Business rebranding happens for a variety of reasons. New competitors can arise suddenly, forcing you to rethink your audience and your position in your market. Conversely, popular trends can make it imperative to distinguish yourself as much as possible to stand out from rival businesses. Making it imperative to distinguish yourself as much as possible. Above all, there’s the state of the business itself to consider: acquisitions, restructuring, and other major changes are prime moments for a brand refresh.

Whatever your motivation, the rebranding itself should be strategically planned. Follow the tips below for a rough outline for rebranding your business smoothly.

1. Create your Brand Narrative: Your Brand Narrative consists of two main pieces:  Brand Story and Brand Messaging. The Brand Story represents your company’s vision, mission and values, while the Brand Messaging is the specific positioning that guides all communications and may evolve over time. Depending on what part of your company’s strategy is changing, a rebranding can address either of these components, or both.
2. Allocate budget properly: Your reinvigorated brand needs to be rolled out consistently and simultaneously with all efforts. Make sure you have the resources and that you’re prepared for the long term.
3. Engage employees: Before you launch, your employees need to be included in the process and understand the evolved brand. What new names, roles, and protocols do they need to know? Internal alignment will help your business rebranding stay consistent and is especially important if you’ve recently undergone a merger. WIN Waste Management successfully combined ten companies into a single revitalized brand and redefined their business presence.
4. Address existing and potential customers: Your customer-facing message also needs to be twofold. Current customers should know what your new brand is, what will and won’t change, and what the impact of the brand will be. For potential future customers, your rebranding will hopefully resonate with whatever they’re looking for from you and be enough to draw them in. If you’ve prepared right, you will have already anticipated this.
5. Measure success: Tailored and clearly defined KPIs are your best bet for evaluating your results, but don’t measure too early: the best time to begin is between 6-12 months. You should also have an optimization plan ready to account for underperformance or technical adjustments. This is another reason why long-term budgeting is essential.

Rebranding requires some deep thought, but it can lead to significant improvements that take your organization in the right direction. If the time is right, and your changes are based on specific needs, the results will be well worth the effort.