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Thinking about rebranding? Think again.
What you really want may be a new way of seeing things, rather than a new way of being seen.
by Joe Grossmann · 4.5 min read
illustrations by Matt Johnson
If you asked many of our clients what we do for a living, they may tell you that we “do branding” or that we “rebranded” their organization. But that’s not exactly how we see it.
The problem is that the terms “branding” and “rebranding” are often used quite loosely, often to refer to fairly superficial tune-ups—a change of color palette, an updated logo, or a snappier tagline. Those are the kinds of changes that tend to garner the most attention, whether positive or negative.
Many people revel in rebranding rollouts. Agency types and amateur pundits race to share first sightings of a logo makeover or a launch spot on social media, usually with pithy critiques. There’s even a popular online publication called “BrandNew” devoted entirely to in-depth analyses of these “rebrands.”
The viral rise of interest in rebranding
Our culture has become enamored with the topic of rebranding. According to Google Trends, global interest in “Rebranding” as a search topic has roughly tripled since the beginning of 2004. (By comparison, interest in “Brand” as a topic has doubled over the same period. Interest in “Logo” as a topic has remained high but unchanged.)
What has driven this relatively rapid increase in interest in what was once an obscure industry topic? Perhaps it’s the amount of money and effort that is now routinely invested in the public rollouts of brand updates—anywhere from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions, spread across broadcast media, digital channels, and social platforms. Maybe it’s the rising public awareness of the concept of “brand,” not only in terms of corporate, product, and service brands, but also as expressed by a tidal wave of celebrity personalities and social influencers. Or perhaps it’s because our culture is more attuned than ever to reinventions and upgrades, whether those are expressed as personal style makeovers, elective cosmetic procedures, digital image enhancements, or the creation of alter egos in virtual spaces.
Most likely, rising interest in “rebranding” is driven by the intersection all of these very powerful trends. People who are particularly susceptible to these cultural forces—avid consumers of popular culture—may be led to believe that if you’re not in the process of rebranding, you might just be lazy, unmotivated, or dead.
But enough about everyone else!
Let’s return to you. Are you reading this because you’re thinking about rebranding your organization or one of your offerings? Perhaps you’ve already started the process. Maybe you’ve even completed the process and are now trying to understand whether it was worthwhile or what your next steps should be.
Regardless of where you are in the journey, consider your motivation. Try to pinpoint and enumerate the reasons you or someone else in your organization set the rebranding ball in motion. How many of the following reasons were invoked in your case?
We look outdated.
We look boring.
We look small or unimpressive.
Our primary competitors look more on trend, interesting, and impressive.
Our growth is flat or negative.
We can’t attract the right kind of talent.
We need a new logo.
We need a new tagline.
We need a better website.
We need more effective sales and marketing.
We need to attract younger audiences.
We need to attract more diverse audiences.
We need to compete at a higher price point.
We need more [sales leads / new members / individual donors].
We need more visibility.
We need to be on the first page of Google.
We have new leadership, so we need a new look.
All of the above.
How many did you check off? And what’s the common thread in this list?
These reasons, which are the ones we hear most often, are a collection of pain points and needs. Most are based either on perceived internal weaknesses (why we fail) or comparative weaknesses (why others succeed) or both.
Even if these reasons for rebranding have some basis in reality, they do not bode well for a constructive approach to the exercise.
So what are some more positive examples of reasons to rebrand?
Identifying and leveraging your differentiators.
Identifying and leveraging your strengths.
Understanding and activating your team.
Listening to and engaging your external stakeholders.
Improving or articulating the value of your offerings.
Developing a focused brand strategy.
Clarifying your position.
“But wait!,” you (or someone you know) might say. “Those don’t sound like rebranding. We just need an updated look and a fresh voice. We just need a makeover, a reboot. We need people to sit up and notice us.”
To which we (or another brand strategy firm) might reply, “We have no wish to deprive you of an updated look or a fresh voice. But you can’t simply jump into an entirely new body and expect success. The updated look must reflect who you really are and how you make your stakeholders feel. Your fresh voice must sound both familiar and revitalized. Before we can help shape the look and sound of a new you, we need to zero in on what makes you worth knowing—now and into the future.”
In other words, rebranding is not merely about changing appearances or adding features or functionality. Rebranding is not like adding a fresh coat of paint or upgrading to a faster server.
Rebranding is a journey of discovery and rebirth.
Rebranding requires introspection, empathy, research, analysis, insights, and tough decisions.
Rebranding done well—performed with attention to purpose, credibility, and sustainability—is about revealing rather than covering up. Rebranding should be about honesty rather than artifice.
As it turns out, good rebranding is not simply a matter of changing your branding, as the term “rebranding” implies. Rather, it is a matter of renewing one’s commitment and attention to one’s brand—the reasons you exist, the beliefs you hold, the benefits you offer, and the value others might see in you.
Rebranding is a process of editing and clarification: shedding dead skin and deleting unnecessary adjectives. It is looking your stakeholders in the eye and connecting in a straightforward way on topics they hold dear.
And if your revitalized commitment to your brand necessitates a change in your branding—an updated look, a fresh voice—so be it. In that case, you’re rebranding for exactly the right reason.
