Have you ever heard of the term “rebranding”? Many of you may be wondering, “I know about branding, but is it different from that?”
Rebranding refers to rebuilding an existing brand once created in line with changes in the times and society. Companies that have been doing branding can change their corporate image by rebranding.
In this article, we will explain the overview of rebranding, its benefits, and points to consider when rebranding.
What is rebranding?
Rebranding is the word “branding” with “re” meaning “again.” It means rebuilding the existing brands that a company has created, such as products and services.
This is an initiative to revive the charm and appeal of products that have become less sought after by customers due to changes in fashion over time.
Rebranding involves rebuilding the brand itself, rather than just changing a part, such as a catchphrase. We will change the brand itself to suit the times and customers.
Therefore, we will not change the “why” such as the mission, but will significantly change the “how” and “what” such as how we do things and what we do. We will not change the core aspects of brand management, such as our mission and vision.
Benefits of rebranding
Rebranding involves reviewing and rebuilding an existing brand to more effectively convey its appeal.
Building a brand from scratch requires significant costs in terms of money and time, but rebranding uses existing brand assets, so costs can be reduced compared to building a new brand. can.
Also, since we are not discontinuing existing brands, we can re-reach the customers who have been loyal to our products and services.
A brand is a valuable asset for a company. Rebuilding your company’s brand value through rebranding will have a positive impact on your future management.
How to proceed with rebranding
Rebranding is extremely important in a world where times are rapidly changing, but how exactly should we go about it?
From here, we will explain how to actually proceed with rebranding.
Confirmation and analysis of current situation
Before rebranding, it is important to confirm and analyze the current brand.
Before you start rebranding, you need to look at your current brand positioning, customer reviews, and analyze whether your brand is working effectively.
Only by confirming and analyzing the current situation can you think about what kind of rebranding would be effective. Be sure to organize your brand’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the social situation related to your company.
Formulation of new brand
After confirming and analyzing the current situation, it’s time to think about strategies for the new brand.
When formulating a new brand, it is important to make full use of existing brands. Even with existing brands, there are bound to be things that should and should not be changed.
Let’s look for changes in positioning and products/services while keeping the things that should not change. You also need to think about marketing methods to provide new products and services to your target audience.
When formulating a new brand, it is necessary to develop it objectively. Don’t just stick to your own ideas; instead, think about it from the perspective of the stakeholders looking at the new brand.
Recognition and penetration of new brand
Once you have rebuilt your new brand, let’s take actions to make it recognizable and pervasive.
If we don’t first make people aware of it, we won’t be able to penetrate it. If you are a company, you should first raise awareness and penetration within your company, and then aim to raise awareness and penetration externally.
There are various methods of awareness and penetration, but it is important to consider which method is easiest to convey and take action.
Think carefully about how to communicate effectively to stakeholders, and how to make your target group feel the value.
Key points when rebranding
Even if a company rebrands, it cannot be considered a success if it does not lead to business development.
From now on, we will explain the key points when rebranding so that you can further develop your business.
Review of service content and targeting
When rebranding, it is essential for companies to review their service content and targeting.
Even if a product or service has been strongly supported up until now, customers will get tired of it after a long time and sales will decline.
What customers and society want changes greatly depending on the times and social conditions. Also, the speed at which times and social conditions change is extremely rapid, so it is necessary to constantly search for what is needed.
When formulating your brand strategy, consider the following points:
Contents of products and services Targeting Positioning in the market
marketing
method
Leverage existing brand assets
Rebranding does not “change from scratch” but “rebuilds” an existing brand, so it is possible to utilize the assets of the existing brand.
Therefore, when creating a new brand, be sure to distinguish between what should change and what should not.
In particular, customers who have used our products and services in the past are extremely important assets. When rebranding, build a new brand while inheriting the trust of your customers.
Take major measures when rebranding
When rebranding, it is important to rebuild the brand significantly rather than half-heartedly.
If you just slightly change your company name or catchphrase or slightly redesign your website, you may not be able to achieve your rebranding goals.
Rebranding is an effort to significantly change the way a product looks and is perceived, and to revive its charm and appeal. Therefore, it would be a good idea to make major new efforts, such as a new business that involves rebranding your company name, logo, website, etc. This will make your rebranding more successful.
However, of course, there are things that are possible and difficult in terms of cost. Be sure to take bold measures while checking the balance with costs.
take your time
Give yourself enough time to rebrand.
Building a new brand takes time. Also, there may be a certain number of negative opinions after the new brand.
However, it is taboo to go back to the original brand. This will lead to lowering the value of your newly created brand.
After rebranding, there are some patterns that take effect immediately and some that take a little while to take effect. Don’t panic even if you don’t see any results; check and analyze the effects after a certain period of time.
A brand grows gradually, so it is important to continually check, analyze, and take action.
Companies that successfully rebranded
There are many companies in the world that have actually carried out effective rebranding and are further developing their businesses.
Here are some examples of successful rebranding.
Koikeya
Koikeya, which sells popular sweets such as potato chips, has rebranded with the appointment of a new president.
“KOIKEYA PRIDE POTATO” was sold as a symbol of the rebranding. Returning to our roots of “creating the most delicious potato chips without compromise,” we have adopted a package design that is completely different from previous potato chip package designs.
We implemented a new initiative called rebranding, which effectively led to the product becoming a hit and the company’s development.
Toraya
“Toraya”, famous as a long-established store of Japanese sweets such as yokan, underwent a major rebranding in 2007.
Because there have been variations in product package design and format over the long history, we unified the format of product names and changed the design to one that makes the letters stand out. Additionally, the logo has been changed and unified from “TORAYA” to “TORAYA”.
Rather than rebuilding the brand from scratch, we rebranded it to align with the times. Based on what we have built up over our long history, Toraya has created a brand that is even more appealing to our customers.
summary
In this article, we explained the overview and benefits of rebranding, as well as points to consider when rebranding.
Rebranding means rebuilding the existing brand, such as a product or service, that a company has created. This is an effort to revive the charm and appeal of a product when trends change with the times or when it becomes less sought after by customers over the years.
The points to consider when rebranding are summarized as follows.
However, if a company’s management or business does not develop even after rebranding, it cannot be said that the rebranding was successful.
In order to make rebranding effective and meaningful, it is important to build a brand in line with the times and market and nurture it with care.