Failure to (Re)Launch: Top Rebranding Mistakes to Avoid

Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

In a crowded, constantly changing marketplace, every brand must change to keep pace with the competition and stay relevant to target audiences. Certainly, a re-brand is one way to accomplish this. But re-branding isn’t without its risks – a re-brand that goes off the rails can be a costly, damaging blunder that leaves you in a worse position than before you started.

Fortunately, most re-branding failures are due to unforced errors that can be avoided with sufficient care and forethought. Let’s look at a few of the more common mistakes that can turn a well-intentioned re-branding effort into a disaster…

A Few Re-Branding Mistakes to Avoid:

Not Doing Your Homework
This one’s a no-brainer – if you’re making big changes to your brand without doing the appropriate research and planning beforehand, you’re setting yourself up for failure. It’s important to know your market and your competition, and to have clear objectives and goals for the re-brand. Why are you re-branding? What do you hope to achieve?

Disorganized Roll-out of Your New Brand
When re-branding, consistency is key. If you’re changing your logo, brand colors, typography, or other visual components of your brand, you’ve got to do it across the board, and all at once. From web design, to printed marketing materials, stationery, company uniforms, and so on – any aspect of your operation that faces the public needs to reflect your new brand.

Radically Changing Your Aesthetic but Not Your Brand Story
This sometimes happens when brands misunderstand the difference between re-branding and refreshing a brand.  A big-time change in your branding should reflect big changes in your underlying brand story. Otherwise, you’re better off making minor adjustments. If you’re “going big” with aesthetic changes, but delivering the same old experience to your customers, it might not be received well.

Overlooking Customer Loyalty to Your Existing Brand
Or, as the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Sometimes, brands get so swept up in the allure of a fresh new image that they forget the attachment that customers have to their existing brand. Prominent examples of this in recent years include Tropicana’s failed 2009 packaging redesign, blamed for a 20% drop in sales, and Gap’s disastrous 2010 re-brand, which they walked back in mere days.

If you’re considering a re-brand, and you feel that you need a hand, contact us at Rosie’s Creative today. We’ll put our heads together and determine the best strategy that’s tailored to your brand, speaks to your audience, and helps meet your goals.

Ready to get started? Your first consultation with us is always free.