Chapter 16
In This Chapter
Evaluating your need for a brand update
Aligning your brand to current tastes, times, and market conditions
Launching your revitalized brand
As you open to this chapter, the word rebranding is probably on your mind, but chances are good that revitalizing better explains the brand revision you’re looking for.
Rebranding is the go-to term that marketers use when they talk about updating their brand identities and reputations. It involves basically erasing your current brand identity (along with much of the considerable value that goes with it) and starting the brand-development process all over again, following all the steps explained in this book.
Sometimes rebranding is called for (like following a major acquisition, a major image disaster, a merger, or a major change in business direction). For example, Phillip Morris rebranded itself as Altria to distance itself from the reputation of a tobacco company and Malaysia Air began talking about a rebrand after back-to-back air tragedies in 2014. More often, though, brand owners aren’t in need of rebranding. Instead, they seek brand revitalizations to make their brand identities more contemporary, more competitive, and a clearer reflection of the businesses they represent.
In most cases, brands can be revitalized by retaining the core and valued elements of their identities while updating the execution with current styles of image, typography, and colors. For instance, when FedEx revitalized its logo over a decade ago, it did so by retaining and updating the symbol with fresher versions of the same basic colors and a cleaner expression of the thick sans-serif typography.
This chapter helps you to determine what kind of a brand revision you need and how far you want and need your identity update to go. Then it helps you plan the steps involved to make the changes you have in mind while protecting the brand value you’ve built to date.
Some brands age gracefully, gaining stature, esteem, and strength in the process. Others show their years in less distinguished ways, becoming out-of-step, a little dowdy, and no longer able to command the interest of those they most need to inspire — whether that means consumers, investors, employees, or other brand supporters.
With attention, many brands come back to life quickly. Some require only cosmetic attention — ranging from a design nip and tuck to a full brand facelift — along with some message and marketing realignment. Others need to be resuscitated with heroic rebranding efforts. Still others — a rare few — need to be put on life support while their owners prepare for their graceful departure from the big, branded world.
As evidenced by the fact that most brands never see their fifth birthdays but others live well into the second century of life, there’s no timetable to rely on as you try to plot your brand’s growth curve.
Times change, businesses change, consumer interests change, culture changes, and sometimes brands need to change, too. To evaluate whether your brand may be in need of an update, ask the questions listed in this section on an annual basis, at the very least.
Most rebranding or brand revitalizing is triggered by internal business changes. When the nature of your business changes, the nature of your brand changes, and realignment becomes necessary. To determine whether your situation merits branding attention, ask these questions:
To assess whether changes in your market environment have sapped your brand strength, ask these questions:
When your organization (the heart and soul of your brand) undergoes major change, most often your brand identity (the face of your brand) needs to undergo change as well. Otherwise, the core of your brand is out of alignment with the promise you make to your market, and a brand credibility crisis is likely to follow.
Likewise, when your market (the reason for your brand’s being) undergoes major change, your brand probably needs to change, too. Otherwise your image is out of sync with market needs, tastes, and desires, and a brand relevance crisis is likely to follow.
The upcoming sections describe the symptoms of each of these brand-health red flags. Scan them, and then complete the questionnaire in Figure 16-2 to assess your brand’s vulnerability.
In the race to roll out new products, seize new opportunities, open additional outlets, add new distribution channels, or expand into new market areas, your business can outgrow your brand identity. Suddenly, your core brand message is outdated, you can no longer keep your brand promise, and your brand experience is unpredictable. Even your name and slogan become inappropriate fits with the current realities of your business.
If your organization has experienced dramatic growth in the most recent six-month period, schedule a retreat — soon — to evaluate whether your brand identity still reflects the character, values, and attributes of your evolving business situation. Don’t wait until an identity or credibility crisis sets in. Use the questions in Figure 16-2 as your assessment guide.
The marketplace is in flux. Digital communications have upended how businesses communicate, present offerings, and even sell products. At the same time, market territories, even for small businesses, have expanded almost without limits. Even self-employed freelancers in home offices can now serve market areas that span the globe.
Amidst this change, brand owners refocus or change strategic direction — and brand identities — to adapt to their changing environments. Among the examples are businesses that have moved their bricks-and-mortar businesses online; businesses that have shifted emphasis to address environmental realities; and companies that have altered product lines, distribution approaches, and business strategies to serve global markets.
When you hear the word merger, most often you’re hearing a euphemism for the reality that one business has been acquired or taken over by another. On occasion, two businesses participate as 50-50 partners in a merger, but even then one company usually emerges as the dominant force.
In most acquisitions or mergers, the two organizations assess the value of each brand and the equity of each brand’s identifying elements before adopting one of the following brand approaches:
In the low-budget start-up days, many businesses resort to brand identities that are either self-designed or whipped up by an aspiring artist recommended by the friend of a friend of a cousin of a brother-in-law. The result is usually a make-do identity created with all the best intentions in the world at a price that seemed right at the time.
Fast-forward several years, though, and what seemed to work fine at startup no longer represents the culture or sophistication of the organization or fits the nature of the market it serves or the environment in which it survives.
When that’s the case, brand revitalization is in order, and it’s a process you can’t take lightly. Simply designing a great new brandmark isn’t enough. At the very least, you need to take the following actions:
Brand identity redesigns span the gamut from evolutionary to revolutionary depending on whether they move the current identity forward a little, a lot, or into an altogether new name and logo.
