Rebranding is a stressful decision-making process. Do you need a refreshing of your image or do you need a complete rebranding? First you have to define your brand, such as the expectation people have when they see your organization’s name and the sum of experiences people have had with the organization.
Once you’ve made a decision, there are 10 steps to successful rebranding, according to Brad Gillum of Willow Marketing in Indianapolis, Ind. It was part of his recent presentation at the ASAE/Center for Association Excellence exposition in Columbus, Ohio.
You have to start with the truth, which is somewhere between what you believe and what others believe about you. All brands hit a point where they begin to lose relevance and fall out of favor and most brands are updated every seven to 10 years, Willow told those in the audience.
Here are steps that Gillum suggests:
- Do Your Research: “When you’re inside the jar you can’t read the label,” he said. Outsiders can read your label and reality it between those two positions.
- Be Open. Read Between The Lines: Be willing to listen all everything in the research. You might not agree with what you hear but this is from people outside of the jar.
- Importance of Internal Audiences: You have to involve employees and board members board members in the process and differently.
- Archetypes: These are recurrent symbols of original intent. You need to take a hard look at them.
- Importance of Vision, Values and Voice: Know you vision and make it bold but be succinct. Some 64 percent of consumers cite shared values as the primary reason they have a relationship with a brand.
- Understanding the Value of Training: You need to train people/staff on messaging, including the board members and other influencers.
- Launch Your Brand: You have to build out the plan for the launch of the refreshed or rebranded organization. Should it be at a convention, on the web and how will outreach be used to communicate the change to stakeholders?
- Change Your Physical Environment: Create consistency in presenting the new or refreshed brand and let it be reflected in your physical environment.
- Create Deliverables That Represent the Brand
- It Takes Time And Money: The process can be a 120-180 day commitment to compile materials, schedule and hold meetings, review the approved efforts and then training for everyone.
