7 Signs it’s Time for a Re-Brand

Re-Brand is such an ominous word. It creates a mental image of creating a completely new business, or at least a completely new image. But branding is meant to grow with you. It’s meant to evolve. A re-brand isn’t as much a new identity as it is a re-introduction of all the cool changes that have happened since the last time you introduced yourself.

We’ve now been in business for 8 years. When I started my business I was in a completely different place. I was just starting out and there was so much to learn. The branding I had was a reflection of what I had learned in school and what I planned to bring to the table with my design skills. I used a serif typeface (one of those fonts that has the fancy dashes at the ends of the letters) to make the business look established. And I used a bright green to signify innovation. I chose a firefly to communicate natural, authentic communication, the way a firefly emerges from the grass on a summer evening — commanding the night in magical synchronicity with the sounds of the crickets and the frogs playing in the background. In a way, so much of this brand reflected who I was as a person.

Eight years later, I’ve learned so much. I’ve honed my skills, built a solid referral network, teamed up with innovative seasoned professionals, and I felt that my brand needed to reflect that. Now, the beginning of a new decade and after the seismic shift in the economy, my brand needs to also communicate that we’re not only going to make it through this, but we’re going to grow and innovate for our clients. We are going to shift to meet the needs of this new normal. We’re here to stay and to help our clients do the same. I believe the new branding says just that.

You’ll notice a lot about the old branding is still there, the friendly and understated lowercase letters, the dots on the “i”s still missing and there’s still the icon over the last “i”. We kept some of these visual cues to maintain the integrity of the original brand. However, we’ve upgraded the typeface to something new fresh sans serif (no fancy dashes framing the letters) and current. It is also italicized to communicate forward motion. The firefly has also changed and become a hummingbird meant to describe the way we create brands perfectly formulated to attract the right customer — like nectar would attract a hummingbird.

Though our brand may be new, we are the same yet smarter brand partners that we have always been. We are excited to share with you what we’ve been working on. In the meantime, I thought I would share 7 signs that indicate it may be time for you to re-brand.

1. Your regular clients still have no idea what you do. Confusion kills conversion. If your audience doesn’t understand what you do, it’s time to refine your messaging and clarify your brand.
2. You’ve had a major change in leadership, industry or service offering. Tell people! Clear branding can help you consolidate the new and old ways that you can serve your clients.
3. You consistently attract clients and employees that are not right for you. Branding and marketing aren’t always about growth. Sometimes it’s less about getting more clients, and more about getting the right ones. Bad clientele can actually cost you in business. A re-brand can help you clarify who you want to serve in language that resonates with your ideal customer.
4. You have high turnover and low morale among staff. A large amount of business success relies on internal contentment. If you have high turnover or low morale, your staff may not understand your brand or align with your core values. A re-brand can help you articulate who you are and what you believe so that you can maintain those beliefs in every aspect of your business.
5. You spend a majority of your time following up on leads and a smaller percentage of your time on billable hours. There may be some communication gaps that a re-brand can address. Let your clients come to you.
6. Your social media following or website traffic has stagnated or declined. If your audience has stopped engaging with you, it is time to refresh and invite them back into the relationship. A re-brand can help you generate new content and take a pulse check on your audience and what they need to hear and see
7. You’ve had the same brand for 20 years or more. Listen, we all had a favorite identity that pained us to part from. Be it a mullet, a teased out perm, or a kick-butt pair of JNCOs. But times have changed. You’ve changed. Keep your spirit, keep your essence, but update the presentation.

Did any of these signs give you pause? We’d be happy to hop on a call to talk about what a rebrand could look like. You can tell us who you are, then together we can alert the media.