A considerable part of creating a solid and consistent brand is knowing when to make updates. Deciding to rebrand could be the first step toward becoming more relevant in your industry, identifiable by the world, and emotionally connected to your customers.
However, there are some crucial factors company leaders and marketing teams must examine and prepare for to ensure their brand updates go as planned. Luckily, you’ve come to the right place to find out what those exact considerations are and how to address them to ensure updating your existing brand is as seamless and impactful as possible.
Here are five considerations to make when deciding how and when to update your brand.
Know When It’s Appropriate to Update a Brand
First, it’s good to educate yourself on when updating a brand is a good idea. For instance, boredom with your color palette isn’t a good reason to update your brand. However, changing your target audience or an evolving mission are more appropriate reasons to proceed with a brand update.
Answer the following questions to determine if an update to your brand is appropriate:
- What’s the business reason behind the update?
- Has the direction or focus of your business changed?
- Will a rebrand help you stay current and competitive in your market?
- Has your target audience or customer base changed?
- What problem will the brand update solve?
- How would an update to your brand affect your business’s overall reputation?
Next, consider how your internal teams will feel about a brand update.
How to Ensure Internal Teams Embrace the Update
When you decide to update your brand, it doesn’t just affect you. It affects all of your internal teams. In addition, everyone may not be excited about the rebrand nor understand it.
Because of this, you should consider how you will get your internal teams to embrace the update.
Talk in detail with your internal teams about your plans for updating your brand. You’ll want to discuss in length what each person’s role is in the rebrand and how their daily responsibilities will shift.
It’s good to talk with each person individually and host meetings with each team. Encourage everyone to share their honest opinions, thoughts, and ideas regarding the brand update so that you can get a holistic view of its effects and needed resources.
In addition to ensuring your internal teams embrace the update, you’ll also want to consider if outsourcing work for the brand update is necessary.
If Outsourcing Work is Necessary
If you don’t have all you need in your internal workforce to update your brand, you’ll likely have to outsource work.
You may need someone with particular skill or knowledge in the following to ensure your brand update is covered from all sides:
- Brand strategy
- Content creation
- Photography
- Graphic design
- Web design
- Social media
- Videography and editing
Outsourcing work can be incredibly costly and unproductive if it isn’t approached with strategy and intention.
So, first, determine if your internal teams can handle rebranding on their own. Next, if you find that you’re missing a particular skill or expertise, begin looking at bringing someone on board on a contract or freelance basis to assist you. Finally, properly vet every candidate and consider whether they’ll mesh well with your existing teams.
Whether you’re outsourcing work, have an internal team dedicated to the rebrand, or both, you must consider how you’ll conduct the necessary research for a successful brand update.
How You’ll Conduct the Necessary Research
Research is one of the most crucial parts of a brand update. You’ll need to explore:
- Whether you need to rebrand or just do a refresh
- The marketplace and your competitors
- What desirable brand elements you’re currently missing
- The ins and outs of your brand’s distinct personality
- Drafting a rebranding strategy
- How you’ll keep the positive aspects of your existing brand
- The financial obligations
- Who’s in charge of what with the brand update
- The plan for promoting and marketing the brand update
- What content you’re going to create to support the rebrand
It’s a good idea to plan out how you will conduct all of the research necessary for a successful rebrand. For instance, making brainstorming sessions a regular part of your team’s rebranding efforts will ensure you look at the update consistently with fresh eyes. Be sure to do the following in your brainstorming sessions to ensure they’re as productive as possible:
- Introduce a problem, question, or topic to remain focused
- Go over what your team already knows about the rebrand and their roles in it
- Create an agenda
- Choose a brainstorming technique to implement
- Use suitable tools to boost engagement
- Keep your meetings short and simple
- Discourage criticism and encourage creativity
Lastly, intellectual property rights are also essential to consider when updating a brand.
Intellectual Property Rights
Whether it’s the Twitter hashtags you use, your logo, tagline, or another visual branding element, you’ve likely got something trademarked or protected by copyright in your business. With that being said, the above features are usually a part of the update. So, you must consider all the intellectual property rights you must update.
The four types of intellectual property are:
- Trademarks
- Copyrights
- Patents
- Trade Secrets
If you’re thinking about changing any intellectual property in your update, first, be sure to do a trademark, copyright, patent, or trade secret search to ensure yours is available and can be registered. Then, file the correct paperwork. Finally, once you receive your protection, be sure to file maintenance documents every year to remain in possession of that protection.
Conclusion
Each company’s unique team and business structure will influence how and when they update their brand. But there are still best practices you can implement. Start with the considerations above to ensure you’re going about updating your brand in the best way.
Adrian Johansen writes to both teach and learn. She loves sharing her experiences and hearing what other people have to add.
