and long-term. The last thing you want is for them to suddenly feel disconnected from what you have to offer since this might force you to go back to square one and nullify all the work you’ve invested in your marketing.
Apart from this, the new approach might resound poorly with some members of your staff, causing no small amount of internal struggle your company doesn’t need.
2. The perks of refreshing your brand
The first major benefit that refreshing your brand can bring to the table is the ability to retain the essence of your brand. This means that while some changes will be introduced to your current business structure and marketing, you won’t stray far from the direction your company has taken so far. Due to the fact that these nuances can get quite subtle for laymen, it might be a good idea to contact an expert from a prestigious branding agency from Melbourne and get a quote at the very least.
All you are doing here is creating a more focused message in order to appeal to a specific audience. This can go several ways, seeing as how you can either target some of your old customers in order to try and convert them into regulars or focus on attracting a broader demographic. Keep in mind, however, that trying to be too ‘trendy might turn off your regulars since it might give the impression that you are trying too hard.
3. How to recognize the need to refresh?
Finally, the key to differentiating between the need for rebranding and refreshing lies in adequate knowledge of the ever-changing conditions of the market. For instance, if your target market, the nature of your industry or the overall circumstances are completely different than when you started, rebranding might be your only option. On the other hand, if all you want is a simple update or you need to make your business simply pick up the pace, you might be able to get by with simply refreshing your brand.
Conclusion
Finally, you should always consider timing. Staying current is one thing, but sometimes a trend isn’t here to stay, which would make your attempt at pursuing it into a non-cost-effective effort. Sure, some people like to assess their need for refreshing or rebranding by surveying their competitors, but, by the time this method yields the desired results, it might already be too late. Instead, you should focus on your demographic as your main criterion and do all that is in your power to stay true and relevant to them.