Welcome to the second part of this article that explores the most common reasons our clients decide to rebrand. If you missed Part 1, you can check out what we covered here.

4. HAS YOUR BUSINESS CHANGED OR EVOLVED?

Sometimes, a business goes through a significant change, such as a merger or a rename. This is a critical time to rebrand. It presents a valuable opportunity to focus on ensuring the evolved entity is communicating your story in the right way.

Veva was recently approached by a business that had merged with another – a strategic move that enabled them to increase their service offering and benefits to both client bases. Rather than opting for one of the existing company names, they made the decision to develop a new name. This is an exciting and positive transition that will only be helped by undertaking a professional branding process. Investing in the new brand from the beginning will not only help unite the team with clarity, confidence and direction, it will also build powerful connections with the newly broadened audience. To miss this opportunity just doesn’t make sense.

Another example is one of Veva’s favourite rebrand projects of recent years. In 2015, Nudgee Junior College extended their education offering from junior school only to secondary school as well (Prep to Year 12). Because a high school called Nudgee College already existed, the school renamed as Ambrose Treacy College. This marked a significant evolution in their history. The school appreciated how important the rebranding process would be in establishing the right balance between their existing heritage and their new path forward. We loved working with the Principal and leadership team across the entire rebrand and roll-out of all brand elements.

5. IS YOUR BRAND STILL RELEVANT?

I can use Veva as an example here. About 2 years ago, we decided to stop and review the direction of our business. We assessed our brand and realised that it wasn’t reflecting either our client base or the quality of the work we were producing. We saw that the existing Veva brand was actually letting us down. We had evolved, and we’d literally outgrown our brand.

When I first launched Veva, I had a much broader offering. I was trying to appeal to a wide market to ensure I had enough work coming in to support my new venture. I created the brand quickly without focusing on who my ideal target was. Within a couple of years, I was lacking the confidence to stand behind my brand. It just wasn’t telling the right story or communicating our capabilities in the right way. It wasn’t relevant to our target market.

So we took ourselves on the same branding journey we take our clients on. We asked ourselves the tough questions about what makes us different, who our target market is and what distinct benefits we offer our clients.

This allowed us to develop a brand that aligns to who we are. Veva inspires other businesses about the power – the real tangible value – of their brand. And we do this through connection. In fact, connection underpins every project we work on. Connecting with our clients through a strategic, creative process. Connecting our clients to their target markets in a meaningful and unique way. And of course, connecting our clients’ brands to successful and effective outcomes.

We now have a confident and highly relevant brand that we are extremely proud of.

6. HAS YOUR START UP COME OF AGE?

At Veva, we’re lucky enough to have worked with a range of enthusiastic and driven start-up entrepreneurs. No matter what the industry, financial resources are usually stretched to the max in these early days of a business’ life, and most start-ups choose not to invest in their brand identity. Faced with competing demands like buying stock, investing in vital equipment or paying staff, it is understandable that owners sometimes take brand short-cuts and settle for DIY logos – at least for the interim.

But after a period of growth and success, most start-ups reach a point where they need to assess how their brand is working for them and whether it’s time to invest in it properly.

Although a cheap and cheerful logo designed by someone’s daughter, friend or even 99 Designs might suffice in the short-term, invariably, this doesn’t have either the presence or the flexibility to help the business in the long-term.

A professionally and strategically designed brand identity ensures that a business’ visual look and feel works optimally across a broad range of applications, ensuring consistency, strength of message and confidence.

So there you have it. My top 6 reasons that businesses we work with have decided to rebrand. Where are you up to on your brand journey?

Category tags: Branding