Is it Time to Rebrand?
Is It Time to Rebrand?
As strategic advisors to our clients, we are often asked by the CEO - “should I rebrand my company”? They may have a nagging sense that their message isn’t fresh. Or, changes in the landscape – ie, new competitors, have challenged them to take stock. Or their VP of Marketing is pushing strongly for funding for a rebranding effort.
Our answer is always the same. Maybe, maybe not.
Never believing in branding for branding sake, we always suggest an “outside in” assessment to bring perspective to those internally who may be too close day to day. The answer after this process is not always the same. Sometimes, it’s yes. Sometimes, it’s no. Sometimes, it calls for a positioning and messaging evolution, not a revolution.
Not so fast.
One client truly thought that with a new CEO at the helm, little change in positioning in the six years since it launched and a major competitor encroaching, that they needed to rebrand. The assessment showed that there was incredible brand equity among their customers, that they were the leader in the space they had created, and that the perceived competitor was actually a potential partner. Rebranding would have negated all that good work to date.
Message to all stakeholders.
Another client was finding increasingly that IT was showing up late to the game and disrupting the sales cycle believing that they had a better, corporate standard solution. The assessment confirmed that the business buyers would always consult IT, but they had no message for these important influencers. Not losing the heritage in their specific niche of the market, they kept the top line positioning the same, but including white papers, webinars and a track on the web site specifically for IT enabled the sales people to more confidently approach and sell to IT earlier in the cycle.
Smart decision.
One CEO who values the importance of solid brand and positioning left one IT security company to head up another and called us to help rebrand the company. He recognized that the IT security marketplace places high value on professionalism and credibility and couldn’t in good faith hand out a business card until they were at par with their competition marketing wise. A one month intense and collaborative effort really forced the issue to define the essence, value proposition and image he wanted to portray entering the new market. A worthwhile (but frantic!) exercise to get it right.
We've also seen long, expensive brand overhaul projects - new logo, new look and feel, new web site - all because companies thought they needed to "rebrand" when really all they needed was to take stock and shore up their positioning and messaging. What have you seen?