Rebranding a business is a big step. A company’s brand is a key component of its success. It is a big part of what makes a good impression on them. Without strong branding, it is all too easy for potential clients to think of your competitors first when they need something.
Why keeping your brand current makes good business sense
Most business owners know this, so understandably they are reluctant to change things. But not doing so is a mistake. If a company does not continually update its brand, it inevitably ends up looking old-fashioned. This makes them less and less appealing to each new wave of younger consumers. It can also put off some of their more established customers, because, over time, what appeals to them evolves and changes.
It is essential that businesses get the process of rebranding right. Especially physical retailers. They have big stores that need to look appealing and feel welcoming to customers. Without the right branding, this is impossible to achieve.
Get professional help
In today’s highly visual world, branding is a vital component of any business’s marketing arsenal. There is a lot of competition, so consumers are exposed to a lot of visual stimulation. It is, therefore, hard to stand out and do so in a positive way.
For this reason, in most circumstances, it is best to employ a professional marketing firm to do your rebranding. Looking at a rebrand as an investment rather than as an expense is a good way to make sure that you do not try to scrimp on it and end up not doing it properly. For example, your posters should be printed by a digital printing london company or similar company closer to where your business is to ensure the paper is of high quality and the image is crystal clear.
Take your time
A professional firm will take the time to learn about your company, its values, customer demographics, and buying habits. They will look at what your main competitors are doing and take some lessons from their approach to branding. Then, come up with some options and go through them with you.
There will be a lot of information for you to absorb, so you will need to put aside some time to consider the options. It is also wise to sit down with your customer-facing staff and discuss the different possibilities, before making a final decision.
Implementing the rebrand in-store
Once your new branding is ready it is time to roll it out across your company. How you approach this depends in part on how many stores you have and whether your in-store employees are going to change everything or not. Some companies find it best to roll the new brand out store by store and have a mobile team do all of the work. This 2nd approach is usually less disruptive to the day-to-day running of a business.
But if you have a lot of stores, you will need a huge team to be able to get around them all fast enough. Running a business that is using two sets of branding is complex, time-consuming, and potentially expensive. So, you do not want to leave yourself having to do that for too long.
Replacing items that have the old branding
The list of items that carry branding in a store is a long one. You will need to update or replace all of the following:
Banners
Business cards – When rebranding your business, using a retransfer card printer can help make high quality business cards
Posters
Shop frontage
Trolley handles and badges
Any on floor advertising
In-store aisle and maybe your directional signage
Shelf edge labels
Staff badges and maybe uniforms too
Update your digitally produced branding
This list is to a large extent self-explanatory. But the last item is one that often gets overlooked by stores that are going through a rebrand.
Rebranding the digital elements of your store infrastructure
If you use your logo or a strapline on customer receipts and things like order forms, get those updated. Any piece of paper a customer is likely to see needs to be reviewed.
As do any digital advertising displays or signs. Creating engaging digital signage for branding is something that most retailers now do to increase customer engagement and sales. However, such retailers often seek the help of professionals in order to get the best of advertising using digital signage. In addition to providing signage solutions, such professionals can offer audio-optional televisions for advertising. (Note that you can find such experts at looptv and similar firms).
That said, if you think that you can do this all by yourself, then why not give it a try? The best approach is to update all of your advert templates. Usually, you will need to add the new logo, font, colors and strapline. It is also worth going through the stock of images that you use to create in-store digital ads and deleting those that no longer fit in with the firm’s brand.
Don’t change your branding too often
Rebranding regularly is important, but it is not something that should be done too often. It is a very disruptive process for any business to go through and is not cheap to do. But more importantly, rebranding too often can end up losing you customers rather than helping you to gain more. As you can see here, it takes the typical consumer 5 to 7 impressions before your new branding will make a lasting impression.
Provided you stay organized, rebranding need not be disruptive. But it is not a change that any business owner should take lightly.