Rebranding 101: Expert advice from Contentsquare’s Global Director of Brand
It can be one of the biggest projects your company does, having a massive impact on the entire organization—not just marketing! Your brand is so much more than just your logo or name; it’s the look and feel of your company. And if your rebrand is successful, it can fuel business growth, help you tap into new markets, and reconnect with your customers.
So, having just done a rebrand at Contentsquare, we sat down with our Global Director of Brand, Fanny Pourcenoux to get her best advice on rebranding and the key to success.
Check out her expert insight below 👇
Why do a rebrand? What is the motivation behind it?
Fanny Pourcenoux: In most cases, a rebranding project is a new chapter for a company. It usually goes hand in hand with an international expansion, the creation of a new product or service, market acceleration, or preparation for an IPO. It often involves a complete change in organizational processes and includes the update or creation of a new logo, design, slogan, and sometimes even a name change.
I’d say that everything has to start with market research. Where your company is located, what market opportunities there are, the strengths and weaknesses, what differentiates you from competitors, what are your values, where we want to position ourselves by the end of the year, and so on… All these aspects provide the basis for your new positioning, messaging, and of course the future visual identity.
Conducting qualitative studies is also a good way to get external opinions and feedback. Getting the opinion of your customers, partners, investors, and prospects will give you insights into their perception of your brand now and what they expect in the future. Including all stakeholders at each step of the process will allow you to use their feedback to validate or challenge your strategy.
What should you take into account when rebranding?
FP: You need to understand your market. You can’t start your rebranding project without knowing your competition and potential opportunities, and the external perception of your brand—how it’s perceived/recognized by your prospects and the general public. That’s why conducting qualitative research is essential.
You also need to know your target audience (or the new target audience) if you’re repositioning, be transparent about your strengths and weaknesses internally and build a strategy in line with them.
Also, be aware of the time this may take. Depending on how business-critical your rebranding is, it is likely to impact your other business priorities and, available resources. A successful full rebrand can take up to a year and this is probably for the better! Botching your rebranding would be the worst possible outcome.
It’s important to keep all stakeholders, external and internal, informed of the progress and the different stages. This way if the project gets delayed, they won’t be caught off guard.
What are the main objectives of a rebranding project?
FP: Your objectives will be specific to your business and your approach, but in most cases, rebranding serves to bring the brand back in line with your target audience and market. The purpose of a rebrand is usually to evolve and align a company’s branding with its business and recruitment objectives.
In most cases, the key elements of a rebranding project are a new visual identity and messaging. The slogan or baseline will officially support your new positioning. It should be short and international in scope.
Your visual identity should get the DNA of your company across in just a few seconds. Your logo should be memorable and match your style guide which covers typography, color palettes, illustrations, icons, and visuals.
Most importantly, don’t forget to put digital accessibility at the heart of your decisions to make your rebranding fully inclusive.
How can you monitor the performance of a rebrand?
FP: It’s essential to combine qualitative and quantitative metrics. You can monitor quantitative metrics through the new traffic and interactions on your site, your social networks, and your analytics tools. I’d also suggest AB testing some versions in order to launch the best-performing one.
But don’t forget to conduct qualitative studies with your prospects, customers, partners, and investors to measure the results and get VoC insights.
What are some potential challenges when rebranding?
FP: Depending on the age of your brand, your employees and customers might be very attached to it. It’s up to you to explain the purpose of the rebrand to make sure it’s well-received. It’s not always easy to get everyone to agree, but remember that an internal point of view is always biased and that external opinions provide an objective reflection of your brand.
On the technical side, don’t define your strategy without involving your design and technical teams. They’ll have to ensure the end-to-end execution of your design, campaign elements, and your site, and they need sufficient time to work on it. Trust them in the planning and enlist a project manager to make sure deadlines are met at each step so your delivery isn’t jeopardized.
FAQ
Rebranding is a market strategy that involves updating or completely changing the image of a company; the corporate image, messaging, name, logo, positioning, and/or design of an already-established brand.
Rebranding can help companies grow, tap into new markets, and connect better with customers.
Proactive rebranding is a strategic decision, usually taking place when a company realizes there’s a good opportunity to grow or connect with new audiences. Reactive rebranding is usually in response to a big event such as mergers and acquisitions, legal issues, and so on.
