Here’s the situation, you have identified the need for rebranding – be it a merger or acquisition, desire for increased market share, relevancy, or 1/100 other reasons. So now what? The process of rebranding can feel very daunting and intimidating, however in our opinion it shouldn’t be if approached strategically. To help demystify the process of rebranding, we polled our network asking them, “what’s the most intimidating aspect of rebranding.” Let’s dig in to break down the barriers.
Let’s start with the question “why are you even considering rebranding?” At TenTen, we feel this can be one of the most critical conversations, and one that can start with a simple whiteboarding session to determine what challenges a business is facing. “We encourage clients to do a ‘brain dump’, giving us all of the information on their business. This allows us to look for themes, level up ideas, play it back to them and establish tiers of prioritization,” noted TenTen founder, Darren Horwitz.
From there we begin to build a proper plan, uncovering objectives and setting realistic tactics and timing to fit any budget. We think it’s important to wrap your arms around the entirety of what’s required for the success of a rebranding effort, identifying the must haves vs. the should haves vs. the could haves. “We identify the work that needs to happen for the rebrand to be successful, whether we do the work or not, the most important thing is that we make a plan for how to get it done properly,” said Darren. Simply having the initial conversation around rebranding is taking the first step toward making a plan.
What’s often overlooked is the emotional attachment a brand can garner. For this reason, there needs to be strong support for change. “Everything should be benefits driven, focusing on the ‘why’ that resonates with the business and culture,” said TenTen Managing Director, Sam Eliot. We aim to address the needs and fears of leadership, bringing them through the journey of why rebranding is important.
Easier said than done, right? Especially when a senior leader is more financially driven than emotionally driven. It usually helps to demonstrate flexibility when it comes to the size of the program, timing and budget – and how to protect the investment. Spending time up front, planning and sequencing implementation shows how a thoughtful process can move us closer to business goals.
Ultimately ensuring leadership is on-board at the onset allows the rest of the organization to get behind and support the effort.
This is certainly reasonable considering time, people and dollars are critical to making a rebrand happen. Instead of letting the compounding resource commitment bog you down, shift to focusing on tradeoffs and efficiencies. “We’ve got to get all of the resource concerns on the table so we can do our work to find those efficiencies. In many cases there is opportunity to bundle workstreams, structure teams or better define roles and responsibilities to ensure our priorities are accomplished,” said Darren.
When it comes to the work, not everything needs to be done on Day 1. And when thinking about timing, it’s most important to manage expectations, making sure that employees (and leaders) are properly prepared for what’s to come and when–regardless of when you launch–so long as you deliver on promises. In resource-constrained situations, we focus on a brand MVP (minimum viable product) approach – tackling the most imperative activities – that will still lead to rebrand success.
It’s important to understand that an implementation plan can ensure you’re properly prepared to solve the resource challenge to meet your rebranding goals.
We won’t lie, this is a tricky one. The key is to tie ROI to business challenges and rebrand intent. If an organization views their brand as an intangible asset that harnesses value, there may indeed be an in-measurable ROI. If there is an objective such as a more unified vision with a more purposeful company culture, rebranding can absolutely achieve that. However, those results should be considered when determining implementation plans, potentially using employee satisfaction surveys as a measure of success.
When there are expectations around more tactical metrics such as consumer choice, stock price or performance marketing analytics, they should be identified up front so appropriate goals can be set and resources can be allocated appropriately.
A return that many leaders overlook is the benefits of a well-structured process, those being: consistency in execution, efficiency in development and increased savings. Time and money will be saved with access to the correct branded materials and templates and engaging guidelines for execution. Our experience has identified savings and achieved significant results:
$673k saved by making not just any template, but the right template
$1.3mm saved by consolidating image and collateral assets, eliminating duplication of licensing by agency partners
$1.5mm savings found within a global sign program by prototyping designs and regionalizing fabrication of primary sign types
24% more efficient brand management by defining a brand governance and support program
$1mm savings found by evaluating existing brand management tools / systems and identifying redundancies
While we agree rebranding is a commitment, it can be critical to moving your business forward, and the perceived hurdles shouldn’t hold you back. There are several partners who can guide you through this process – kicking off the strategy, gaining leadership support, planning resource allocation and projecting ROI. But, the first step is simply starting the conversation. Personally, we love to talk about rebranding.
