Design

Owners Guide: Signs Your Product Really Needs a Rebrand.

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product needs a rebrand
Kevin

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Every product’s popularity waxes and wanes (well, to be fair, sometimes it never waxes), and when the periods of wane are significantly longer than the periods of wax, you may want to rethink your brand strategy. The first part of a brand strategy is evaluating one’s brand identity. The second part before you jump to the marketing strategy is discovering that your company has no identity and recognizing that it’s time for a rebrand.

After determining your reason(s) for a rebranding, whether it’s an existing or new product, changing your brand image is more than changing the logo; it requires a complete package redesign. These two components help the customer understand the brand’s focus; they help articulate the whole company persona. 

  • What purpose is your product meant to serve the public, and what was the driving force behind your production?  
  • Why do you think you can give the public a better product than your competitors? 
  • Most importantly, what is the likelihood of a Kardashian being photographed carrying it? (Shoot for the stars!)

Thinking through a series of rebranding questions like these makes it easier to see the warning signs that put your product in the “act now” rebranding stage. Let’s look at these signs to know if they ring true for your brand. 

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Every product’s popularity waxes and wanes (well, to be fair, sometimes it never waxes), and when the periods of wane are significantly longer than the periods of wax, you may want to rethink your brand strategy. The first part of a brand strategy is evaluating one’s brand identity. The second part before you jump to the marketing strategy is discovering that your company has no identity and recognizing that it’s time for a rebrand.

After determining your reason(s) for a rebranding, whether it’s an existing or new product, changing your brand image is more than changing the logo; it requires a complete package redesign. These two components help the customer understand the brand’s focus; they help articulate the whole company persona. 

  • What purpose is your product meant to serve the public, and what was the driving force behind your production?  
  • Why do you think you can give the public a better product than your competitors? 
  • Most importantly, what is the likelihood of a Kardashian being photographed carrying it? (Shoot for the stars!)

Thinking through a series of rebranding questions like these makes it easier to see the warning signs that put your product in the “act now” rebranding stage. These tough-to-ask questions are part of the first step on every rebranding checklist and help direct the future strategy. Now, let’s look at these signs to know if they ring true for your brand. 

You Use “Low Fat” Branding

Naturally, no self-respecting health nut wants to eat high-fat foods, but the fat-free/low-fat phase in nutritional marketing is officially over. Low-carb isn’t really in the now, either.

It may seem stupid, but nutritional labeling choices are primarily based upon fads rather than hard dietary science, and including the phrase “low fat” tells the public that your product is hopelessly dated. We unquestioningly embrace the latest trends for weight loss and management while ignoring actual empirical data relating to health. Therefore, we respond more favorably to foods that indicate that they are appropriate to the latest diet craze. The Atkins diet “revolution” caused any number of companies to extoll their Atkins plan suitability; frozen foods had the South Beach diet printed boldly on their packages.

This rule applies to more than just the low-fat craze. If your food product has sat out the last decade or so of diet fads, you haven’t been keeping up with your brand’s market relevance. Shame on you.

Your Target Audience is Outdated

Consumers evolve, and you’re still targeting Gen X like it’s 1999? Well, you’ve missed several critical generational shifts. Millennials, Gen Z, and even Alpha are here, and they have entirely different needs, wants, and social issues they care about. Regularly monitoring these generations’ interests, habits, and desires could mean a brand refresh or a complete overhaul of the current branding. 

If you’re peddling nostalgia (which does work for specific categories) without a strategy, you’re sending your brand out to pasture. Wake up, old-timer; the kids have taken over the playground. Rebrand or remain irrelevant.

You Lack Eco-friendly Packaging

While you may not be operating like an evil corporation, consumers no longer avoid bad brands; they seek out companies with sustainable initiatives and choose the ones with the strongest brand messaging. 

So, to start, ensure the current brand is not one step away from a sustainable catastrophe. Environmentally irresponsible packaging is just as bad in the eyes of a discriminating public as asbestos or wheat gluten. If you still use non-biodegradable plastics in your packaging solution (mercy), you may as well start beating baby seals with a tire iron.

