When And How To Plan For A Rebranding Exercise

Most of the Fortune 500 companies started in the 20th century. They are old. What worked in the earlier years may not work now. Companies need to update themselves in order to catch with the trend. Over the time, companies have reinvented themselves many times. This includes logo updating, internal restructuring, communication & culture etc.
Now, two questions arise.
Q1. Why to plan for a rebranding exercise?
Q2. When to plan for a rebranding exercise?
In this article, we will try to answer both of the questions.
Let’s start with question 1.
Why to plan for a rebranding exercise.
VISUAL PERCEPTION CHANGES WITH TIME
If you take a look at the logo of Microsoft Windows over the years, you will see how their logo depicted their message. Have a look
The earlier logos were more dark coloured which updated to better graphics and fainter colours. In the latest design, the logo became flat which symbolises clarity and crispness in thought.
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS CHANGE WITH TIME
If you take a look at the most famous brands, their logos have updated with time. One reason is that trends have changed with time. The designs have changed; the way we design has changed, the technology used has changed. Over the time, the logos have become crispier and give more energetic feel. The graphics have also updated. People now love these updated logos over older logos.
DEVELOPMENT OF CORPORATE IDENTITY
A logo is much more than design. A logo reflects the attitude of the company. It shows the motto of the company, why they are in the market, what is their company structure. A logo speaks volumes about itself and the brand.
All the major companies hire the best of the best designers to design their logo. It shows how much attention the company gives to its logo. Not just the company, but the whole market including customers and competitors also pay attention to the logo. A bad design is a sign of less attention to detail. It drives customers away and at the same time, surrogates the growth of competitors.
There is a reason why companies shell out millions of dollars for logo design.
Now that we have covered why should you plan for a rebranding exercise, let’s jump to when to plan for a rebranding exercise?
WHEN YOU START LOSING MARKET SHARE
Now, there can be various reasons why you lose market share, most popular being bad products/services. But, other reasons may be bad industry practices, poor employee engagement or maybe bad logo design. All these symptoms mean that your brand needs a rebranding exercise as soon as possible.
WHEN YOUR BRAND HASN’T BEEN UPGRADED FROM A LONG TIME
If your company is more than 20 years old and nothing has changed from the time of inception, it could soon lead to a big brand failure. Your brand needs a rebranding exercise to catch up with the present trends.
So, in this article, we tried to cover why and when to plan for a rebranding exercise. We hope this article comes handy when you plan for a rebranding exercise.