Your brand identity has a lot of responsibilities. One glance at your company’s logo or website should show your capabilities, work style and how you rank within your industry. Despite this heavy burden, only 60% of marketers think their brand is well aligned with their long term goals.
As time passes and your company evolves, your brand may need to adjust to keep up. If clients are surprised by your capabilities, or you’re offering services that don’t align with your visual and verbal identities, you’ve probably outgrown your brand. While this evolution is a great accomplishment, it also means you’ll need to re-introduce yourself to prospects and clients with a rebrand.
The first step to any successful rebrand is gathering support from your internal stakeholders, which can be as daunting as it is important. Here are four key ways you can get them on board:
1. Show them how you compare to competitors
Start by poking holes in your current identity to stress the necessity of a rebrand. Conduct a competitive analysis by looking at brands you think you’ve surpassed, along with those you aspire to compete with. Take note of observations such as how your logo lines up to theirs, what color schemes are being used and what keywords their verbal identity includes to see how you fit into current industry standards.
By conducting a thorough brand competitive analysis, you’ll be able to clearly identify opportunities for growth and provide your internal stakeholders with concrete evidence on why a rebrand is necessary.
2. Give your brand an honest review
After doing the competitive analysis, you’ll have a great understanding of how your current brand fits within your industry. Take that knowledge and conduct an honest analysis of your brand, looking for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Pay particular attention to the industry patterns you’ve uncovered and how you fit within them.
Using this analysis, you’ll uncover more ways a rebrand can help your business. For example, maybe your company is struggling to attract inbound leads. If that’s the case, consider how a rebrand can address this issue, and use this to gain the support of stakeholders who have been dealing with these pain points for some time.
3. Reinforce the hidden benefits of rebranding
Not only can a rebrand lead to real business impact, but it can also have a lasting effect on your employees. With 50% of employees sharing something about their employer on social media, they have the potential to serve as strong brand advocates. A rebrand is an invaluable opportunity to reinvigorate your employees’ excitement for your company. Making sure stakeholders understand that a rebrand isn’t just for clients and prospects – but that it can also inspire improved work and spark internal brand loyalty – will further increase their support for the project.
4. Make your stakeholders feel heard
Once your stakeholders understand the business need for a rebrand, it’s time to assure them their opinions will be heard throughout the creation of the new identity. By making them an essential part of the process, you’ll not only gain their invaluable insight, but you will also ensure they stay supportive and involved.
Gathering stakeholders’ opinions on current brand standards is a great way to make sure your stakeholders feel included. Stakeholders are inherently busy people, so consider sending a quick and clear survey to gauge their visions for the future. As the rebrand process moves even further along, be sure to get their opinions throughout the creation of your new identity. Set up regular check-ins throughout the entire process to keep them in the loop and give them the opportunity to provide constructive feedback.
Selling the idea of a rebrand to your internal stakeholders is just the first step. Once you have their buy-in, there’s still a long way to go. Get in touch with our branding experts today to see how we can help.
