Rebranding success factors: How to successfully realign your brand

Rebranding is the reorientation of an existing brand - the scope depends entirely on your needs. In order for you to successfully realign your brand, we will show you the most important rebranding success factors that you should consider.

Planning your rebranding is the be-all and end-all

Probably the most important rebranding success factor is accurate and targeted planning. Targeted says it all - especially in the midst of the process, it is easy to lose sight of the goal. Therefore, you should always clearly define your goals and keep them in mind at every step of your rebranding. This includes formulating the visions and values of your brand because rebranding is always a step into the future. This is the only way to ensure that your rebranding is successful. Learn more about what to consider in your rebranding strategy.

In addition to the goals you want to achieve, you should also know your target group intimately. How will they react to changes? What do they expect from your brand? Does your target group want a change in a certain direction? Without a precise analysis of your target group, rebranding is a shot in the dark.

It is just as important to keep an eye on your competitors and the market in which you offer your services.

To be able to quantify the success of your rebranding later on, you should also analyze and record in detail the situation before the rebranding. This allows you to make a before-and-after comparison and discover further adaptation opportunities for your brand.

The most important rebranding success factor is planning. You need to know what you want to achieve and what your path to that goal should look like.

Without the right partners and tools, your rebranding will be difficult

Another rebranding success factor is the right support. Be it through agencies, consultants, or tools. Especially for companies without their own design or graphics department, agencies are often essential. But even large companies and corporations can benefit from the knowledge and tools of external partners.

Agencies offer a critical view from the outside

For many companies, external agencies are essential in a rebranding effort, although the scope of support is completely individual. Again, it is a matter of knowing and analyzing your own needs. Perhaps only a few design ideas from outside are needed, or it may be worthwhile to have the entire rebranding process managed by an external provider. It depends mainly on the capacities and expertise of your own company. Where you need support and additional experience, you should get it, to make your rebranding a success. Agencies with a very diverse customer portfolio have an advantage because they can draw on a broader range of experience.

The right tools help with implementation of your rebranding

Planning the rebranding is one thing, but implementing it consistently in all communications and presentations is another. There are numerous tools that support you in the implementation and automate many processes.

One of them is empower^®. Our tool gives you full control over your rebranding be it mail contact via Outlook or customer presentations created with PowerPoint. empower^® makes sure that the new designs and guidelines you define during rebranding reach all employees and are implemented in all Office applications. Existing presentations can be updated to new designs with just a few clicks - saving both work and time.

Brands are dynamic, not rigid

Correctly understanding a brand is an important factor in making your rebranding a success. A brand is not a rigid construct that is changed once through rebranding and then remains unchanged; a brand is constantly in a state of dynamic change. Maybe your logo remains unchanged over a long period of time, but your contact with customers and partners and your product range change regularly.

For successful rebranding, be aware that your brand image is always a product of many factors. Regularly analyzing and questioning how your brand functions is an important rebranding success factor.

Authenticity - be genuine!

An important success factor for your rebranding is as simple as it is complex: authenticity. Authenticity has two sides to it - on the one hand, it is about being authentic, and on the other hand, it is about appearing authentic.

Be authentic

You should think carefully about the extent and depth to which rebranding is right for your brand. A young start-up trying to establish itself in the market is certainly more flexible than a traditional company with a long history. Nevertheless, traditional companies should not reject change. Examples such as Merck or Microsoft show that even established brands can successfully transform themselves. It is therefore important to have the courage to change in a considered and sensible way and not to mindlessly follow every trend!

Appear authentic

Appearing authentic in the context of a rebranding means conveying a consistent and cohesive brand image to your customers. Logo, advertising claims, designs, etc. must form a meaningful overall picture and coordinate with each other. In the best case you will trigger enthusiasm for your products and brand among your customers. Such brand experiences make your offer seem irreplaceable and lead to free word-of-mouth advertising.

empower^® supports your brand’s appearance by enabling everyone to stay on-brand easily and consistently in all the work they do throughout MS Office - PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and Outlook.

Avoid typical rebranding-mistakes

Our final rebranding success factor is as simple as it is complex: avoid mistakes. Probably the biggest mistake here is poor planning or failure to plan. You should have a concrete goal in mind for your rebranding and know the path to get there. You should also involve all necessary stakeholders. Above all, communicate changes internally so they are appropriately supported and accepted.

Often, rebranding is also viewed as a start-to-finish task. However, it should be viewed more as a dynamic, ongoing process. After you have implemented your planned changes, rebranding is not over; monitoring and analyzing should begin. If the rebranding does not achieve the intended goals, it is time to adjust and reevaluate.

We have highlighted some of the most important rebranding success factors in this article. The topic of rebranding is complex and requires a lot of thought. Our guide on rebranding provides you with more helpful tips and information. If you have any questions, please contact us for a free consultation.