Rebranding is a significant decision that can help change a company’s trajectory. A brand and its associated brand assets build equity over time, increasing recognition, trust, and pricing power. Strong brand assets — like Slack’s name, Coca-Cola’s red color, Duolingo’s mascot, and Nike’s swoosh — create immediate recognition and positive associations. But if you don’t have strong brand assets, you may be giving away your share of growth in the market. Does that mean you should consider a rebrand?
There are specific reasons why a rebrand may be necessary:
- Your brand may lack distinctiveness, preventing it from being memorable or ownable. Without being distinctive, your brand isn’t easily mentally available to past customers or new customers to your category, and you can lose out on your share of the market.
- Your brand may no longer align with your vision or business goals. Some brands can even contradict the business vision or goals if that vision has significantly changed in response to category, cultural, in internal leadership changes.
- Your brand may struggle to resonate with new audiences, or the branding you choose to express your brand may not signal the differentiation, promise, and beliefs of your brand in a way that helps attract the audience who is truly interested in your value proposition.
Any one of these may indicate it’s time for a change in your branding. Before making the leap, you’ll want to assess if the performance of your brand and brand assets is where you need it to be to continue to meet or exceed your goals.
The case for keeping your existing brand
A strong brand builds equity by:
- Being recognizable and distinct from competitors.
- Owning unique visual and verbal assets that reinforce brand identity.
- Enhancing memorability and resonating with both new and returning customers.
If your brand continues to perform in these areas, a rebrand may not be necessary. However, if you’re not sure your brand is performing as it should, a rebrand may be the right move.
When a rebrand may be necessary
A rebrand is warranted if:
- Your brand assets lack distinctiveness. If your logo, colors, tagline, visual assets, or messaging blend in with competitors, it may be time for a change.
- Your brand doesn’t evoke strong emotional connections with your target audience, a rebrand can help establish a more compelling, meaningful value proposition and an identity that expresses that value in a clear way.
- Your brand no longer aligns with your business vision or goals, or is out of date with today’s market context. If your brand signals something different from where your company is headed, a rebrand may be necessary.
For example: In 2000, British Petroleum rebranded to BP, or “Beyond Petroleum,” signaling a strategic pivot toward sustainable energy solutions. It also shifted its brand identity from the traditional shield logo to the “Helios” symbol, a green sunburst representing energy in various forms.
When a brand refresh might be the better choice
If you have distinct assets but need to modernize them for digital channels or refine them for a more modern context, a refresh may be a better approach. A refresh can strengthen or update existing elements without completely changing your brand identity, thus still building on all your existing brand equity and associations in the minds of your customers and category buyers.
Examples of effective brand refreshes:
Walmart: The company refined its logo by separating the wordmark and the spark icon. This allowed the spark to stand as a recognizable shorthand, particularly in digital spaces, similar to Amazon’s arrow-smile, Target’s target symbol, and Nike’s swoosh.
Magic: The Gathering: The brand elevated the Planeswalker symbol to stand alongside its long wordmark, helping it function more like Nike’s swoosh over time. This move also meant it could more easily expand its brand into entertainment properties and off shoots without clashing or becoming unwieldy.
Making the right decision for your brand
Before diving into a rebrand, assess whether you need a complete overhaul or just a strategic refresh. If your brand lacks distinctiveness, lacks resonance, or lacks alignment with your business vision or the market direction, a rebrand may be necessary. However, if you already have recognizable brand equity, refining and emphasizing existing assets may be the smarter approach.
For more, check out our video "Is it time to rebrand?"
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