is rebranding overused as a fix-all for struggling businesses?
Brought to you by The Art Of Positioning Podcast
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The topic of rebranding is often met with mixed emotions.
On one hand, it’s seen as an opportunity to revitalize the business, attract new clients, and stay relevant in a competitive market (which sounds like a brilliant idea when you think about it).
On the other hand, it can be a superficial solution to deeper, underlying problems.
Here’s why it’s not a cure-all for deeper business issues:
🔴Core issues remain unaddressed
If your business is struggling due to operational inefficiencies, poor customer service, or outdated processes, rebranding alone would be like putting a fresh coat of paint on a crumbling wall. This means you can fix these problems and continue running your business without needing a rebrand.
🔴You risk alienating existing customers
A drastic rebrand can confuse or alienate these customers, especially if they feel the new identity no longer reflects the values they associate with your business with.
🔴It’s expensive when it’s unnecessary with uncertain ROI
Rebranding can be expensive when unnecessary.
So, how do you know when you need one or if the solution is something else entirely?
Let’s dive in.
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Recent feedback
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I’m a brand strategist with a decade of experience in brand strategy roles, and I can tell you for free that in many cases, while it may seem like rebranding is the go-to, it isn't.
While a brand refresh is necessary/recommended every 6 months to a year, it’s a totally different case with rebrands.
Sometimes going for a rebrand is like putting lipstick on a pig or like putting a wig on Dwight.
📸: GIPHY
The problem I see often is that businesses don’t really know what a rebrand means or how to arrive at that decision.
Rebranding is often misunderstood as simply changing a logo, updating a color scheme, design, or refreshing a website.
While these visual elements are sometimes part of the process (many times, not necessary), true rebranding goes much deeper, involving redefining your business’s identity, values, messaging, and positioning in the market.
So how do you arrive at that decision and how do you plan out your rebrand strategically?
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How can rebrands go wrong? Is there a right way to tackle them? Check out this guest episode on Loïc J's B2B Podcasters show, where I go deep into these topics.
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Badass Tip
↘ Marketing
Invest time in customer surveys, focus groups, and competitor analysis to understand how your brand is perceived and where gaps exist.
Test new messaging and visuals with a small segment of your audience to gauge their response before a full rollout. Think lots of smaller pivots rather than one grand shift, I know playing the rebrand launch card draws quick eyes but this way allows you to adjust as you go to something that resonates with your audience.
Use your marketing channels to tell the story behind the rebrand. Explain why you’re making changes and how it benefits your customers.
If you proceed with a rebrand, ensure all channels reflect that (website, social media, newsletter branding) to avoid confusion.
Track website traffic, engagement rates, and lead generation before and after the rebrand to measure its impact. Use tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, and CRM data to monitor the rebrand.
Create a rebranding timeline for marketing activities, including pre-launch teasers, launch day announcements, and post-launch follow-ups.
↘ Sales
Conduct workshops to help your sales team articulate the rebrand’s benefits and address any concerns from customers. Consider their perspective on fresh positioning or taglines so that you have different ways to send the message out.
Integrate the new brand messaging into your CRM system to ensure consistency in communications.
Develop an FAQ document for the sales team to address common customer questions about the rebrand.
Set up regular check-ins with the sales team to gather feedback on how the rebrand is being received by clients.
↘ Customer service
Anticipate customer concerns (e.g., “Why are you changing?” or “Will this affect my service?”) and prepare responses to address them.
Get the customer service team in on inter-team discussions about your refresh, the more perspectives, the better.
↘ HR
Update internal documents, employee handbooks, and HR policies to reflect the new brand identity and what’s important to the company (values - and more so, what they look like in the day-to-day operations).
Use internal communication to keep employees informed about the rebranding process.
Conduct employee surveys before and after the rebrand to measure engagement and awareness and identify areas for improvement.
📝 Rebranding should never be a knee-jerk reaction to struggles. It’s a strategic tool that, when used appropriately, can help you adapt to changing market conditions, differentiate from competitors, and better serve your customers. However, it’s not a substitute for addressing core business issues. So, while neither a rebrand nor addressing underlying business issues is pleasant, you just have to pick your poison wisely.
