The 3 Rebrand Types

There is a common misconception that rebranding involves changing the entire face of the business. This can be a very daunting thought if you are debating whether to make a change or not. If you are a brick and mortar kind of business then this can result in huge financial strain to replace signage and other physically branded material.

But know this - it isn’t as scary as you may think!

I have done many rebrands in my time and they have all been very different in the amount of change that has happened. In some cases it has been as simple as creating a clear brand strategy and changing the colour palette.

For example:

I was recently approached by the founding member of Styelle swimwear who was needing help to turn her business into a luxe brand and push her line into the high-end market. Her current brand was there; the ideas, values and vision for the business were solid - it all just needed to come together in one uniformed concept and developed into a strategy that she could roll out over the life of the business. The product images were great, the logo was fine, the name was simple and catching, so all that really needed adjusting visually was changing the colour palette from Hot Pink and Black, to Black, Gold and White. This colour palette is typically associated with luxurious, high-end fashion and culture, which resonated with the Styelle swimwear line. By opting for a simple yet sophisticated brand design, Styelle were at a standard to move forward into the first-class fashion market - And the change has seen some positive results!

A Before + After look at the Styelle Instagram page:

BEFORE

AFTER

THE 3 REBRAND TYPES:

1. THE COMPLETE MAKE-OVER

This full head-to-toe rebrand is typically suited to businesses that have been going for many years.

The businesses I have worked with that have had a complete re-brand all started between the 1970’s and 1990’s. A complete re-brand is required because since this time, demographics have changed, styles have modernised, and the internet and social media has flipped things on their head. Their brand identity and strategies (if they had one) were dated and irrelevant to this day and age, and a catalogue of new competitors has come in to play since their launch.

2. THE RE-FRESH

This is typically for businesses that have been around for over 5 years. These businesses have built a following and a name for themselves but need a change to keep up with new trends and stay ahead of their competitors. A re-fresh involves an adjustment to the brand strategy to include forecasts and goals for the next 5 - 10 years, additions to services (if any) and could see a change up in brand style and/or colour palette. In short, the main purpose is to stay relevant.

3. THE NAME CHANGE

Name changes can happen for various reasons. If you are entering into a global market, you may discover that you cannot trademark your name because it already exists in another country. Another reason could be that you are expanding your services and/or products and your current name is too specific and irrelevant to your new offerings.

A name change is, of course, changing the name or adjusting the tag line. This results in also changing and re-designing the logo, which then needs to be carried across all brand touch points. Depending on what kind of business you operate, this could be very costly or a very minimal change.

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