NANDITA SAMPAT
Art Director & Designer | Nandita Sampat Creations
Mumbai | Dubai
Being a designer myself, I realize the positive change a rebrand can bring to your company. Sometimes, your brand needs to stand up and refresh, just like your computer screen! A rebrand is not a band-aid for a stagnant brand, it might or might not work, but in some cases it does wonders. Good brand equity takes years to accrue and shouldn’t be squandered lightly or without good reason. Contradictory statements right?
Then why does your company need a rebrand? Rebranding may be the key to getting your business back on track. Most successful companies, from Fortune 500 to startups, rebrand. As we all know, a brand is more than just a name or logo for a business. It is the sum of the experience that your customers will be getting.
Similarly, what is a re-brand? (It’s not as easy as just hitting refresh…)
“A rebrand is holistic not just design” – Jennifer Larsen Morrow, President of Creative Company. As a founder myself, I have noticed that sometimes businesses fail to make conscious choices when it comes to branding and live to regret it later. Other businesses may even create the best brand but over time those choices may not serve the business well. So, when your brand fails and you are losing to competition, it’s time to rethink, revise, and rebrand.
When is Rebranding a good idea?
Does your business fall into the above situation? Read on to decide strategically if your existing brand needs a renewed identity.
Inability to Communicate Values
Does your business communicate what you do? In today’s saturated market, a business’s name needs to clearly communicate what they do…when it doesn’t it’s time for a rebrand.
Non-alignment with the Vision
In today’s age, customers are really well informed. If they notice that your brand message is inconsistent and not aligned, your brand will never resonate with them. In such a case, rebranding is your saving grace.
A Preceding Substandard Reputation
A poor reputation is often an anchor in dragging any business down. In such a scenario, a rebrand can pave the way for a positive image change.
Inability to Keep up with Industry Standards
It is the time of technological revolution today if your brand is incapable of keeping up with the new changes it will most likely fail. For instance, IBM started life as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. They rebranded as International Business Machines shortly after. If you want to survive as IBM did, a smart and well thought of rebrand should be the path to follow.
What is the process of Rebranding?
To tell a brand story that is worthy of your company and resonates with your audience is not an easy task. Especially if you’re doing a total rebrand, this process should involve carefully thought out brand strategy and brand design execution. I would like to outline my rebranding process as most of the clients I get, come to me for rebranding.
1. Clear and Precise Mission, Vision, and Values
If your company does not have a clearly spelled-out mission, vision, and values, the brand message you are trying to communicate might not resonate with your audience. This is the first step as it describes your brand in a nutshell along with describing your core values.
2. Building a Holistic Strategy for Rebrand Success
Rebranding is not just about a new logo or website, it is the holistic approach adopted when it comes to the look and feel of the brand that you want to communicate to your audience. So we make sure that a consistent and cohesive strategy is created when it comes to your logo, brand elements, fonts, colors, packaging, signs, flyers, brochures, digital and social platform themes. We also make sure the new elements are aligned with the old ones. We focus on a complete facelift of your brand. For instance, one of our clients, a dessert and ice cream parlor requested a complete rebrand for themselves. They knew they wanted something different but did not know what to expect exactly. We provided them with not only a 360 turnover solution but also a redesign of all their marketing collaterals, menu,packaging, and social media style.
3. Analyzing the Market and your Competition
One of our clients had asked for a concept for their healthy salad bar. This bar was focused on counting calories. We analyzed the market and their competition and gave them a strategy that stood out from the rest. So, here conducting in-depth research on the current trends in branding is an essential factor, and then we figure out what will work or not for the particular rebrand. We aim at creating a timeless and classic brand.
4. Focusing on Project Management from the Start to the Release
A complete rebrand can be an effort and time-intensive process. So, always make sure to organize things with relevant tools, spreadsheets, timelines, deliverables, and make it a suitable fit for your budget. We follow this process for every clientele.
5. Finally, tell the world!
After a complete makeover of your brand, we make sure we have an effective launch strategy as to ‘why’ and ‘how’ the brand changed. This way you minimize the risk of confusing your customers when they encounter the changes, and you can also strengthen their brand loyalty by involving them in your brand story.
Whether you need to hit refresh and rebrand or need a completely new brand identity, rebranding is an instrumental tool for business success. You can email Nandita on [email protected] and make rebranding an opportunity for the revival of your brand’s values and position in the market.
ABOUT NANDITA
Hello, I am Nandita, the founder of Nandita Sampat Creations. I have over six years of design experience and have been an active part of the design and developmental projects for many exceptional companies. From initial logo sketches to detailed branding mock-ups, I love shaping and crafting design experiences. My vision is to be the best at identifying and expressing the single most relevant message for the brands I represent and creating a brand image that is memorable and timeless.
