7. Gathering input from employees.
“Gather input from employees about your core customers wants and needs. Your employees offer valuable insight into who your customer is and how they will react to a brand change.”
– Christopher Horne, President of Hawkhorne, Inc., @hawkhorne
8. Rebrand with problem solving in mind.
“Your brand image should first and foremost illustrate how your company is going to solve your customers’ challenges. For example, we provide an all-in-one sales and marketing business solution; however, that is not what we are selling. We are selling freedom from chaos, success, and business growth. There is a difference between the product and what you are really selling in your customer’s eyes.”
– Alessandra Ceresa, Director of Marketing at GreenRope, @greenrope
9. Seek out brand inspiration.
“You can make the process much easier if you have visual inspirations and a touchstone brand. I found movie posters to be the best kinds of visual inspirations since they have to communicate a message and an emotion very quickly in limited space. A touchstone brand is a guide post for your new brand. Your new brand won’t be a copycat, but it makes many of the decisions when you can ask ‘What would Mercedes Benz do?’ or ‘What would Apple do?'”
– Shari’ Alexander, Chief Connection Specialist at Observe Connect Influence, @sharialexander
10. Use media outreach to communicate brand changes.
“Use the media as your microphone, talk about broad topics in your field that will interest everyone, and then throw in something that is new to your brand to get them tuned in to your company.”
– Caroline Blazovsky, President of My Healthy Home
11. Get creative with your resources.
“When it was time to rebrand, I approached Arizona State University’s Marketing Department asking them to utilize my brand as a case study for their Fall branding course. Now, this coming Fall 10 students will comprise two teams to dissect every aspect of my brand.”
– Slavica Monczka, CCO at Seductively French, @seductivelyFR
12. Make your brand message simple.
“Tie in the product, service, or value to current trends. For example, when I worked with a Thai spa, we often used the phrase ‘lazy man’s yoga’ to describe a Thai massage because although this type of massage was not very well known, everyone knew what yoga was. We also tried to name a few celebrities who were noted for going to spas that offered Thai massage.”
– Sandra Garcia, President and Director of Conscious Public Relations, @SandraGarcia_PR
13. Don’t confuse customers.
“Changing your brand image slowly results in fewer confused customers. You don’t want to resemble a creepy restaurant that never changes, but constantly has ‘Under New Management’ posted. Moving slowly with customers changes the conversation from ‘Why don’t you do this anymore?’ to ‘We really like this new service you’re offering.'”
– Melanie Angelis, Owner of The Grecian Garden, @greciangarden
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