What is rebranding, goals and stages of rebranding

One of the powerful marketing tools is rebranding. This is the name of the next stage in the development of a company’s brand, closely associated with changes in business ideology, with the evolution of its main idea. Rebranding helps create a new image of the company and its product in the minds of customers.

Rebranding: concept, goals and objectives

Rebranding is understood as a set of measures aimed at changing the brand and its constituent elements (ideology, name, logo, slogan, visual design, etc.). In the most general sense, rebranding is aimed at changing the image that already exists in the minds of consumers.

Rebranding allows you to bring the brand in line with the current state and plans of the company. Changes can affect a variety of issues, including updating the packaging and compiling new promotional materials. In this case, as a rule, this is not a complete replacement of the previous brand. It continues its evolution, becoming more fresh and emotional. New qualities give the brand the opportunity to become more attractive to old customers and win new consumers.

Minor changes in the visual elements of the brand or in the marketing policy should not be considered rebranding. This method reflects serious, qualitative changes in the company's strategy and in its market positioning. Almost all aspects related to the brand are subject to revision.

Rebranding objectives:

• increasing brand uniqueness;

• brand reinforcement;

• Attraction of new clients.

Carrying out rebranding, they strive to preserve those aspects of it that the consumer perceives as advantages, and to abandon those qualities that reduce popularity and recognition.

The need for rebranding

Rebranding is necessary in the presence of one or more factors:

• erroneous brand positioning at the beginning of a business;

• changes in market conditions;

• low level of brand popularity;

• loss in competition;

• statement of more ambitious business tasks.

Marketers highlight many points that force companies to resort to rebranding. One of them is the erosion of the actual needs of the target audience, which are in constant motion. Every day the market intensifies competition, new players appear, more modern means of promotion begin to be applied, and distribution channels expand. All these points make the management of the companies return to the starting point, and often even begin to form the image from scratch.

It often happens that all the efforts of marketers to create a new brand do not pay off, do not lead to an increase in the target audience and profit growth. At any stage of rebranding, it must be remembered that the main purpose of using such a tool is to bring the company closer to the target consumer group, to increase the overall competitiveness of the product, product or service with which the company enters the market.

Unsuccessful rebranding is often associated with the inability of specialists to concentrate on those positions that are really achievable, with the pursuit of imaginary success, for which there are no sufficient reasons. Overly ambitious goals cannot contribute to a realistic and effective positioning of the company and its products.

Rebranding Stages

At the first stage of rebranding, an audit of a cash brand is carried out, including a study of its condition, an assessment of customer attitudes to it, and determination of its features. An analysis is also being made of the financial capabilities of the company. The purpose of the audit is to assess the recognition of an existing brand. Marketers seek to understand whether the consumer is loyal to the brand, whether there are serious obstacles to its perception. An audit allows you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the brand, its advantages over competitors. A full analysis makes it possible to make an informed decision about whether a brand needs a change in positioning. If a marketing audit indicates a low level of brand recognition, rebranding is designed to enhance this characteristic.

At the second stage, a rebranding strategy and tactics for its implementation are being developed. The main content of the stage is to identify those brand elements that need to be changed.

The third stage involves changing the selected brand elements. A new positioning is being used, identification systems (verbal and visual) are being updated, a different brand communication strategy is being introduced.

The final step is to convey the meaning of rebranding to the target audience.

Rebranding Elements

The following concepts are closely related to the “rebranding” category:

• restyling;

• redesign;

• repositioning.

Restyling - a change in some of the visual characteristics of the company logo, including its color schemes. Such changes must be consistent with the new positioning.

Redesign - a complete change in the corporate identity of the company, including its logo.

By repositioning is understood the change of the essential characteristics of the brand with their subsequent consolidation in the minds of consumers.

The described changes can be implemented individually or in combination. In domestic practice, companies are often limited to light forms of rebranding: they change the style of external attributes, the design of points of sale and packaging.

Rebranding: the subtleties of technology

Rebranding is not a simple change of sign or company name. The wrong choice of rebranding strategy can adversely affect the image of the company. Customers may be disoriented. Some of the target audience may even have the perception of an updated brand as a fake. Lower prices for products only reinforce this opinion. The result is the collapse of the entire project.

Large-scale rebranding, including changing the corporate identity and company name, can be relatively safe only for not too well-known companies. Each change in a stable brand that has market weight turns into a risky event. Even minor miscalculations can inflict hard damage on the image of the company.

If the previous brand was successful, serious marketing work should be carried out before its large-scale replacement, including in-depth interviews with representatives of the target audience and working out the consequences of the proposed changes with focus groups.