Rebranding: Rethinking Your Company’s Identity

The modern market is changing at an incredible pace. So much so, that businesses have to adapt to these market changes quickly, and this means that they might have to alter their products too. New inventions, technologies, and design solutions appear nearly every hour. More and more progressive-minded companies are launching, and every one of them is looking boldly towards the future. Which means, to be successful in the long-term term, it’s not enough to simply make good products. You need to explore new avenues.

Rebranding is one way of making sure a company survives and thrives in an ever-developing world. The aim is to ensure that a high-quality brand upgrade takes place, and new names, logos, and terms start being used by the company and its customers. It can also involve the reconsideration of the key values of a company, including its mission and philosophy. 

It is however, a large-scale and lengthy process. So, companies looking at rebranding need to think very carefully about it. 

Let’s take a look at rebranding in more detail. 

Reasons why companies rebrand...

Companies decide to make changes because they need to alter their position in the market, they need to adapt, or because it’s necessary to update organizational structures and business strategies. The decision to rebrand is typically influenced by the desire to expand into a new market or because there’s been a decline in profit too. 

Here is a list of the reasons why companies rebrand:

1. The brand no longer fulfills its duties.
2. New and more interesting competitors have emerged onto the market.
3. There have been ideological changes within the company that bring about the reshaping of the strategy.
4. Changing needs and desires of the target audience or trying to reach a new target audience.
5. The company wishes to cover a new area.
6. Changes in market conditions or the product itself.
7. Transition to a new price segment.
8. The need to attract attention or to win customers back.
9. Motivating employees and building a new corporate culture.

This list of reasons is not exhaustive. And often the decision to launch a rebranding is hard and it’s not something that is decided overnight. Though there are numerous benefits, it’s still difficult to do as there are also risks involved. 

A company usually arrives at this decision because they’ve gone through careful thinking, planning, and analysis phases. 

So, what are the benefits of rebranding? 

1. Raising marketability.
2. Rethinking the company’s strategy.
3. Attracting a new target audience. 
4. Increasing customer loyalty and brand value.
5. Increasing average profitability.

Types of Rebranding...

There are several types of rebranding. The first one is ‘product rebranding’. This is when a company rebrands it’s visual side. This can take various forms, from changing the packaging to experimenting with fonts and other graphic elements on a logo. New product packaging, for example, always attracts attention, so customers are more willing to try the ‘new’ product.

The second type of rebranding is called ‘comprehensive rebranding’. This is when a company goes through a complex change in their marketing strategy, this also includes visual modifications, and the company targets itself at a new audience. 

The third type of rebranding is usually caused by the merging of two or more different companies. It requires the development of a common marketing strategy.

Rebranding is performed in several stages...

These stages typically include:

1. Auditing. This is the stage when the state of the company is studied, as well as its target audience, their loyalty, and the brand’s strengths and weaknesses. 
2. Defining a strategy. At this point, the company needs to decide what to change and what elements need to be updated. It can be a logo, packaging, or product presentation.
3. Rebranding. This is when the strategy is implemented.
4. Delivering an updated corporate identity to the customer.

Let’s take a look at five big companies that have rebranded...

Apple

Partial rebranding is the most popular type of rebranding. This includes changing the logo or brand slogan. Apple Inc. is a great example. Take a look at how their logo has changed with time below.

Apart from changing the logo over time, Apple also uses the letter “i” as a distinctive sign of their brand (iPad, iPhone, and iTunes). The first non-i name they used was for the ‘Apple Watch’, which was registered back in 2014 (notice that it's not called the iWatch). 

Image: source

Slack

Slack changed its recognizable symbol because it was difficult to use. Its new logo consists of speech bubbles in four colours. The old logo consisted of 11 colors. 

The logo has been optimized for multiple platforms too. Although, not everyone welcomed the change, and some creatives still have doubts as to this new identity.

Here’s what it looks like now:

Image: source

Dropbox

Dropbox file sharing service and synchronizer also updated its design. Here is their new logo, notice the new corporate font and logo design compared to the old one. 

This was done in an attempt to reposition the brand as a place for creators to share and edit their work. Their global campaign was launched in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.

Here are the logos:

Image: source

Microsoft

As part of its rebranding program, Microsoft changed the identity of Skype, Xbox, Bing, and Yammer apps. The purpose being, to make these products recognizable even if they didn’t have a company logo on them.

Here are the logos:

Image: source 

Logitech

In 2015, Logitech launched a big rebranding. The brand hadn’t actually changed since it was founded in 1981. Logitech is a multi-brand company that develops audio, video, gaming, computing equipment and other innovative products.

The goal of the company’s rebranding was to change their target audience — they strived to reach the younger audience, and their goal was achieved.

Here are the logos:

Image: source

Image: source 

Conclusion

As you can see, our company is not an exception to rebranding. 

We have undergone the process of rebranding and we have changed our name from JobEasy to Careerist. But this is the only visible part of the process. 

We want to be better in what we do, and our main goal has been to rethink our strategies because we want to better serve our customers. 

Rebranding is hard work, but if a company has been operating in the market for more than a decade it’s a natural process for them to go through. Internal changes cause external transformations. Thus, rebranding needs to take place to incorporate these new changes. 

As a rule, customers don’t welcome changes. They prefer stability and their comfort zone. But in the long run, rebranding is a win-win strategy. You must give the rebranding your attention, and work with your customers as they learn to deal with the changes.

While rebranding allows for a new era to begin, it doesn’t mean that a company has forgotten who they are. The old brand does not disappear overnight. Rebranding is a clever combination of the old and the new. It’s all about using the knowledge and the experiences that have been gained along the way, and creating something better out of them.

‍

Apply for the Manual QA