Should you rebrand your small business in 2020?

In this digital age, trends are constantly changing, and it can be hard for businesses to keep up. Keeping the look, feel, and values of your business fresh can be the key to keeping your company at the top of your industry. Ultimately, knowing the risks of rebranding can help you determine whether its the right choice for you or not. Here are some reasons why you should, or shouldn’t rebrand your business this year. 

Reasons you SHOULD consider rebranding your business:

• Business expansion: if you have or are planning to expand your business to new markets – perhaps internationally – you may want to refresh your current branding to suit and identify with your new audience better.
• Market repositioning: brands are there to connect businesses to customers, so if your customer base in changing – or you are planning to market to a new customer base through product, place, price, or promotion – your brand will need to adjust.
• Business update: aspects of your company such as your logo, service or pricing may simply feel outdated. In this case a rebrand could help your company feel more modern and contemporary.  
• New values: your branding should always reflect your business’ mission, vision and values. So, if you are considering updating or changing your MVV, you should also be re-evaluating your brand.

Reasons you SHOULD NOT consider rebranding your business:

• Boredom: seeing the same logo and slogan everyday can make you restless, but this is not a reason to rebrand. Remember that your customers (who don’t necessarily encounter your brand frequently) might love that signature colour or illustration you’ve started to hate.
• To cover something up: your company may have some issues, or perhaps you’ve gotten some bad press or feedback recently, but a rebrand isn’t the solution. Plus, most consumers will more than likely see though your rebrand and recognise it as what it is – a cover up.
• Attention seeking: Your sales may not be what they were, or maybe your promotions aren’t preforming like you wanted. Either way, jumping to a rebrand isn’t the answer. Although it could generate short term buzz, without a well thought out strategy it will be difficult to sustain, and you could lose your existing brand recognition – however small it may be.

Rebranding is often overlooked as they are complicated, and can be risky, but if done right there can be multiple advantages. Please feel free to contact me if you would like help or advice with rebranding your business.