In today’s accelerated and ever-evolving marketplace, even the most established and successful companies sometimes find themselves at a crossroad. As market dynamics shift, consumer preferences change, and new competitors emerge, legacy brands must adapt and evolve to remain relevant, memorable, and competitive.
The rebranding process is a vital and necessary undertaking for legacy brands that seek to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing or turbulent marketplace. By recognizing the need for change, setting clear objectives, and assessing the brand’s DNA, heritage, and equity, legacy brands can lay an even stronger foundation to connect with, and to convert new customers. Here is a simple roadmap of the key areas to address.
1. Recognizing and Addressing the Need for Change
By recognizing the need for change, legacy brands can take the first step towards revitalization and revenue growth.
The decision to embark on a rebranding journey often stems from a realization that the current brand identity, messaging, and key visuals are no longer effectively resonating with the target audience. Legacy brands may also face challenges such as declining sales, loss of market share, or a mismatch between their brand image and evolving customer behavior and needs.
2. Defining the Rebranding Objectives and Criteria for Success
By establishing specific and measurable objectives, you can align your rebranding efforts with the overall business strategy and to establish realistic expectations and a process for success.
Before initiating the rebranding process, it is crucial to define clear objectives and goals and what success looks like. What do you aim to achieve through rebranding? Is it about gaining a competitive edge, reconnecting with your target audience, expanding into new markets, or repositioning your brand? How do you want customers to feel about the brand? What are the desired outcomes of this process, and what does the criteria for a successful rebrand look like?
3. Assessing the Brand’s DNA, Heritage, and Equity
This assessment helps building upon, or reimagining the newly evolved brand, and ensuring the rebranding process respects the brand’s heritage while positioning it for the future.
Legacy brands have a unique advantage in the form of brand equity and a rich history. Before making any significant changes, it is essential to assess and understand the brand’s DNA, values, and core strengths that have contributed to its past and current success. Identify the specific brand elements and assets worth preserving, and determine what is required to support and maintain a new rebranding effort.
4. Conducting Market Research and Customer Analysis
By aligning the rebranding efforts with market demands, and customer needs and expectations, legacy brands can regain relevance and capture the attention and interest of their target audience.
A thorough review and understanding of the target market and customer preferences is essential for a successful rebranding. Conducting market research, analyzing consumer trends, and gathering customer insights, purchase consideration behavior and emotional dispositions provide valuable insights for shaping the new brand identity.
5. Crafting a Powerful Brand Story:
By humanizing the brand and making it relatable to customer needs, legacy brands will forge deeper emotional connections, which lead directly to increased brand loyalty and repeat business.
Every successful rebranding journey is anchored in a powerful brand story. The brand story goes beyond logos and visuals; it communicates the essence of the brand, its values, personality, emotions, outcomes, and unique proposition. The brand story must resonate with the target audience by addressing their needs, challenges, and aspirations. The story should be the foundation for positioning, messaging, and the overall brand experience.
6. Developing a Comprehensive Brand Identity
Consistency across all touch points ensures a cohesive and impactful brand experience.
Rebranding encompasses a holistic approach to brand identity. It involves redesigning visual elements such as logos, colors, typography, key visuals, video and written content, and packaging, as well as shaping the brand’s personality, tone of voice and messaging. The new brand identity should align with the updated brand story and positioning with the goal of evoking the desired emotions and perceptions with your target audience.
7. Communicating the Rebranding Efforts
Engaging employees, customers, and partners in the rebranding is an important part of the journey, which fosters a sense of ownership and creates a shared commitment to the brand’s new direction.
Effective communication is crucial during the rebranding process. Legacy brands should proactively communicate the reasons behind the rebrand, the strategic vision, the outcomes and benefits, and how it meets customer needs. Transparent communication helps manage expectations, builds trust, and mitigates any potential skepticism, resistance, or confusion among stakeholders.
Conclusion
The rebranding process is a vital and necessary undertaking for legacy brands that seek to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing or turbulent marketplace. By recognizing the need for change, setting clear objectives, and assessing the brand’s DNA, heritage, and equity, legacy brands can lay an even stronger foundation to connect with, and to convert new customers.
Thorough market research and customer analysis help shape the new brand identity, while crafting a powerful brand story creates emotional connections with the target audience. Developing a comprehensive brand visual identity and effectively communicating the reasons for the rebranding efforts ensure a far more cohesive and impactful brand experience.
By embracing these considerations and engaging stakeholders throughout the process, legacy brands can successfully navigate the rebranding process and emerge as relevant, memorable, and competitive players in their respective industries.
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Sagon-Phior has successfully applied this unique practice to many national and global brands in technology, healthcare, banking, lifestyle and non-profit categories. For more information, go to Sagon-Phior.com
