Although agencies take special care to create longevity with branding, eventually the time comes when the visual language has worn a bit thin and needs a refresh.
Even the biggest and most iconic Australian brands like Qantas or Woolworths take the time to routinely refresh their brand. This helps them to stay relevant and engage with new and existing consumers.
So you might be wondering, is now the right time to rebrand? There are a number of reasons why you might need to refresh the look of your brand. Each needs a clear evaluation. Here are a few questions to consider.
1. Is your brand outdated?
Does your brand look like it belongs in a different decade? Perhaps it’s time for a refresh. Branding can last, but eventually it will need to be evaluated as trends change. For long lived businesses, dated branding might mean consumers view your business as a whole as dated.
2. Does your brand represent who you are?
One way to know your brand isn’t representing you anymore is if you’re struggling to make your visuals work with how you want to be perceived. Ask yourself, does your current brand bring to mind your current mission and vision for your business? Consider how much these may have changed over the years and how it may impact consumers as well as potential employees.
3. Does your brand stand out from competitors?
Over time your industry and competition may have grown, which means it can be harder to stand out amongst the crowd. When working with a similar audience and services as others, overlap is natural. However, you want to make sure consumers are easily able to identify your brand and not confuse it with the competition.4. Is your brand too complicated?
As your business has grown, you might have slowly created more variations of your visual marketing pieces. If you print a range of your marketing pieces and put them on a table next to each other, they should appear as a cohesive collective. If new shapes, colours or fonts are in some pieces and not in others, it’s likely your brand needs to be realigned to make it cohesive and less complicated.
5. Has your brand undergone internal changes?
As businesses evolve, it’s common they add new goods and services. If your customer base is saying “oh, I didn’t know you did this”, your brand isn’t communicating the full extent of its offerings. Whether you’ve opened a new office, gone under new management or simply just growing in staff, these changes may need to be reflected visually.
6. Does your brand attract the right audience?
For consumers, your brand should feel like it’s personally speaking to their needs. If your audience has evolved over time, consider whether your current look is working for or against you. For example, if your business model has naturally moved towards catering for a younger demographic, aligning your visual elements will see a greater increase in that demographic choosing you.