Rebranding is a bit like strolling a tightrope. On one hand, you threat going too far and alienating your loyal clients. Alternatively, you threat spending cash on a minor facelift with out actually attaining something.
So when it comes time to rebrand, you need to be sure to strike the correct stability.
That is made harder these days, as a result of your model consists of so many issues. As soon as upon a time, you might get away with a flashy brand, and possibly a catchy slogan. Branding must be a lot extra.
Within the fashionable market, clients care deeply in regards to the actions of manufacturers. Because of this, it’s very important to determine clear model values. That’s earlier than you even get all the way down to concrete facets of branding.
Nonetheless, all of those components boil down to 1 factor—buyer perceptions.
The significance of buyer perceptions
Your model is the way you need individuals to consider your organization. Buyer perceptions are what individuals consider you. Finally, then, the aim of any rebranding train is to alter buyer perceptions.
It’s vital to notice this hole. There’s the message you push, after which there’s the message that’s picked up.
Probably the most excessive instance of it is a British automotive from the Nineties—the Vauxhall Nova. Nova is, in fact, the Latin for new, so it’s fairly obvious how Vauxhall wished their new mannequin to be perceived.
Sadly, nevertheless, No va in Spanish means doesn’t go. This impacted buyer perceptions sufficient in Spain that they needed to go for a unique identify in the event that they wished to promote any vehicles to Spanish individuals.
The lesson right here is easy. Your model is barely nearly as good because the picture you mission.
In different phrases, buyer perceptions are king. That is the place buyer surveys enter the image. We’ll have a look at how this works in somewhat extra element a bit later, however for now, buyer surveys have two predominant advantages throughout a rebrand:
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You’ll acquire a greater understanding of your buyer, in addition to their desires and desires
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You may get direct suggestions on which path to take your model.
In case you’re contemplating a rebrand, likelihood is there’s some extra basic downside with your enterprise than you’d like to deal with. For instance: you aren’t attracting sufficient clients, so that you’d like to focus on a brand new demographic.
In excessive circumstances, you is perhaps affected by a PR downside or a foul status, and also you’ve determined it’s time to begin recent. Both method, it’s useful to bear in mind the final word aim of your rebrand.
With that in thoughts, let’s have a look at what goes right into a profitable rebrand.
The fundamentals of rebranding
Earlier than we get to easy methods to incorporate surveys into your rebrand, it’s price looking at a number of the levers you’ll be able to pull. Your model is made up of two associated issues—your branding and your model identification.
One technique to perceive the distinction is that branding is what’s on the floor of your model. Your model identification, however, is what’s beneath the floor.
Branding
Since branding is the floor stage of your model, lots of it comes all the way down to sensory experiences. These may be:
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Visible – like a brand or colour palette
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Aural – like a jingle or theme tune
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Olfactory – like once you stroll previous the cleaning soap store Lush
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Style – like a signature sauce or recipe
Branding may also be extra delicate, like establishing a constant tone of voice throughout your entire content material advertising. Your model may even be the best way your advertising engages with clients’ feelings.
A typical method to do that is by using nostalgia. Simply take into consideration Nintendo’s output in the previous couple of years. That is all about making a model with emotional ties to their clients’ childhoods.
Model identification
It doesn’t matter what sorts of branding you utilize, they need to be underlined by your model identification. That is sort of just like the fictional individual behind your branding. As such, it consists of issues like:
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Values
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Actions
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Fame
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Character traits
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Humor
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Positioning
Naturally sufficient, your model identification is only when it displays your clients. This must be carried out in a pure and genuine method. In any other case, you’ll come throughout as condescending and drive clients away. That is one thing we’ve tried to realize with Voila Norbert, an electronic mail finder device.
How buyer insights allow you to rebrand
Fortunately, it’s not that onerous to leverage buyer surveys throughout a rebrand. That is additionally a wonderful alternative to create extra basic adjustments in the best way you run your enterprise, with a view to providing a greater services or products to your clients. It’s a core a part of an efficient enterprise improvement technique.
