You’ll find out 8 common reasons to rebrand, how much rebranding should cost, and a realistic timeline for rebranding.
Okay, so why rebrand?
Maybe you have a great product or service that your customers already love, heck you may even have some pretty die hard fans. Except now that your business is growing and more people are working on your brand, it seems to have lost that original vision behind why you started this business in the first place.
Perhaps you never really felt clear in the first place which is also a very common thing I hear from impactful businesses.
You may have also discovered that your customers are searching for different terms than you originally thought when you started your business.
If you’re pivoting your business strategy and making significant changes in the products or services you sell this is an optimal time to rebrand. It signals to your customers about this change and positions you to own that new direction in your marketplace.
If you’re wondering why your business isn’t growing it could be because your business has no real differentiation (that you know of) in your marketplace.
Honestly, 9 times out of 10, the differentiation already exists in the business, but it’s not being leveraged in the brand’s message and marketing like it could be.
Here’s the deal…
When you work with a strategically focused branding company they will help you get clear on what makes you unique in your market and then message that uniqueness to position you with strength for what makes your business great.
This reason is far more common than entrepreneurs want to admit at first.
When I look back on my 14 years as a brand consultant this is often at the essence of why people call me, but they often wait until the impact of their dwindling passion is starting to show up in their business performance.
I often hear things like “I’ve lost my passion for this business but I still believe in it and myself”.
It’s natural to feel that way once you’ve gotten to a certain level in your business, because you’ve grown out of survival mode and you’re ready to thrive in your business through bringing more of your purposeful passion forward.
If every time you direct a new potential client to your website, you cringe just a little bit inside… that will naturally impact your confidence and make you less desirable.
You may be feeling this way because the mes-sage doesn’t fully capture and express the differ-ence you desire to make in the world or it could be more of the aesthetics that just aren’t capturing your brand.
Bottom line is…
If you’re not 100% confident when sending a potential client
to your website, your confidence is worth invest-ing in.
Would you show up at a potential client meeting wearing clothes that didn’t represent you? That’s essentially what you’re doing if your website doesn’t make you feel confident and self-ex-pressed.
There are lots of reasons to rebrand your business, especially now.
It wasn’t that long ago that companies like Block-buster and Kodak fell from their dominant positions all due to massive changes that these industry giants weren’t paying close enough attention to.
If you’re in an established and highly competitive industry that means it’s ripe for innovation.
Soon we’ll be living in a world filled with artificial intelligence and these changes will likely impact your business.
If you’re considering a significant evolution in your business model, service offerings, audience that will help to future proof your industry you’ll definitely need a rebrand to support you in communicating that evolution to your customers.
You may have several products already but it’s getting exhausting managing it all and a rebrand could bring it all under one roof to make your marketing easier and more streamlined.
You may have a new product idea and you’re wondering how it fits with your current business?
You could also be under trademark infringement and need to rename your business fast.
These are all great and powerful reasons to re-brand your business. Now, let’s look at cost…
Rebranding your business can vary in cost greatly depending on the process you invest in.
The more focused on design the process is, the less likely it is to be effective. The reason is that the design should serve to support the business strategy.
In other words, the business strategy should come first and the design should come second.
It’s not the logo design that will make your business grow and be more impactful, it’s the story and difference that you make with your brand that produces the best results.
Here’s what to expect based on your budget:
$10 – 1000
This will get you a logo design only, working with a junior designer without branding expertise, however, a logo design is not the only brand asset you need. Think of Apple’s white chord and how anytime you see a white chord you instantly think it’s an Apple product. This level of investment is only advisable if you’re not sure if you’re going to follow through on the business and are treating it as an experiment or test in the market.
$1001 – $3000
This will get you a designer only without any emphasis on the business strategy, so it’s entirely possible if you go down this path you should expect to rebrand again in the future to align it with your strategy.
$3001 – $10,000
At this level of investment you could be working with a copywriter and designer, but are likely still missing out on the more strategic aspects of building any real differentiation, messaging and business strategy for your rebrand. It’s likely at this cost that you’re working with mid-level experts. You will need to be the project manager here and piece everything together between the strategy, copy and design.
$10,001 – $30,000
At this level of investment, you can start to tap into working with real branding professionals that can support you with strategy, design, and copy, and work alongside you to meet your goals. You may need to participate in doing homework at this level of investment. This budget is most suitable for small companies.
$15,001 – $30,000
At this level, you should definitely be able to access top-notch branding experts in strategy, design, and copy that can completely support your goals.
$30,001 – $100,000
At this level, you should definitely be able to access top-notch branding experts in strategy, design, and copy that can completely support your goals. This budget is most suitable for medium sized companies. The bigger the company is the more complex the branding process becomes. Most small branding agencies start at this level of investment.
$100,001 and above
At this level, you should definitely be able to access top-notch branding experts in strategy, design, and copy, and also be able to get some implementation work completed at this level of investment. This budget is suitable for medium to large sized companies.
The following outlines a typical rebranding process and what steps to expect in the process.
It’s important to note that each phase here builds upon the next so you can’t skip to phase 3 without going through the first 2 steps in the process.
Phase 1 | Discovery Timeline: 1-2 weeks
Customer research:
To understand your customers challenges, desires and perceptions
Competitive research:
To understand where the opportunity is for differentiation
Internal clarity:
A process of getting clarity to determine what the leaders mission, vision and values of the business are so that they can grow a business in alignment with their highest purpose and self-fulfillment. It’s important to include employees in this process if you have them.
Phase 2 | Brand Strategy Timeline: 3-4 weeks
Brand strategy:
A series of outcomes that at the very least includes mission, vision, values, positioning, differentiation, key messaging themes, tagline, customer’s persona’s, manifesto, business name and product names. Without these any redesign of a logo is just lipstick on a pig and doesn’t take into account the business strategy of the business.
Phase 3 | Brand identity design + implementation Timeline: 3-4 weeks
Brand identity design:
A phase where you explore different visual themes including logo design, photography palate, textures, colours, fonts etc.
Phase 4 | Brand activation Timeline: 4-6 weeks
Once the brand look and feel is established and approved, you can begin to apply it consistently to your website, signage, merchandise, product packaging, collaterals and more.
The whole process will take between 3-4 months, depending on the size of your company.
So… That’s the lowdown on rebranding… the why, the cost, and how it long it should take.
What’s your take?
Have any follow-up questions or feedback? Want to know more about rebranding? Reach out to us using the form below.
