How to rebrand your SME effectively

When you started your business, you tested numerous markets and business strategies until you found the ones that worked best for you. I listed a few things you should consider if you want to maintain continuous growth.

1 - Does your brand name still align with your brand identity?

You should consider reviewing your name if:

• Stakeholders consistently make the wrong assumption about what your company does and you end up having to explain it
• It doesn't align with your new business activities. If your business expands to offer additional services or products, you should consider changing your name so your stakeholders don’t remain knowing your brand for one element of your business
• You want to do business internationally but your brand name translates negatively
• You have merged with another company and their brand name has more value and credibility than yours

Creating a new brand name is not as easy as it seems. It is a long process where you have to find the brand name that attracts and aligns with your market and your identity. Ideally, your brand name should be easy to spell and easy to pronounce. Simplicity is a must have especially nowadays where simple names are most of the time not available. A brand made of 2 to 3 syllables is ideal.

Involve a limited number of employees from different age groups and roles within your business in the brand naming process to ensure everyone has the same perception. Weigh the pros and cons and make sure the new brand name fits with your business activities and values. It is important to consider future growth when you choose a name. Indeed, you may specialise in a certain sector but you should not limit your brand potential as your strategy will evolve.

2 - Does your logo need to be updated or redesigned?

Every business should refresh and change their logo every 5-10 years to remain accurate in the market they operate. If your brand logo looks outdated, it implies your brand hasn’t evolved to remain competitive. Therefore you are not perceived as a key leader. Most businesses started with a limited capital, and little to no money was spent on the logo design. Now that your business has grown and your brand value is more established, it needs to reflect your brand vision. It reflects where your business is headed not where you are at the present. Therefore, you will need to update your logo to project the optimal brand credibility to attract more business.

This may be the moment for you to think about having a well-thought and professional logo that fits with your higher standards. Where to start? Look at the brands of the competitors leading your market. Although they might not always be exempted from any imperfection, they might help you to find ideas and what you like or not.

A logo is personal, it represents the identity of your brand, so you should always find a way to make your logo unique, although not bizarre compared to what already exists.

3 - Are your colours still aligned with your activities?

Every colour has different meanings. Keep also in mind that some colours can be perceived differently in different cultures. If you are planning to expand your business internationally, worth conducting some “translate communication” research with an agency. Remember, choosing the right tone, shade and colour combination is extremely important. That's where most businesses get it wrong. Your brand colours should be appealing and align with your target audience. Here is a brief explanation of the meanings of each colour:

Using red pros & cons

• Positive: Love, passion, warmth, speed, energy, determination, courage, socialism, bravery.
• Negative: Danger, blood, violence, anger.

Using orange pros and cons

• Positive: cheerfulness, affordability, enthusiasm, stimulation, creativity.
• Negative: Low cost, aggression.

Using yellow pros and cons:

• Positive: friendship, optimism, intellect, happiness, energy, playful, creative, confidence, wealth (gold yellow).
• Negative: Cowardice, hunger, conflict.

Using pink pros and cons:

• Positive: Feminine, love, tenderness, motherhood, sweetness.
• Negative: Lust, colours associated with girls.

Using purple pros and cons:

• Positive: Power, nobility, elegance, sophistication, luxury.
• Negative: Mystery, witchcraft, hypocrisy.

Using blue pros and cons:

• Positive: Peace, professionalism, loyalty, reliability, honour, trust, conservative.
• Negative: Melancholia, boredom, coldness.

Using green pros and cons:

• Positive: Luck, durability, nature, optimism, calm, safety, freshness, harmony, hope.
• Negative: Failure, sickness. Green is also the colour of Islam. Avoid using it in Muslim countries.

Using brown pros and cons:

• Positive: Confidence, casual, nature, earthy, solid, reliable, genuine, endurance.
• Negative: Dirty.

Using black pros and cons:

• Positive: Luxury, elegance, power, night.
• Negative: Death, depression, illegality. Black is perceived as the colour of the life in the traditional Asian culture.

 Using white pros and cons:

• Positive: Purity, newness, virginity, peace, innocence, simplicity, snow, ice and bravery.
• Negative: White is perceived as the colour of death in the traditional Asian culture.

Remember that when colours are effectively combined or used individually, it creates a positive impact, if not then you get the opposite.

4 - Does your website engage and attract new clients?

Your website is the front window of your entire company. First impression matters as you get no second chance. If your website bounce rate is above 25%, this means you are projecting the brand attraction your prospects are looking for. Most companies do not get their website statistics and lose potential prospects every day. Your website should be a reflection of the quality your clients will receive. It should be engaging and aligned with your branding. 

Ensure that your website is:

• search engine optimised (SEO) through the use of keywords, title tags, image alt text and metadata, which will improve how your site appears in the search engines. 
• in adherence to conversion rate optimisation (CRO), which is a system that will increase the percentage of visitors to your website that converts into customers.

Who are we?

We are an international creative agency specialising in brand strategy, design, marketing and communications. We help you improve the value of your business or product identity to project the optimal brand credibility. Consequently, it will improve your brand value, engage prospects, team members and consequently grow your brand more effectively.

Click here to get our complimentary guide to successfully scale up your SME brand