What is rebranding? And why should you do it?
At Birdy, we love a rebranding project. The opportunity to work with a successful company who want to invest in rethinking their brand identity is a creative challenge to be relished. Think your company may need rebranding? Here's all you need to know...
1. Brand design moves fast. If your branding felt fresh a couple of years ago, chances are it will seem tired and dated to you and your customers' eyes now. Most rebrands are carried out every two to five years but whenever you start thinking about a possible refresh, this is when you need to talk to an agency about a rebrand. We don't always notice how marketing, fashion and design trends shifting but the changes are constant so leave it too long and your brand will look out of date.
2. When's the best time to rebrand? If your company is expanding, changing direction or launching a new product, the timing for a rebrand could be perfect. Markets change constantly with new competitors emerging and demands from customers changing. Some of our clients see their favourite products or designs dropping off in popularity while other, more niche products take off. This was the case with Colourbox, manufacturers of beautiful lighting, www.colourbox.studio. These changes in taste can mean a tweak to the website or a whole brand redesign being called for.
3. A rebrand can often be overdue. If you had a soft launch for your company and it's taken off faster than you expected, leaving your company with a basic website and branding, – congratulations! But it means a complete brand design and content rethink is needed to represent it effectively. Birdy always spend time with clients to drill down into their brand USPs and research the market landscape before we go away and begin work on a new brand identity for your company. Only then can you be assured that your new brand will speak to your customers, including new ones.
4. "Make it pop!" "We want to really stand out!" These are two requests Birdy hear from our clients often. And while we understand this and don't want to recreate what others are doing, we always encourage clients to concentrate on what is right for them, their company and - most importantly - their customers. A logo or whole brand identity may well pop and stand out from your competitors but, first and foremost, it has to be right and speak to the customers you want to reach. This was the case with 15 Collingwood, a mid-century store and online store, www.15collingwood.com.
5. You may not need a complete rebrand, but rather a simple refresh. Maybe you think your logo seems dated, too clunky or not working well on social media. Or it's likely that your website is similarly feeling tired. of our clients need improved or more content and blogs added to their website. Birdy can take a good look at your competitor market and assess how your brand is working for you before making our recommendations. At Birdy we've changed companies' names, created new websites and changed their clients' whole outlooks and ways of thinking. But we've also recommended smaller steps such as joining new social media platforms or changing the colour palette of a company's brand look.
6. Remember when talking to customers that it includes both your existing base and any new groups you might be targeting. Always bear this in mind when you start thinking about what you need from your rebrand. Birdy will always spend the time to talk to our clients and their employees, asking just the right questions.
7. A rebrand is the perfect time for your company to promote itself on social media platforms, by marketing emails, on a press release or to target desired customers with promotional offers. Chances are that a new website, name, logo or look will bring a new message that you'll really want to talk about and show off. Once you have a new branding identity, it needs to be communicated straight away. So consider making this part of your agency's work and discuss your ideas with them.
8. Remember a company rebrand is a big commitment and one you need to get right as it'll have to work well for your company for some years. Birdy spend time with you and research the market properly before offering our clients a number of creative routes to choose from. We then include a number of revisions in our price so we're confident that clients are 100% happy with the complete brand look and feel.
