How can CEOs flip the script on traditional branding and incorporate a proactive rebranding strategy that rises above the noise, following a tried and proven sequence that’s driven billions in revenue? Here’s the blueprint.

Historically, branding has been the end game. Choreographing how companies were seen. Building loyal customers. Becoming cash cows. Increasing lifetime value of the customer and making moves that customers loved.

Due to technological advances, and fleeting customer loyalties, branding is now an exercise in “discovery” and creating for customers “an endless supply of unexpected and pleasing surprises.”

The new standard? Test widely. Fail fast. Learn even faster.

Tentative, cautious, “safe” branding moves are gone, like the dinosaurs that once roamed the Earth.

Unsustainable brands fail in three fundamental ways:

1. They’re too slow and too over-analyzed,
2. They’re too obsessed with “covering every possible outcome” that their efforts are tentative and too small that they discover nothing from what they put out, and
3. Worst of all, they try to be everything to some poorly defined “audience.”

All while being passed over by much more nimble brands that have learned where the market is headed rather than pouring over where the market has been.

So what does it really take to make your brand not just survive but dominate?

Forget Playing It Safe: Bold (and Smart) Wins

Customers (and stakeholders in the business world) don’t reward timid stances or tentative gestures.

Let’s take this stat from Salesforce’s 5th edition of their Connected Shoppers Report:

“74% of shoppers say it takes no more than three bad experiences to abandon a brand.”

Whoa. How did we get here?

Today’s consumer landscape is very different.

Everything under the sun exists at every turn — from what can be found on Amazon to tons of existing stores and chains, and of course online stores — that it’s become a buyer’s market.

So when it comes to rebranding a company, it’s crucial to have that ideal balance between bold conviction and an uncompromising ownership of who the hero is with your brand and who the villain is.

Show Me the Money: Which To Do First? Marketing or Branding?

The spend on B2B branding is hitting the roof, projected to jump from $32 billion in 2022 to $37.7 billion in 2024.

When does this expenditure become nothing more than burning hard-earned cash?

When companies try to solve branding problems with marketing solutions.

Marketing solutions never solved branding problems.

Why is this? Because branding supersedes marketing. It comes before, and is followed by marketing.

An unstable branding foundation leaves marketing spending tons of cash hoping something will stick.

Branding, and particularly rebranding, isn’t just about increasing the ad spend. It’s about a smart, strategic investment that lays down the roadmap first, establishing the brand, its hero and its villain first, so it’s faster for marketing to dial on where we are and where we’re headed.

Case in point, Nielsen research found that even a one-point gain in brand metrics like awareness and consideration can drive a 1% increase in sales.

And the Harvard Business Review presented a case study about Lilypad Hotels and Resorts, where experts discuss the need to build up the corporate brand to crea

te long-term value and the importance of clarifying what the brand represents before giving it more emphasis.

Even more vital why ingenuity is leveraged to ensure every dollar screams for attention. Intelligently. Meaningfully.

Mastering the Art of Quick Turnaround

Time waits for no brand. Neither do customers. In today’s fast-paced market, dragging one’s feet on a rebrand is the kiss of death.

Look at the shrinkage or demise of once-great brands such as:

• Kodak
• Sears
• JC Penney
• Xerox
• Toys R Us

Each moved too slow, and grew out of touch with how rapidly customer needs were evolving.

Here’s the kicker: speed should never sacrifice quality.

It’s a tightrope walk, but with the right strategy, brands can make it to the other side with a brand that’s fresh, relevant, and ready to take on the world.

By the Numbers: Stats That Matter

With B2B branding spend on the rise and the undeniable link between brand consistency, emotional connection, and customer loyalty, the writing’s on the wall.

This is where brands must focus their energy, resources, and creativity.

When branding or a rebrand is ill-conceived, no amount of Super Bowl ads or commercials can cover up a shallow reason for existence.

Cases in point:

• Once a retail giant, Sears’ efforts to rebrand and modernize its stores and online presence failed to stop its decline. Filing for bankruptcy in 2018, this shallow cosmetic rebrand reflected a failure to translate anything meaningful into financial stability or market share recovery.

• Despite a new logo and store experience, Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy in 2017 due to inability to compete with online retailers and embrace cultural changes in how customers engaged with products. The chain did not move with the times and convert their stores into a “playground for discovery” where kids could share their discoveries online and thus build a meaningful online discussion. Before its closure, Toys “R” Us previously accounted for 20% to 25% of the U.S. toy market, and had shrunk to 50% of that, a significant decrease from its market dominance in previous decades.

• Gap introduced a disastrous new logo in 2010, moving away from its classic design. The backlash was immediate, leading to a return to the original logo just six days later. This incident showed how a lack of understanding of Gap’s brand identity and consumer perception could lead to wasteful expenditure.

• In 2009, Tropicanaspent $35 million on a packaging redesign that consumers disliked for its “store brand” generic appearance. This resulted in a 20% sales drop in just two months. The company reverted to the old packaging, showcasing how misunderstanding brand identity can lead to significant financial losses.

• On the flip side, Old Spice‘s rebranding and marketing campaign in 2010 targeted a younger demographic, revitalizing the brand’s image. They did not try to mask their change, they took the right sequence: they addressed their brand positioning first and then executing a viral marketing campaign, boosting sales by 125% in one year.

Crafting a Killer Rebranding Strategy

Rebranding is a beast, but it’s one you can tame with the right approach. And more importantly, the right sequence.

The 3 pillars are:

1. Branding
2. Marketing
3. Sales

These three are a sequence.

1. Skip to sales and you’ll see some revenue but you won’t have a brand which means something that’s memorable AFTER your sales people have left the room.
2. Focus on marketing and you’ll be wasting hundreds of thousands if not millions.
3. Branding is your Northstar and the anchor simultaneously.

