Things to consider before rebranding your business



Recently Instagram has given itself a rebrand.  After 5 years the brand has introduced a new icon as well as redesigning the app itself.  

Rebranding has been on my mind recently, as the agency where I work, Digital Annexe, has rebranded and changed its name to Your Favourite Story.  After 10 years, we felt it was time for a fresh start, as our founder, Julian Mitchell, explains here. 

It's important for brands to refresh and update their identity and sometimes even their change name.  Probably one of the biggest and best examples of this was AVIVA. This was a complex, global rebranding exercise as the main brand, Norwich Union, had acquired a number of other financial services and it needed to bring altogether under one umbrella identity.

Another successful and more recent example was Old Spice. This was more of an example of changing the brand personality rather than its logo.

Probably one of the most embarrassing rebrands was GAP.  It changed its iconic logo but after a week of customer complaints it suddenly reverted back to the original classic logo. Therefore rebranding can be fraught with danger (so you need to be careful).

Too often do businesses forget to weigh all the options before jumping into a business rebrand, forgetting tiny details that can make all the difference. Here are 5 things you should consider before taking the steps towards a full rebranding.



1. New direction

Some feel rebranding is the best way to define the direction they would like take as a brand, but you should consider what you could lose changing directions, how your customers will react.  


Sometimes evolution is better than revolution!  Subtle changes over time can allow your customers to adjust, however it all depends on the strength of brand and the needs and desire of your audience.  

2. Dedicate enough resources 

Believing a rebrand is easy is very naïve, realising how big of a task a full rebrand is and having appropriate staff, resources and designs ready beforehand is important. A rebrand takes an entirely dedicated team and it's vital to develop a detailed plan that encompasses all aspects of your current brand reach, such as print, digital, social, trade, exhibitions, affiliates, retail, etc.

3. Hitting refresh

You are able to refresh your entire image, starting clean. Some things do get a bit outdated - a rebrand gives your business the opportunity to redefine all the factors of your brand. 
Focus on what things you hope to refresh with a rebrand. Remember hitting refresh does come with a downside, you are changing the way you do business. 



4. Devil in the digital details 

Many tiny details are often overlooked in digital, such as changing social media accounts, calling tech support and other associated businesses to inform them of the change, creating your business on Google Maps.  

Many of those important but small details

Clearly rebranding is no small task. However, the “look and feel’ of a brand (and even the name) are vitally important, but for me, the key aspect of a brand are the values it stands for.  

Watch our for my next blog post to find out more!

Sean Singleton is Managing Director at Your Favourite Story. Read more from him here.