Reasons why you should Rebrand your business

Rebranding simply put is a marketing strategy where a new name, term, design or a combination of all is created for an already existing brand with the sole purpose of creating a newly differentiated identity in the minds of users, investors, customers as well as competitors. Although as much as it sounds easy to actualize, it can turn out to be a very overwhelming task to execute. Rebranding is not a common execution task that can be done without the help of others. However, based on the recent ideologies about rebranding where it involves a simple logo change, which gives a bigger picture of the business, websites, marketing strategies, and offline activities, rebranding involves more than that.

If done properly, it gives more life to your business, but it has to be done with good intentions and focus. Below are a few points on why you should rebrand your business

1. Differentiating your brand from other brands (Competitors)
   Businesses on the same level of growth or with similar approaches usually appear in-different from a user’s point of view, as a result of the inability to differentiate them from one another, customers are unable to explore their preferences but instead go for the convenient and readily available product. It is important to note that if your business has similar characteristics with other competitors, a re-brand is necessary. This gives you an edge when it comes to customer brand selection.
2. Paradigm shifts
   In cases where management control takes a different gear for instance, after a business merger or takeover, rebranding should be a priority. This gives your brand a new and fresh identity which helps in reassuring customers about the positive changes and how they can benefit from them. Looking at Budweiser a beer brand drank by Americans, in 2008 stopped being American, with parent company Anheuser-Busch purchased by Belgian firm InBev, the new company needed to reassure both customers as well as investors that its products and market share would not be affected by the change of ownership, thus the name was rebranded to Anheuser-Busch InBev, literally incorporating the parent company and recent company names and imagery together. Also, take for instance 9 mobile formally known as Etisalat, rebranded its name due to management changes, even with a different name they still offer services formally offered and even more, which is a great way to reassure their customers.
3. Reflecting changing times
   As businesses grow over the years and new products and services are added to the businesses forte, it is important to rebrand. Take, for instance, a business that specializes in female clothing, and the management decides to include male clothing to their area of expertise in order to appeal to a wider market, it is necessary that the business branding should reflect the change in product diversity and future additions. Take for instance the company's old spice.
4. Attracting the right audience
   Rebranding helps in improving marketing strategies. Take, for instance, your target audience changes from an older generation to a younger generation. It would be playing naive thinking that a branding strategy that caught the attention a woman should attract men also. Your brand name should be consistent with your target audience.
5. Innovation sake
   Brand names usually reflect certain innovative changes gone through by businesses, so in order to reflect these changes for customers and shareholders to see, it is necessary to rebrand. Businesses that rebrand continually in the aspect of their products and services have greater reputations and credibility compared to other brands.

If rebranding is done for the right reasons and in the right way, it can be a very effective turning point for the business. It is important to learn from other businesses or company predecessors, with good records of rebranding gone right, and still retain the nature of the company.

Originally published at www.cinoteck.com.ng on January 31, 2018.