Month: February 2019

Perform a quick online search about how to plan a rebrand, and you’ll be met with a plethora of tick lists and steps to take. Whilst many of these strategic and practical steps are important, many gloss over one of the biggest hurdles you’ll face: overcoming internal resistance and securing approval for your rebranding plan. Rebranding is an enormous decision. It takes courage. The rewards can be worth it. Walmart is an excellent case in point. It can also, occasionally, go wrong. Take GAP’s rebrand in 2010 as a dismal example. It’s understandable, therefore, that you may encounter some resistance to a rebranding exercise. However, rebranding can, as Walmart and many others show, be immensely profitable and worthwhile. If you have judged that the time is right for your rebrand, how do you get others on board?

Get buy in early

Once your mind starts whirring on rebranding possibilities, it’s easy to get carried away. However, you need to advocate for change first, and achieve the buy-in you need to carry the rebranding exercise through to conclusion. To do this, you need to be able to advocate for change based on powerful arguments. There are a number of different reasons why it may be a good time for your business to rebrand. These include:

• Mergers and acquisitions
• Moving in to a new area or repositioning
• Going global
• Changes to the market which require you to reinvent yourself e.g. environmental pressure
• Bad reputation
• New leadership
• The brand image is outdated

It is worth taking the time to research the issues which are applicable to you, so that you can lend some weight to your argument with examples of other successful rebrands done for the same reasons.

Consider financial implications

Rebranding can be a costly exercise. The only way to secure approval for your rebranding exercise is if you approach this through a financial lens. Do a cost-benefit analysis and be realistic about the costs involved in rebranding. Demonstrate to senior leadership that you have considered all costs, as well as Return on Investment. Rebranding costs aren’t only limited to the costs of creative design. Remember that these will need to be implemented uniformly across the business, in everything from your stationery to your social media profiles. Rebrands do well when there is concerted input at the launch stage too.

Be strategic

Therefore, the overall approach to securing buy-in must be strategic. Use data and facts to create this strategy. All this needs to happen before you consider the snazzy changes of logos and the like. When you present this information to senior executives, in a more strategic way, they will be more persuaded about the benefits and outcomes of the rebranding exercise. Also, by being honest about the risks, they will also feel reassured that you have indeed considered these, and aren’t simply avoiding the negative. Indeed, you should identify all possible risks of rebranding, and consider how you will mitigate these. Consider your role, at this stage, as an educator and negotiator. The result will be that the stakeholders who matter will feel trust towards you, and feel energised for the rebranding exercise. This step does take time. However, it is incredibly valuable.

Gathering information

This doesn’t mean that you need to undertake this step alone. Indeed, if you contact us in advance, regarding your creative strategy, then you’ll be in the position of being fully-informed about the process. You’ll have a clear idea of timelines and costs. This will allow for clear budgets in your rebranding plan, rather than guesswork.

Tackling resistance

It isn’t unusual to experience some resistance to your attempts. However, don’t despair. Consider why an individual stakeholder is resisting the change. Use this information to do further research and cost-benefit analysis in regards to their particular concern. Help them to see that the benefits of the exercise will outweigh the costs, while also reassuring them that you take their concerns seriously.

Getting ready for a rebrand

Choosing your agency for a rebranding exercise also requires careful thought. Speak to the agency directly about rebranding exercises they have done, and the results they have seen. Ask for examples of their work in your industry and ask for initial costs. At Branding By 8 we are skilled and experienced rebranding experts, fully understanding how rebranding fits in to your whole marketing strategy. Furthermore, we understand the need for you to secure approval. We’ll work with you to make it happen.

Nobody likes disappointment or failure, especially in the newly launched business.  Research has found that about one-fifth of new startups fail within the first year. Following are 3 of the most popular reasons why startups flop in their first year and how you can ensure your business isn’t one of them.

Reason-1 Poor Branding & Marketing

“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.”– Jeff Bezos

A brand identity is a way you define your business to your audience. It represents the core of what your business is and what you value. It’s basically everything, your tagline, your advertising and the overall look of your brand. When it comes to startups, it’s even more important that you build a good identity on the web. Many startups fail to impress its audience simply because they do not represent anything different. Also, Noise matters! No matter how extraordinary your product and service might be, it’s going down if nobody thinks about it. Poorly managed advertising (or sales) is a noteworthy explanation behind the disappointment of many new businesses. You don’t really require an expert PR group towards the start, however, you have to make buzz online.

Reason-2 The absence of a clear strategy

“A vision without a strategy remains an illusion.”-Lee Bolman

Various founders of a startup can’t do alone what is required for a business to take off. They should concentrate on ventures that esteem their aptitudes and educational background, other than their expert skill. This will help their chances of progress and the training and commitment they will infuse in the business won’t be a burden for them. Your abilities must be supplemented with the ones of your group. Always have somebody great at sales, somebody great at the management and accounting, somebody great at promoting and somebody great at product improvement. If you or your prime supporters come up short on the skills or capacities expected to get your organization moving, make certain to recognize those requirements at an opportune time and read, think about, learn and encounter hypothetical and down to earth information that can give you the high ground against your rivals and keep your organization from slamming. Do not make your business fall.

Reason-3 Focus only on building and not on the customers

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” -Bill Gates

A business can never put too much accentuation on its customers. They are the foundation of any business” success. One of the essential objectives of any marketing strategy ought to be to identify and address the issues of the customers. Considering client significance at all phases of the marketing process causes your business to guarantee more prominent consumer loyalty and increment its long-haul objective of repeat business.

The solution:

Now! As we have learned the three major mistakes, it’s time to know how you can prevent those mistakes from happening. Let’s face it, everyone needs help. Regardless of how small or large, your business is, you need a team to be your helping hand in order to achieve what you want to. Entrepreneurs who don’t believe in taking help will continue fighting huge wars for average results. And eventually, affect their own business badly. But the good thing is that you don’t have to be one of them. You can reach way higher. The road there is free and open. Choose success over failure. Choose customers over products. Choose a strong building strategy over poor branding strategy. Choose predictable growth over “too much, too soon” If you’re able to prevent these mistakes, then you’re setting yourself up for major success.