Assess and identify which identifying elements have the greatest marketplace awareness and affection so you know which aspects to protect and carry over to your revitalized identity. Turn to Chapter 3 for help with this task.
Chapter 12 provides advice for interviewing creative firms, making selections, and getting design agreements in writing.
Doctors require X-rays and lists of diagnostic tests before determining health conditions and issuing prescriptive remedies. Brands deserve the same treatment. Before “fixing” your brand, put it through a checkup:
The following sections walk you through each step.
A brand review takes your brand through many of the same steps you took when establishing your brand in the first place. (For an overview of the brand development process, see Chapter 3.)
Prioritize your goals by selecting from the following brand functions:
Chapter 3 includes a worksheet that helps you assess how well your branding priorities are supported by your current brand strengths. If your brand is strong in your priority areas, your need for brand revitalization is low. If your brand is weak in the areas that are most important to your future success, however, your brand likely needs assessment, repair, and rejuvenation.
Answer these questions:
See Chapter 4 for advice on how to conduct research to unearth the answers you need in the area of marketplace perception.
All great brands share one important attribute: They’re mirror images of the companies they represent. To assess how accurately your brand reflects your business, answer these questions:
Remember, your brand lives in the minds of others, so before you begin to revise your image, invest time and effort to discover what those who know your brand currently think of it. Answer these questions:
Too often, brands undergo name or logo changes when what really needs fixing is the brand experience, starting with the way their products work.
People form opinions about a brand based on all contact with the brand, from marketing communications to staff encounter and, from the intricacies of the purchase experience to the experience of becoming a product owner. Determine whether your brand experience contributes to your desired brand image by answering these questions:
As competitors enter your business arena, their brand offerings can change customer expectations. Determine whether your brand has remained current by answering these questions:
After you complete a brand review, the moment of decision arrives: Can your brand be revitalized, or do you need to put it out to pasture? To arrive at an answer, use the results of the brand review as you answer these questions:
If your answers add up to a resounding “yes,” recommit to your brand, and also commit to a double-dose investment of time and money to see that it’s well protected and well presented for years to come.
If the alignment between your brand and your business is way off — if your brand is called Main Street Fix-It but you now offer business system reviews and solutions to a global market — you’re facing an identity crisis, and complete rebranding may be in order.
On the other hand, if the alignment between your brand and your business is only slightly amiss — if your name is Global Advertising but you now offer global clients strategic planning, branding, and message development services in addition to advertising production and placement — a name adjustment and a brand revitalization may be the extent of your needs.
By revitalizing — or updating and polishing your established brand — you realign it with changed conditions while also, and importantly, protecting the brand value you’ve built over the years.
By rebranding, you basically erase previously established value and start over again, building value from scratch. Rebranding is the way to go when the value in your existing brand is so low or in such negative territory that you’re better off giving yourself the equivalent of a golf mulligan and taking an altogether new shot. If that’s the case in your situation, turn straight back to Chapter 3, heat up your branding iron, and get ready to begin the branding process from square one.
Sometimes, names or logos need updating in order to keep pace with market realities, tastes, and cultural trends, but that kind of market-responsive change involves only a cosmetic update or name adjustment, not a brand overhaul.
Brand overhauls become necessary when business overhauls literally change a company’s heart and soul. When the core of the business — the base of the brand — changes radically, the face of the brand — the brand’s name, logo, and identifying elements — needs to change, too. Otherwise, there’s a disconnect between what the brand says it is and what, in fact, the brand is. And that’s a formula for credibility disaster.
The most essential step in fixing or updating a brand is determining which brand assets carry the highest value in consumer minds. Brand assets include
The brand asset analysis worksheet in Chapter 3 can help you determine the value of each of your assets and whether or not the strength of your brand would be reduced if you were to change or eliminate the asset.
For instance, if you discover that your brandmark has low awareness or that its usage has been mismanaged over the years, you may determine that replacing your symbol will serve only to strengthen your image. On the other hand, if you find that consumers have high awareness and regard for your name, you should think long and hard before abandoning it. (As a case in point, think back to the 2010 disastrous Gap brand logo change.)
Start the revitalization process after you take the following steps to determine which brand assets you should keep and which are dispensable:
The person who leads your company should lead or be involved in the brand revitalization or rebranding process. Otherwise, you’re apt to face an uphill battle when it’s time to adopt the new identity.
In essence, your brand is the promise you make to all who deal with you, your business, or your offerings. The degree to which you alter your promise in large part dictates the degree to which you alter your brand. (Chapter 6 has more information on brand promises.)
Chapter 7 is all about naming your brand. Make it your guide if a new or different name is the next step in your brand’s life.
Chapter 8 has advice on logo design, including why to involve an experienced professional. As part of the redesign process, rewrite your graphic guidelines and your brand management policies (see Chapter 8).
Don’t leapfrog over this step. If you fail to gain understanding and buy-in from your internal team, nothing you do externally can save your brand from the ramifications.
Begin with a publicity generation effort that shares the story of why you’re making the change, how you’re building on your brand’s heritage while simultaneously embracing your brand’s future, and how your new identity and brand strategy focus on a clear, strong, powerful vision. See Chapter 12 for publicity guidelines.