Rebrand or Refresh

This looming provocative question ebbs to the top of any marketer, business leader or brand strategist’s mind, primarily driven by the need to maximize the brand’s value. The value of the brand can be difficult to define and even quantify but one thing that s is for sure- your brand is the summation of experiences that a consumer has with your service and or product. How marketers quantify this value can be predicated on:

• Role the brand plays to influence the consumer’s choice and, or
• The financial performance of the branded product or service

Moreover, the true value of the brand is quite subjective and encapsulates the intangibles! Nonetheless, when we look at world class brands, some that have been around for decades and undergone significant brand evolutions and others that have just erupted at the forefront, a rebrand or refresh is always evaluated. The impact of the change has often transcended to actual logos, brand typography, taglines, packaging, supply chain, distribution channels, internal corporate cultures, to external advertising and digital presence.

One example that has undergone significant rebranding is Apple. At the onset of the company coming into the marketplace, the apple brand launched April 1976 offering mass-market personal computers that featured a graphical user interface, a built-in screen and mouse. Now decades later the brand has evolved to a multinational corporation that creates consumer electronics, personal computers, servers, computer software, and is a digital distributor of media content valued at $184 Billion.

You will see also how the brand logo evolved over the years that synced with the evolving business model alongside service and product offerings.

Seeing and experiencing this successful example evolution of a brand prompts one to assess the need to rebrand or refresh your brand. If you are still struggling, review these quick questions and know that if you answer YES to any question, its time to rethink your brand positioning.

• Is your Business Model, Product or Service offering evolving, changing or significantly expanding?
• Is there a stark difference in how your consumers articulate your value proposition than how you would communicate it?
• Is there a compelling reason for a makeover to stay relevant or improve your brand/business reputation?

Now that you have assessed your need to rethink your brand, lets consider the key decision tree model on whether to rebrand or refresh. 

As you evaluate your decision to rebrand or refresh, it is critical to develop a cohesive plan from outlining key objective, goals, defined strategy and key performance metrics to ensure you execute with excellence! At the end of this process, measuring the impact and success will loop back to the two key points outlined above: have you been able to further influence the consumer’s choice of your brand and or have you seen an impact in your financial goals?

Know that we at Mc2 have the knowledge to work alongside your teams to assess the best pathway forward and further map out a strategic roadmap plan to deliver your desired business results! For further questions or to get in touch with one of our lead consultants please contact loren@mccrayconsulting2.com.