"A brand identity is the visual representation of the story, the idea, the image, the experience that lives in each of our minds about certain businesses and what they offer"
When should you re-brand?
Rebranding is something you should only do when you need to do it, otherwise by doing it randomly or 'just when you feel like a change' you could risk diluting the message of your business, and becoming too confusing for people to remember.
How do you know when you need to rebrand? Below are some questions that you may want to consider.
1. Do you feel a disconnect with your current brand?
Your brand should feel natural to you. When you are a small business owner, you’re usually doing most of the work— admin, social media, marketing, website updates, the list goes on... This means that you are connected to your business and brand in a way that’s completely different than a large corporation. Someone is purchasing your product, buying your services, emailing you. You might be embarrassed to give your website information out or maybe you have no clue what to say when you write an Instagram post. A disconnect between you and your brand can cause you to feel uninspired which only negatively impacts your business, we don't want that! Working with an expert means you are able to be guided through every part of the creative process; asking questions, collaborating, and understanding the meaning behind every design decision. It also ensures that at the end of the process, you are completely happy with your brand and are excited to show it off to the world.
2. Has your vision changed?
For freelancers and start-ups, it's totally common for your business goals and vision to change and tweak slightly all the time. Sometimes these changes can affect the messaging of your whole business, including your visual branding - so it's important to be super clear on these.
3. Have you had your current brand for a while?
I’m going to be that person and say that no brand should ever be forever. Change is natural, and change is necessary. Sometimes it’s not a total revamp but being able to take some time to reflect on your brand, your audience, and your business in relation to each other every now and again is important. It could be that you had your logo and branding designed when you were just starting out and now 6 to 12 months down the line, for example, you've gained a much deeper understanding of who your target customers are and what appeals to them - an insight you may not have had in the beginning. When this happens, it may be time to consider updating your branding to fit your customers better.
4. Has the market around you changed?
A lot can happen in a year or two. Perhaps some of the imagery in your logo/branding is outdated and irrelevant, or perhaps in comparison to your competitors, your branding is looking a bit flat. Sometimes, especially if your original logo and branding was designed using colours/textures/fonts/imagery that was very popular at the time of designing, logos can just naturally appear out of date.
5. Does your brand reflect your business personality?
You may have developed a strong brand personality over time, and it may be that your visual identity (logo, brand marks, colours, fonts etc.) simply doesn't reflect that personality as you want it to. In which case, it could be time to refresh!
6. Is your brand consistent?
When you're starting a business, often the last thing you want to spend hours doing is going through all your materials (i.e. business cards, printed flyers/posters, advertising, social media posts/graphics, pdf's etc.) to make sure it all looks consistent, but as you 'level up' your business and want to appear more professional, this is a really important thing to consider.
7. Are you proud to show off your brand to everyone?
The number one rule of owning a business is that you should be PROUD to talk about it and show it off to everyone you know. If you're not happy with your logo, or you're embarrassed of your out-dated or inconsistent brand, you're not going to be proudly showing it off to everyone, which can be detrimental to your business in the long run. If you're not loud and proud about your brand, I would say it might be time to refresh.
I hope this has provided an insight and answered a few questions for you on the consideration of a rebrand. Just let me know if you have any other thoughts or questions you would like answering!
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