To that finish, the next survey technique is much extra complete than merely measuring the effectiveness of your new brand.
As an alternative, this strategy takes a rebranding train as a second of reflection. It’s a time to think about what’s working for you and your clients, and extra importantly, what isn’t. This then results in a basic change in your model, slightly than superficial change.
Understanding your clients
Initially, a rebranding survey is a superb likelihood to examine in along with your clients. Particularly, it’s an opportunity to examine that your assumptions about your clients are right. Even fundamental demographic data like age, gender, and placement is vitally vital.
Take age, for instance. That is massively vital when making a model identification. As an illustration, older customers are typically way more loyal to manufacturers, whereas youthful individuals are extra involved with discovering manufacturers whose values match their very own.
Equally, it is a good likelihood to determine why your clients select your model. In any case, you need to retain these constructive components throughout your rebrand.
This leads naturally to the subsequent aim of rebranding surveys.
Establishing ache factors
A survey-led rebrand additionally helps you to determine what’s not going nicely. There are three predominant kinds of ache factors you’ll be able to determine in a buyer survey and handle along with your rebrand.
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Modifications in buyer attitudes and tastes over time
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Demand for a brand new product or resolution
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Demand for proactive or improved customer support
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Reputational harm to your model, the place a rebrand may also help present you’re taking motion
We’ll have a look at examples of every in direction of the top of this information.
Testing out your new model
First, although, the ultimate step of rebrand surveys is about measuring the affect of your new model. The place the earlier two steps have been extra about data gathering, right here we need to take a look at out our newest concepts earlier than we deploy them.
This could take the type of a separate model effectiveness survey. By way of the model effectiveness survey, you’ll be able to assess how nicely your viewers is responding to your new branding and model identification.
Utilizing a rebrand to resolve buyer & enterprise issues
Since we all know that the perfect rebrands replicate a extra basic enterprise change, let’s have a look at a number of profitable and excessive profile examples.
Altering tastes & attitudes
One of the best instance of this comes from quick meals manufacturers within the final 12 months or two. It gained’t shock any of you to be taught that veganism is on the rise in lots of international locations. With that in thoughts, right here’s a Burger King Fb advert from 2018.
And right here’s one from 2020.
In a brief house of time, they’ve rebranded themselves from being meat lovers to inclusive, vegan-friendly rebels. This can be a nice instance of a big model altering its core pitch to fulfill altering attitudes.
Assembly demand from new markets
My favourite instance of that is Jägermeister. Not everybody is aware of this, however Jägermeister was initially a tonic, aimed toward maintaining hunters and skiers heat of their mountain lodges.
Nonetheless, within the late 80s, a vivid younger marketer at Purple Bull was on the lookout for a spirit to create a cocktail utilizing their drink. That new demand turned this…
.. into this…
Overcoming reputational harm
Lastly, within the final variety of years, numerous manufacturers have taken reputational hits on account of their environmental affect. For instance, a whole bunch of distinguished information tales have coated the results of single-use plastics on the world’s oceans.
This has led to corporations making operational adjustments and accompanying these with rebranding workout routines the place they undertake new core values and shout about their inexperienced credentials. Take a look at the next advert from the individuals at Coke, for instance.
The way to incorporate buyer surveys in your rebranding train
Rebranding may be costly. The worth of utilizing buyer surveys throughout a rebranding train is guaranteeing that that is cash nicely spent. The important thing to doing that is by ensuring your new model creates your required buyer perceptions.
This may be carried out by surveying your clients. This fashion, you’ll be able to acquire a greater image of them, and be taught what they like and don’t like about your model. In flip, this data can be utilized to tell each your branding and your model identification.
Lastly, any rebrand is barely really efficient if it comes together with better adjustments, both to your services or products, or to how your enterprise operates.
Nico Prins is a SaaS advisor and the founding father of Launch House. He helps corporations develop their digital advertising methods. He’s labored with everybody from Fortune 500 corporations to scale ups like Voila Norbert, serving to them develop content material advertising methods that align with their enterprise targets. Observe him on Twitter @nhdprins.
