Simon Wright, managing director at Greenwich Design, offers advice on how to tell if your brand needs to be updated
You’ve spent your money on creating a brand image, style, logo, type etc and business is doing well. So why on earth would you even consider changing your brand? Isn’t it a case of ‘if it ain’t broke, why fix it?’ Well, you could say the same about your health. When we feel fine we don’t worry about it – until things go wrong and we wish we’d known before so we could have taken preventative medicine. Regular health checks are just as important for brands – otherwise you may think all is okay and then, suddenly, you’ve been delisted for a newer, more relevant brand.
We live in a world that is fanatical about change – before your new mobile phone has even arrived, there’s probably a more up-to-date model being launched. We have learned that, in the main, change is good. The same is true with product design, visual identity, communications and brand personality. We need to make sure that these are up-to-date and relevant if we want to stay one step ahead of the competition. If you constantly review your brand, you may find that no change, or only very small change is required – but you will be making a considered decision.
Stay up-to-date
Let’s face it, we admire brands that lead the way – Apple, Microsoft, Yammer and PwC. For them it’s not just about staying in the game, but being the brand others want to follow. And to do that, you need to make sure you’re pertinent in the marketplace, and that your brand reflects your offering and what customers need.
From air conditioning to accounting, from courier firms to cash machines, you have to remain up-to-date and fresh to be the first choice. Even the most established brands embrace change. Xerox launched a new look several years ago to replace its branding from the 1990s. Since then its business has gone through a huge amount of change, moving from a technology company to a technology services company. Having ridden high on being the shorthand for photocopying, and also having bought outsourcing giant ACS, it realised it needed to change if it wanted people to understand that it was now so much more than this.
No doubt there was huge trepidation in making changes to something so well known – but it had to be done and the refreshed brand was a great reflection of the new look business.
If Xerox doesn’t take things for granted then neither should you – after all, it’s not just about you. Your competitors are probably reviewing and updating their brands, products and services so you need to know whether standing still is really
an option.
So how do you know if your brand is safe to fight another day? And if you spot warning signs, what should you do?
Take a look in the mirror
You should have a continuous process of ‘review, update and refresh’ running across every 12-month period. Brand reviews can take different forms, but companies often have great resources for finding out what their customers think – the sales force, social media, retail outlets and market research are invaluable ways of gathering information and asking questions. You need to listen, understand what you are hearing and what this might mean to your business.
Look forward
There’s no use waiting for the next big thing to become big – you need to know if it will have an impact on your business before it gets to that stage. A good way of looking ahead is to bring in your design agency (and other comms agencies if you use them) to present their trend predictions and how these might impact on customers. This can help in assessing brand relevance and whether changes need to be made in the planned future – either now or even in two or three years’ time, depending how significant they are.
Add science to art
If the signs suggest you need to refresh your brand it’s time to bring in the experts. Your brand is one of the most valuable assets you own – even though you have made the decision to change it, you need to handle it with care. After all, what you want to do is optimise its relevance to your marketplace – not alienate your loyal customers. People often have strong feelings towards brands, and especially logos – just as Gap, Abbey and Everton FC found out when they unveiled their new look.
An expert design team needs to be able to provide you with years of experience, insight into the marketplace and an unerring instinct for what is needed. This combination is required to determine just how much change is needed to keep a brand fresh, relevant and on a businesses supplier roster. They will help you to understand where the ‘volume’ dial needs to be in terms of either short term renovation or game-changing reinvention.
Constant innovation
Successful B2B brands are those that give new reasons to existing customers to come back and find out more – or which entice new target audiences to the brand. This calls for a visionary culture of constant innovation. As long as the innovations sit within a relevant product/service area, these updates are an important way of bringing the brand up-to-date.
Be brave
When you have a great brand, the idea of changing it can be scary. However, not changing it (or at least not checking if it needs changing) should make marketers more fearful. Losing relevance is dangerous in a world where customers constantly update their views and opinions on everything as a result of the continuous flow of communications. Experience, insight and instinct should help provide you with the courage to make the right decision.