One article used worldwide to help companies during their rebrand is “How To Rebrand: 19 Questions To Ask Before You Start” which sheds light on the blind spots many companies encounter.

But most important? Getting this sequence right: Branding, Marketing, Sales.

Because sales is harvesting the seeds planted. Marketing spreads those seeds and branding defines the seeds and how they are unlike all the other seeds one can buy.

Do this and you’ll turn heads, open minds and unzip wallets.

The post Can a Proactive Brand Strategy Catapult Your Brand to New Heights? appeared first on SiteProNews.

In the competitive business landscape, logos are so much more than just aesthetic symbols.

Treating them like lipstick, as in “Which color is my favorite?” is the most common crime against a strategic (and successful) rebrand.

One one side, logos are the face of a company’s identity, greeting the world with a visual statement.

On the flip side, a logo is that “gold standard” that represents a set of values, a set of expectations, and something that reflects our sense of self.

A misstep in this critical element leads to a communication breakdown, much like speaking the wrong word in a country you’re visiting that insults someone’s mother instead of saying, “Those flowers smell lovely.”

Done well, a rebrand attracts and builds consumer interest, distinguishes itself from competitors while influencing stakeholders and investors, and effectively communicates the brand’s essence across multiple forms of media.

There are two aspects to consider a rebrand:

1. The logo itself and how well it moves the brand forward while differentiating against the noise in that market, and
2. How well is this rebrand and new logo incorporated in all the places it appears?

How Powerful Is a Logo in Shaping Consumer Perceptions and Brand Identity?

Let’s take a look at one of the more cringe-worthy rebrands: The Gap rebrand of 2010.

It was such a badly executed logo transformation – it was quickly reversed due to overwhelming public backlash.

How bad and tone-deaf was it? The logo lasted a mere 6 days before they reversed course.

Some estimate that this cost the company around $100 million.

Tropicana’s 2009 redesign serves as another cautionary tale.

It comes down to five points every brand should note:

1. Goodbye, memorable orange; hello, anonymity. Tropicana’s ‘makeover’ turned their once-iconic packaging into something anyone would mistake for a no-frills store brand.
2. Ditching their classic arched logo, Tropicana’s new look was as bland as a cardboard box. It screamed generic, not premium juice giant.
3. Instead of flaunting their brand, Tropicana opted for a ‘what’s-inside’ visual that just left customers scratching their heads. Talk about an identity crisis.
4. This branding blunder wasn’t just a faux pas; it was a financial faceplant, with a jaw-dropping 20% nosedive in sales.
5. The cost of this design disaster? A cool $137 million flushed down the drain in less than two months forcing the company to revert to its original design, a costly lesson in understanding brand equity.

From the Supermarket to the World Stage

In the supermarket aisle, Kraft Foods’ 2009 logo revision, meant to signify change, ended up conveying confusion: a classic case of a rebranding effort that misjudged its audience’s attachment to the existing brand identity.

Six months of relentless flak after the unveiling, Kraft Foods sheepishly crawled back to their classic logo restoring its place as one of the most memorable and known brands worldwide.

While not a rebrand, the London 2012 Olympics logo, at the hefty investment of $625,000, was intended to be dynamic and modern and part of the legacy of a fresh new look every 4 years.

Instead, the London Olympics logo ended up alienating the very audience it sought to captivate.

Many considered it a visual misfire, demonstrating the fine line between innovation and unusual design.

Some got into religious disputes saying the word “Zion” was hidden in the symbol.

Others even said the logo resembled the Simpsons siblings – Lisa and Bart causing considerable disruption amongst its audience instead of uniting everyone in celebration of this global event.

Disruption should occur to awaken customers, build affinity and provide clear brand differentiation.

Disruption is not what one should cause amongst its customer base.

Simply put, it failed to connect and unite the venue on the world stage: London, with its rich history and culture, seemed like a distant connection to the rebrand with its quirky shapes and colors.

For whatever reason, 2012 seemed to be the year many rebrand failures happened.

Two of the most dismal examples were JCPenney turning into JCP (possibly worse than Kentucky Fried Chicken becoming KFC) and the other was Arby’s rebrand.

Besides being horrendously executed, they made no sense.

And their execution was inconsistent and short-lived. Other rebrands have also been equally inconsistent: Caribou Coffee or Radio Shack and others.

None of these rebrands were ever fully exported to their entire line of stores or franchises and lacking that consistency, they took a bad start and only made them worse.

The Missing Ingredient in Rebranding Failures

These examples underscore the critical role logos play in branding. In an era where digital presence is paramount, logos become silent yet powerful ambassadors across marketing platforms, e-commerce, social media, SEO, and website optimization.

A well-designed logo acts as a keystone in building brand recognition and trust. It’s not just about visual appeal; it’s about crafting a symbol that embodies the essence of the brand’s story, resonates with the target audience, and stands out in a crowded market.

And this is the pivotal point: a well crafted brand story will smooth the pathway and journey to introducing the new (or refreshed) face of the brand.

Sometimes, people don’t welcome change.

Done brilliantly, people (having a context for the world that’s coming) will welcome the new brand with open arms because a new context, a new reframe, instantly makes it clear why the previous identity has become outgrown.

For businesses, C-level executives, SMBs, and startups, the message is clear: a logo ushers in the future.

But a brilliant story and brand narrative lays the foundation for why the rebrand is being done.

But seeing first-hand how this can done with minimal infighting and food fights, everyone involved must understand that a rebrand is a rite of passage into the next exciting chapter, and not merely change for change sake.

It’s the difference between mere survival and thriving success in a market driven by image and perception.

The post Unlocking Brand Success: The Power of a Well-Managed Logo in Rebranding appeared first on SiteProNews.