Your brand is the face of your business. It can cover everything from your logo and colour schemes to your tone of voice and product packaging. Essentially, it’s how you present yourself to your customers. But what if your branding is no longer effective? In this case, you might consider a rebrand.

Rebranding can be an exciting venture for your business, but it’s also a major overhaul, that requires time, money and plenty of research. Discover why businesses rebrand and how to plan a successful rebrand journey of your own with Adobe Express.

What is a rebrand?

A rebrand is the process of changing the image, and sometimes the brand identity, of a business. It can be part of a marketing strategy to connect with customers and stand out in the market.

Rebranding can involve updating your:

• Brand name
• Logo
• Typography
• Taglines
• Colour, icons and visual assets
• Tone of voice
• Brand story and mission.

The elements you decide to update can depend on whether you think your business needs a major overhaul or a simple refresh.

The UK has seen it’s fair share of rebrands over the past few decades. John Lewis, for example, successfully rebranded to John Lewis & Partners in 2018. This not only aligned the John Lewis and Waitrose brands under the John Lewis Partnership, but also highlighted their unique employee or “partner”-owned business structure. In this instance, their rebrand was focused on celebrating existing values more, rather than changing them.

However, rebranding can also be a delicate operation. Royal Mail’s attempt at rebranding to Consignia in 2001 was met with pushback from the UK public, due to the familiarity and cultural legacy of the Royal Mail name. In fact, the response resulted in Royal Mail reverting back to their historic name. So, a rebrand is not always the best decision for a business.

Why do businesses rebrand?

When planned and executed effectively, your brand is one of your most powerful tools. There are various reasons why businesses consider rebranding, including:

• New market. If you’re marketing your product to an all-new customer profile, you may need a rebrand. This could follow a new line of products, a change in price or expansion to international markets.
• Consolidate products and services. After a merger or new business acquisition, your offering can change. Rebranding can help audiences understand what’s new and put out a clear message about who you are as a business.
• Refresh brand colours, typography and visual assets. It’s common for brands to update their visual branding every few years to keep things fresh and on-trend. This may be to boost brand awareness or target a particular demographic.
• New brand mission. Your visual branding has to mirror your brand identity—including your brand purpose, vision and values—which could shift as your business grows and expands.

Things to consider before you rebrand your business.

If your company has recently seen some transformation, it may be time to update your branding to match. It’s important for your branding to mirror your company’s mission, values and new market.

While rebranding can breathe new life into your business, it also carries risk. Before committing to change, consider the following:

• Define the purpose of your rebrand. Consider why your business might need a rebrand, and how this should take shape. Is it just a light refresh of your brand colours, fonts and visual assets, or do you need a full rebrand to market your new business offering?
• Assess your brand regularly. Maintaining and improving your brand should be an ongoing effort. Think of checking brand sentiment and awareness as routine housekeeping for your business strategy.
• How will rebranding impact your brand equity? Your brand equity shows how influential your brand is compared to competitors. Consider how rebranding might affect the existing rapport you have with your customers.
• Will you need to update your brand story? Does your brand identity and purpose still resonate with your target audience? If you’re considering a rebrand, consider your brand story and how it aligns with your audience.
• Communicate the change. Rebranding can be exciting. But one of the most important steps is to make sure everyone is aware that it’s happening. You’ll need to communicate your plans for a rebrand with key stakeholders, clients, customers and staff.

Ready to plan your rebrand? Take a look at some rebranding announcement ideas below.

8 steps to rebrand your small business.

Rome wasn’t built in a day—and your rebrand won’t be either. Find out how to rebrand your small business with our essential steps below.

1. Review your existing brand proposition.

Before redefining your current brand vision, it’s a good idea to take a look at the brand mission and proposition in place already. Assess your business roadmap, brand message and values and see if they’re different to the company values you have now. This is a good indication that you may need a rebrand.

2. Consider your target audience.

Identify who your actual target audience is, including who’s buying your product, and who your competitors are. Perhaps it’s a different demographic to the one you thought you’d reach, and now you need to rethink your brand accordingly.

In any case, it’s important to consider the audience you want to reach with your rebrand. Think about your buyer personas, and whether they need refreshing. Conduct market research and focus groups to understand what they’re looking for from your brand.

3. Define your new brand vision.

A light refresh could be all it takes, but in some cases, rebranding is more than just a change in logo. Rebranding may mean reassessing the core of your brand. Define your new company vision, roadmap and values. Consider the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of your new business direction.

4. Build out your refreshed brand guidelines.

If you’re putting out new brand values, how you communicate your brand message will need updating too. Your brand voice is the tone and language you use to convey your brand identity. Once you’ve found your voice, create a new set of brand guidelines. This will help ensure everyone in your business is aligned.

5. Create the assets, media and more to go with it.

Whether it’s a complete overhaul or a subtle update, your visual branding is often closely entwined with your brand recognition. It’s important to tread with caution and keep your redesign simple, yet impactful.

Once you’ve updated your colour scheme, typography, graphics and visual structure, these can be added to your brand guidelines with your new brand voice. Then they are ready to be used on future flyers, advertisements, social media posts and more.

6. Assess brand sentiment.

Before taking the plunge, get an idea of how your rebrand may be met by customers. Focus groups are a great method of gathering feedback and assessing how customers respond to your new visual branding, as well as your new brand mission and values. Acquire data on your brand sentiment before, during and after the rebranding process to help inform your strategy.

7. Announce your rebrand to the community.

A successful rebrand launch is all in the planning. This includes a ‘soft launch’ to internal stakeholders in your business, followed by a content schedule to announce your rebrand to customers and the wider public.

You can use a range of media to introduce the brand refresh to your audience, including:

• Email marketing – such as a newsletter announcement to your existing database.
• Social media posts – create some build up before the announcement, then update your channels with new banners, posts and bios that align with the rebrand.
• Influencers – partner with a micro-influencer that you’ve worked with previously to show them opening a product with your new branding or attending the rebrand event.
• Press release – you can share this on your website or via local and national news outlets.
• Paid media campaigns – opt for an ad on TikTok or Instagram Reels to get the word out to a wider audience.

8. Feed the momentum.

The hard work doesn’t end after the grand rebrand. Here’s a final reminder to keep stoking the fire with various follow-on plans to ensure your rebrand is a success. For example, create space for feedback channels to record internal and customer sentiment once your rebrand is out in the open.

Internally, consistency is essential. Follow your new brand guidelines and create templates for convenience. Most importantly—commit to your new brand identity with confidence.

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Good to know.

What are the three main types of rebranding?

Rebranding can look different depending on what’s required from the transformation. The main types of rebrand include:

• A rebrand from a brand merger or company acquisition
• A light brand refresh
• A full rebrand, which may be initiated by moving into another market or expanding your business offering.

Why is rebranding difficult?

Rebranding requires plenty of research and planning. From a customer perspective, rebrands can also take some adjustment, so it’s important to understand your existing brand sentiment before you take the leap. If a rebrand is necessary, keep tracking your brand sentiment throughout the process to identify pain points and correction areas.

Is Adobe Express free?

Yes. The basic version of Adobe Express includes everything you need to start working creatively. Adobe Express offers thousands of design templates, images, videos and royalty-free photos, quick actions for processing images, as well as much more. Design logos from scratch for your business rebrand, print business cards with your new branding or share flyers with local businesses to get the word out.