Do I need to rebrand?

This post was inspired by recent conversations and reflections with my dear friend Angela from Angela Ellison Creative who went through a major rebrand at the start of the year. Her rebrand was one of my favorite branding projects to date—we both are in love with how her visual identity turned out and, as her designer, I could not be more proud of how well she is transforming all her brand touch points!

Intro:

rebrand: to change or update the brand or branding of (a product, service, etc.)
according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition


I could go on and on about the intricacies of branding, visual identities, and logo families, but wanted to keep things simple (for now). Be on the lookout for future brand design resources.

10 signs you need to rebrand (and a few extra)

1. Your brand isn’t feeling aligned with you or your business goals. 
2. You don’t feel confident using your visual brand.
3. You feel embarrassed to push your logo into the world.
4. You dread creating content because your visual brand isn’t defined and you struggle with creating posts that are “on brand.”
5. You are pivoting your business goals and need a rebrand that realigns with your new mission and target audience.
6. Renaming your business (this is a perfect time to rebrand).
7. Your business feels like it has outgrown your current logo / brand assets.
8. You think your competition looks better than you.
9. Your personality isn’t shining through.
10. Your brand looks like everyone else (if you’re not standing out, you’re blending in).
11. You’ve been using your old logo from your last business and have totally changed gears—your target audience likely changed.
12. You’re customer demographic is shifting and you need a new look that aligns with your new business goals.
13. You’re feeling uninspired by your logo, making you drag your feet on launching new products or services.
14. You dread creating content because you never know where to start or how to keep things cohesive.

If you did not relate to most of these, but you still feel like you need to refine a few things—you might want to consider a brand refresh instead of jumping into a full rebrand. These notes might pertain more to your situation:

• Something has always been missing in your current logo
• You feel like your logo needs to be modernized
• Your logo is complex and you want it simplified for more versatility
  

Side Note: remember that branding is all about consistency—I’d advise against changing your brand assets too often. You want your audience / customers to be able to remember your brand and changing all the time can hinder your brand recognition and credibility.

How to know if you need a brand refresh

1. Not fully ready for a full rebrand (want to test the new name / messaging before committing).
2. Don’t have the budget for a full rebrand.
3. You have an extensive brand guide along with a full logo family, but feel they need sprucing up.
4. You love your current logo but it isn’t scalable or versatile (not easy to use across all your brand touch points).
5. In this case you can work with a designer to expand out your brand assets (this is what I did at the end of last year for Simple Sundries, a low-waste shop here in Portland).
6. Mandy loved the overall look and feel of her logo but always wanted to add some bubbles by the bird’s beak. I also helped her expand her brand assets and maintain consistency throughout her visual brand by creating a style guide reference sheet.
   

Proceed with caution when you notice these red flags

1. You are well established in the market and customers know exactly what to look for when searching for your product on the shelves.
2. Brand recognition is key, if your audience know and love your look, but you're unsure yourself—consider a refresh instead.
3. You’ve been around for a long time and people know and trust your brand.
4. You’re eyeing the latest design trends and want your brand to jump on the bandwagon—if you look like everyone else, your personality won’t shine through!

Side Note: if you want to read about a disastrous rebrand, look up the Tropicana rebrand. A couple of successful ones from the last few years are the Pepsi and Burger King rebrands (many non-designers noticed these too).

Final Thoughts

Knowing when to rebrand is a difficult decision, don't rush yourself and give yourself time for thoughtful consideration. When you have an established audience you can also ask them if your visual brand resonates. Does the heart on your sleeve match the core essence of your brand? If you are struggling to determine if now is the right time for you or still have questions after reading this post—reach out or set up a connection chat.

If you're ready for a big change and need some support along the way to create a brand that looks and feels like you—I'd love to join you on your journey, fill out a contact form to get your brand transformation started today!