There is a fashionable view that in the digital age it is necessary constantly to re-invent the brand. To re-brand almost as a matter of course. Some agencies even believe that rebrand should be conducted on a fixed cycle – it’s the permanent revolution of branding!
Public Impact doesn’t approach the issue with pre conceived ideas. While it is good practice to build review of the brand into the Brand Strategy thinking on the right time to refresh or re-brand is best approached like any thinking – with an open mind and without prejudice.
Re-branding or refreshing
There are a range of decisions that need to be made to determine whether the project is about refreshing the existing brand or creating a new brand. Examining the performance of the brand against its objectives, reviewing the perceptions of the brand internally and externally and auditing the effectiveness of the implementation of the brand are all part of the process and each enables a careful assessment of the accumulated value of the existing brand. The objective is to reach an informed decision and to achieve buy-in to the need for the re-branding (or not).
The extent of a the project
The decision on refreshing or re-branding will define the parameters of the project. If the current brand has baggage and its negative associations have outgrown the positive then rebranding from the ground up may be required involving name change and an effective fresh start for the business or product line. On the other hand a successful brand may simply need to be brought up to date – perhaps with a colour change, the tweaking of a logo and/or a new strapline around which to base future campaigns.
Whatever the decision, a successful rebrand is more than just playing with logo ideas.
The re-brand or re-fresh will require a roll-out plan and should ideally encompass the revision or development of the brand strategy.
A workshop approach
Brands are not merely logos or slogans. At their best they are expressions of the essence of your business approach. The effective modern brand is a guiding light to the organisation; the expression that guides everyday business practice as well as providing a platform for the outward projection.
A workshop approach is a great way of achieving the internal buy-in vital to rolling out a new brand. Depending on your organisation the process may require one or a series of workshops for different groups of staff, management or locations. In developing brands we work with the culture of your organisation – and a workshop approach doesn’t suit everyone, but it remains a proven way of promoting the ownership and understanding that underpins success.
Public Impact’s professional facilitated workshops set out to examine the current state of the brand, to test intention against perception and to create a sound platform of understanding for a brand enhancement project. The workshops enables creative designers to understand your business. We would normally make a series of recommendations from the workshop on the direction of branding projects involving corporate identify, values, product identity, logo design and brand guidelines.