As a business owner, it’s your job to stay on top of everything related to your company. You have to make sure your business is always front and center in your customers’ minds. And you have to set the tone for your brand to make sure that it’s in line with customer expectations and the rest of the marketplace.
At times, your business may, unfortunately, get off track and your branding methods might head in the wrong direction. You could potentially develop a negative image, or want to attempt to reach a new or different audience or a host of other potential areas that can set your branding efforts down the wrong track.
At other times, you may end up outgrowing your original mission and need to change course with your branding efforts. This will better help your company grow and expand and reach a wider audience who’s more receptive to your products, services, and overall mission.
No matter what the situation happens to be, just know that it’s important to rebrand your business in certain scenarios. We’ll tell you about five specific instances when it’s absolutely necessary to take your company brand in a new and exciting direction. Redesigning your logo is one way to start the rebrand but there are many other things you can do.
When You Need to Overcome a Negative Image
Has your company unfortunately developed a negative image in your market? Maybe you ran into a difficult situation that wasn’t properly handled and now your business has a poor reputation? Or maybe you’re suddenly associated with a negative experience that doesn’t truly reflect your business. No matter how your company managed to develop a negative image, you need to take the necessary steps to correct this course to put your business back on the right path to achieving lasting success.
A negative image could devastate your entire business. It could harm your company on social media, review websites, and online business rating agencies. And when this negativity happens, it has a tendency to spread far and wide and it’s often difficult to put out these fires.
Instead of attempting to salvage what’s left of your ailing brand, it’s perhaps in your best interest to start over from scratch. If your reputation is too far gone, relaunching your company under a new name with an entirely new identity is likely the optimal way to restart your business on a new and positive note.
You worked hard to create your original brand and it’s a shame that unfortunate circumstances are holding you down. But you shouldn’t let it hold you down forever. You have to get out from under the undesirable sentiment and rebranding is usually the smartest and quickest way to right the ship and put your business back on the path to glory and high achievement.
When You’re Attempting to Rebrand Your Company to Reach a Different Demographic
Has your company outgrown your current brand? Are you currently heading in such a different direction that you no longer meet the wants, needs, and desires of your current marketing demographic? Maybe you started out catering to a younger audience, but as time has passed, you now recognize that you create products and services for a much older, wiser, and more mature audience.
Or maybe the reverse is true and you’re now attempting to market your products and services to the younger generation because the older generation isn’t as attracted to your business as you hoped they would be.
Every situation is different. That’s why it’s always smart to stop and reevaluate your marketing and branding efforts from time to time. You may learn that your branding efforts are taking your company in the wrong direction and need to reverse course to capture a better, more targeted, and more interested audience. This way you’ll have an easier time selling your products and services to people who want and need them.
If this is the case, you should definitely rebrand your business as soon as humanly possible. Stop what you’re doing and change direction as soon as you can. Narrow down your target demographic and begin branding your business to capture their interest and attention. You’ll have a much easier chance at achieving lasting success by changing the direction of your current branding efforts.
When Your Company Name No Longer Aligns with the Image of Your Brand
Does your company name no longer make sense? Does it no longer seem like it fits with your current brand identity? Sometimes we make a mistake when we first open our business and learn that the name we chose just doesn’t fit what we’re attempting to accomplish.
As an example, let’s say you opened a plumbing business five years ago right after you graduated from a trade school. You were excited to get your business up and running and you didn’t spend a great deal of time thinking about your company name. So you named your business the first thing that popped in your head. But as you’ve gotten older and more mature, you realize that your business name doesn’t fit your brand and it was a mistake to name your company this way.
Instead of keeping your existing business name even though it doesn’t fit in with your image or brand, you should rename your company and ultimately rebrand your business to reflect these changes. You’ll likely become more successful once your business name is fully aligned with your current brand and the current direction that you’re taking your business.
Try a business name generator to get some ideas going.
When Your Current Image Is Too Childish or Embarrassing
We see this one happen all the time and it’s definitely a good reason to consider changing your current image. Did you create a childish or embarrassing name for your business when you first started out? Does it no longer make sense to keep this name or branding focus for your business?
As an example, let’s say you and two of your friends opened a business in your early 20s when you were just getting started in the business world. You wanted everyone to know that you were a young and energetic company ready to tackle any challenge that came your way. So you gave your company a young and energetic name and it made a lot of sense at that time.
Maybe you named your electrician business Youth ReVolt because it sounded young and catchy at the time. But now your company has been around for a dozen years and the principal owners are a lot older and more mature. Youth ReVolt isn’t a very good name for your electrician company at this stage in life, so it makes sense that it’s time to change your name and rebrand while shaking off your embarrassing and childish image.
When Your Brand Name and Image Is Too Close to the Competition
Does your existing brand name or image resemble your competitors too much? Maybe the competition is even threatening to sue you because they believe you’re infringing on their copyright. Or maybe you’d prefer to differentiate yourself from this business because their branding efforts are headed in the wrong direction and the company is beginning to fail.
Regardless of your reasons for wanting to change, just know that if your brand or image is too close to the competition it’s definitely wise to change course and head in a new direction. If your name sounds too similar to one of your competitors, you may want to change it and rebrand your company entirely. Or if the name is different but everything else seems too similar to the competition, you can refocus your branding efforts and send them in a new and better direction.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are many reasons to consider rebranding your business. We shared five important reasons with you above, but there could potentially be dozens more reasons why you should change your branding focus or business name.
Does anything mentioned today feel like the truth? If it does, you should spend time thinking about the direction you’d like to take your company. Better yet, hire a marketing expert, tell them your plans, and see if they can create a rebranding campaign and new logo that will put your business back on the map.
