By Liz van Zyl, founder of The Content Agency
Did you know that Google has undergone seven major logo changes since 1998? Coca-Cola, too, has gone from ‘Drink Coca-Cola and enjoy it’ in 1886 to ‘Taste the feeling’ in 2016 (changing its slogan a whopping 57 times since it first went to market). Even Standard Bank, the bank that’s perhaps the most prominent among the Lionesses community, wasn’t always ‘Moving Forward’.
And yet, here I am, four years in - and I’m only now refreshing my company’s brand for the first time (to be fair, I did end up rebranding completely, not just tweaking a slogan). What a mission, though… the performance anxiety almost stopped me dead in my tracks – multiple times. And then, there’s the concern of how the new brand (or look and feel) will be received by clients.
Change is always intimidating. So why would you invest time and effort and risk upsetting the status quo by changing something that, technically, isn’t broken in the first place?
Enter, the case for rebranding…
If you answer YES to any of these questions, it’s time for a rebrand:
- Have your sales plateaued?
- Is your target market’s needs evolving?
- Has your values and positioning transformed?
- Do you still offer the same products and services we did when you created your brand?
- Does your brand blend in?
- Does your current brand limit your growth or make us look small?
- Are you embarrassed to give people your business card (admit it, it happens to the best of us)?
Rebranding can help your business look fresh, innovative and competitive. It shows your stakeholders that you’re constantly working on your value proposition and can give your team a renewed sense of purpose. More than anything, it signals that you mean business.
More than just skin deep…
It’s important to remember that your brand is more than just its look and feel. It’s also the words used to describe your business, products, services and team. Whether you’re rebranding or not, it’s imperative that your brand has key messaging associated with it. This equips your team with key selling points plus a brand-aligned description of what the company does. It also helps your clients understand exactly what to expect when working with you. Think of it as your brand promise.
During times of change (and, let’s face it, our businesses and markets are consistently changing), this core positioning (reflected in the key messaging) is what your team and clients will cling to. Without clear and current key messages that captures your business in a way that’s both up to date and authentic, how your business is seen and your services are sold can quickly become misaligned; giving way to a slippery slope of confusion.
When you’re rebranding or refreshing your brand, these core insights around what your brand’s promise is will inform every decision – becoming the common denominator that reassures all your stakeholders that the business will still meet all their needs. In fact, when we launched The Content Agency (a metamorphosed version of Confabagility) in January this year, we very intentionally communicated the new, extra value associated with the rebrand to our clients (first making sure that our internal team are all on the same page). We even explained to clients that they get “everything they loved about us and more…” – it’s an upgrade.
Considering all the benefits that rebranding can have, it really is worth going through the process more regularly.
I say this from personal experience. Rebranding has been one of the best things for my business. It ensures that the business is on top of its game when it comes to the look and feel, how we describe our key offerings and how we articulate our value proposition. It gives us a talking point when re-engaging with old clients and strengthening relationships with current ones. Not to mention that it makes us more attractive to new clients. And then there’s the fact that The Content Agency’s team is proud to be associated with the fresh and current brand and happy to sell it (and the value it adds) to whoever is willing to listen. Don’t you want to tap into some of that for your business?
Liz van Zyl is the founder of The Content Agency in South Africa, a specialized content development and copywriting provider. Liz loves helping clients work out the best ways to get the word out and achieve their business goals. Over the last decade, she has crafted communications and marketing content and copy for prominent organisations and private individuals in Africa and Australia; and has also been published in a number of national publications and media channels.
EMAIL: liz@thecontentagency.co.za | WEBSITE | FACEBOOK