As any packaging design company rep will tell you, in the past decade, the public has grown to like and trust packaging that is made from recycled, degradable materials — so much so that if the package disintegrates in our hands on the way to the register, we’re kind of okay with it.

There’s Been a Bit of (Ahem) Controversy

When there have been lawsuits, unfortunate tweets, or stories about sourcing your materials from child labor mills, changing your brand image (and possibly your brand name) is imperative.

When some scandal has tainted your brand, the only way to work your way out of it is by addressing it as quickly and honestly as possible; ignoring it or falsifying information will only lead to irreparable damage to your reputation. Your new brand must be the kind of robust and dependable company the public can rely on.

Even if there hasn’t been any real “controversy,” in the sense of “caused several deaths,” but your brand has become associated with an attitude or a philosophy that isn’t helping your business grow. Some consumers find it repellant; you must regroup and build your identity in a controlled and well-managed way. Of course, if you’re Paula Deen, you should stop giving interviews for a while. That works, too.

If you’re unsure that your brand is on track to getting you the respect and revenue you genuinely believe it could, then look at the image it is projecting to the public. Realize that you’re an expert in what you do but not necessarily in fixing a stained image. Push aside your apprehension at the rebranding costs and a public relations specialist along with a packaging design agency. If the effort has bored you to tears, you’re probably well on your way to understanding why it needs to be adjusted.

You’re Bringing A Knife TO A Technological Gun Fight

We live in a world of augmented reality, AI, and blockchain. If your brand still thinks a website is a glorified business card, you’re not charmingly vintage but woefully obsolete. It’s time to stop doodling on napkins and start brainstorming on iPads. Product rebranding is more than how it looks; it’s how you present it to the public.  

Your brand needs to evolve with technology, or you are guaranteed to lose brand recognition. Embracing technology within your product’s business model means improving the product experience for your existing customers and the new audience. Everything from rebranding your website to updating your marketing materials should consider the product experience. 

Someone’s Stealing Your Thunder

So your brand was once the Coca-Cola of its niche, and now it’s the New Coke nobody asked for. New players are fresher, hipper, and stealing your spotlight with the target market. If you’re losing shelf space—literal or digital—to upstarts and brands stretching into a new market. Take that as your cue for updating your value proposition, brand positioning, and visual aesthetic.

Remember, It’s not them; it’s you. Rebrand to retain loyalty to your customer base and showcase yourself as the best opportunity for a potential customer.

Corporate Changed, But You’re Branding Didn’t

Yeah, we get it; pivoting is in vogue. But if your current brand is still rocking the aesthetic from your “artisanal handmade soap” phase while you’ve moved on to “luxury skincare,” you’re confusing your audience. When ownership or mergers occur, your brand must do more than change its logo design. Your brand message must graduate to the current mission, not your freshman year.

Not Aligning With The Social Style

When your last viral post is from an era when people still said “YOLO,” it’s time to worry. In the digital age, social media is your brand’s pulse. Your brand voice is flatlining if likes are low and comments are snarky. CPR in the form of a rebranding effort to address your customer-facing brand personality is needed stat.

You’re Visuals Scream “Dial-Up Internet”

If your brand design is pixelated and your logo looks like Clip Art, welcome to irrelevancy. We live in the age of sleek, clean designs, folks. What was cute in the early 2000s is now a one-way ticket to Uncoolville. Rebrand before you become a case study in design school on what not to do.

Your Brand Still Thinks It’s 2010

Times have changed, and ‘political correctness’ isn’t the buzzkill; it’s the baseline. A brand that’s not inclusive, diverse, and sensitive to social issues is a company on the fast track for losing brand equity. A successful rebranding campaign that addresses social issues shows that you’re not just in the market but also of the times. But you can’t just address it through a few “we’ve changed” messages; you must thread it throughout the entire organization, felt by everyone from leadership to your customer service team. 

Read More: Ten Risks of Rebranding And How To Address Them

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