In a recent blog post, we discussed brand identity and why it is vital to a small business’s success. If your business has taken the big step to move forward with rebranding, make sure you follow these steps to successfully launch your rebranding campaign. Remember, a brand identity is much more than a logo, so an effective rebranding strategy will stretch much further than simply changing out the logo on your website.
1. Create a branding style guide.
If you’ve decided to use Hyport Digital to rebrand your company, we will provide you with a detailed branding guide to use in your big launch. If your company has done your own rebranding or worked with another company, make sure you ask for a branding style guide to ensure that you are consistent with your brand across all digital and print mediums.
A branding style guide will include your new logo, color palette, font selections and a monochromatic logo as well. Distribute your branding style guide internally so that all of your employees are familiar with the new brand and know exactly which colors and fonts to use after your launch day.
2. Make a schedule.
Making your rebranding strategy a success is so important for your business. There are many companies who do not launch their new brand well, and it can negatively impact your customers’ view and opinion of your brand. So, we recommend approaching your rebranding campaign in bite-sized steps. Make a detailed schedule. Pick a “launch day” at least 30 days out. Then, work backwards from there.
It’s important to communicate to your audiences that a rebrand is coming up. In addition to creating a digital marketing strategy for your rebrand, make sure you mark other important tasks on your calendar to complete before your launch day. For example, print materials should be ordered in advance so you have them in hand on your launch day. Talk to your printer and make sure you get the designs in a few weeks before the launch day.
In addition to your big launch day, set a meeting about a week in advance for a mini “internal” launch day with your employees. Your team will be your greatest in-person advocates for your rebrand, so you want to bring them into the vision and new design. If your company is rebranding to another name entirely, this step is vital. Company employees should be waiting excitedly for the big launch day so they can help spread the new brand to your external audience.
3. Create a communication plan for both internal and external audiences.
This step is the most important step in the process of rebranding a business. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. And then, communicate again. Customers should know that your company is about to rebrand, especially if you are changing your company name. Even if you are changing your brand identity with a new logo and look and feel, your audience will feel more comfortable if they know that the change is coming.
Internal Audience – Your Loyal Advocates
As stated in Step 2, prepare a communication plan for your internal audience first. One idea is to set up an all-company lunch or meeting to share your rebranding strategy with your employees. After the meeting, send a company email out with the new branding style guide and a shareable “teaser” social media post that your employees can broadcast on their own social accounts. Build anticipation amongst your external audience by capitalizing on your already loyal internal audience.
External Audience – Your Primary Targets
The secret to a successful rebranding strategy is an engaged, anticipatory customer base. Create a communication plan that builds excitement and promotes your launch day. Create content for social media, your blog and your email newsletter that alerts your customers that an awesome new brand is coming on the specific launch day. You can make this a fun experience for the viewers. Tease out tiny pieces of the logo or reveal specific words that are replacing the old brand.
Here are some examples of great rebranding communication:
“Something big is coming for [Company]. It involves red, words and…a favicon? Stay tuned for an exciting announcement coming on [Launch Date]!”
“It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…a secret to be revealed on [Launch Date]. Don’t miss our clues coming in the next few weeks!”
“Here’s a sneak peek of a beautiful new look for [Company]. Check back on [Launch Date] for the full reveal! Same company, sleek new design.”
Remember that your brand identity is your company’s visual story. Use your brand’s redesign as a story to tell to your audience. Why did you decide to rebrand? What story does the logo tell? Why are you excited about sharing it with your loyal following? Create meaningful content to connect with your audiences about this big rebranding campaign.
4. Organize digital content and order print materials.
Don’t let your launch day sneak up and catch you off guard. It’s better to delay your launch day than to have a partial launch. As stated earlier, order any print material well in advance to have it on hand for your launch day.
This article from Column Five Media details an all-comprehensive list of content that needs to be updated for your brand launch. Here is a summarized list for you:
When launch day arrives, you want to have everything ready to roll out.
5. Plan a fun launch day.
A rebrand’s launch day can feel stressful, but it’s important to have fun. Make the launch day a celebration for your employees. Buy T-shirts for everyone to wear that has your new brand front and center for any customers that walk through the door. Hand out small flyers to each customer with a special “Launch Day” promotion for them. Make it fun and exciting so that any attention your rebranding gets feels positive and light-hearted instead of a fear of change.
In addition to the fun launch day plans, make sure your updates are ready to go live during the night before. When customers wake up on launch day, they should see an exciting announcement in their email inbox, on social media and on your website. Combine paid and organic content strategies to garner attention and recognition to your new brand identity.
Some great launch day content posts could be a short video detailing the “before” and “after” and explaining why your company made the change. Keep promoting your rebranding campaign for two to three weeks after launch day so any customers late to the party will still see your rebranding journey.
Conclusion
When making the big decision to rebrand your company, we understand that it’s easy to feel pretty overwhelmed. Remember that your brand identity is the initial thought that enters a customer’s mind when they think of your business. So reorienting that thought to a new brand identity should be taken seriously and planned meticulously. We hope these steps were helpful to you and your business.
If you are considering rebranding your company, contact us today. Our branding design experts would love to talk to you about how to refresh your company’s look and feel and attract more customers.
