Refresh, reposition, rebuild, renew, rebrand – however you look at it, it may be time for a small tweak or a complete overhaul of your brand story, your brand messaging and positioning and possibly your brand name and logo. Here are five reasons that every company should consider that may be telling you that it’s time to change.
- You have made a new acquisition. This is often a reason to explore whether your brand still stands for the same things it did to prior to the acquisition. For example, has the acquisition brought you new capabilities as well as new customers? Are the new customers in a different industry vertical? Are there new team members who will change your brand story narrative? What other questions are coming up that make you think your old brand story might not quite fit?
- You have changed your focus. If the pandemic and rush to work from home has taught us anything, it’s that our focus has shifted. That shift for many companies – from serving customers in a central location to serving individuals in multiple remote locations – may have been the impetus for a shift in the way you talk about your brand.
- You have increased or decreased your services, products and offerings. If you have added to your offerings in some significant way, it may be time to consider how to tell a new brand story. How can you show the growth or fewer, more selective offerings, as a positive response to serving your customers?
- ?You are combining formerly disparate brands. This is like the first reason, but more complex. Sometime companies and brands grow through multiple acquisitions, or they have spun off smaller brands, and now they need to consolidate them under a single roof. In branding circles, we talk about a “house of brands” like P&G versus a “branded house” like Disney. It’s a great litmus test for your new brand story to understand how your customers – all your customers from all the smaller brands – will view the new company brand.
- You have simply outgrown the old brand. It happens to everyone – and every brand. We change, we grow, we shrink, we move. If your brand is not dynamic and doesn’t embrace change for the sake of growth, your brand will likely become someone else’s acquisition target. That’s fine as long as it’s your choice. However, if you embrace change as necessary for meeting the needs of your dynamic market and customers, then you may reach a point where it is also time to change your brand story. This doesn’t mean that you need to change your brand name, but you will want to consider the brand story you tell and the way it is accepted and internalized both internally by your team and externally by your customers and industry.
Start by taking an assessment of your current brand story – or the many brand stories that your company and brand now embody – and think about what you want your new story to convey. You may not have the words for it yet; that’s fine! Just record your impressions – as well as those of your team and customers – so that you have a starting place. Then build from these raw ideas to create a new brand story statement that reflects how you view your refreshed brand. You don’t need to do this alone. Hire a professional brand story agency that guide you through the rebranding process to build a newer, stronger story that is reflective of your new brand!
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