Is it Time for a Rebrand? Part 3: It’s All About Growth.

If your brand is growing in leaps and bounds, or not growing at all, a rebrand can help move it in the right direction.

Growth is a great indicator of how your brand is doing. Obviously, little-to-no growth means it’s underperforming, but when it grows so much that it now has more offerings, new targets, or just can’t keep up with itself, a rebrand could help avoid growing pains and introduce itself to a larger audience.

When your brand isn’t experiencing enough growth, it could be from one or more of the external and internal factors we talked about in Parts 1 and 2. By taking a look at these factors, we can get a better idea of what to address, determine the best course of action and then jump into the rebranding process to start turning things around. 

On the flip side, your brand may already be performing so well that it’s literally growing beyond its boundaries, pushing into new territories, and rolling out new products or additional services. That’s great, right? Of course it is! But, as much as internal and external factors affect your brand, exceptional growth can sometimes force  its own set of changes that demand attention, and with it, a reason to rebrand. Here are just a few moments when you’ll know it’s time:

You’ve Outgrown Your Brand 
Sometimes your big business ambitions can stretch your brand to grow to the point where it’s no longer a reflection of its original vision, mission and purpose. It’s done well, but like a pair of skinny jeans, you’ve outgrown your brand in its current form. Now is the time to plan out a new iteration of what your brand stands for and where you want it to go. That’s not to say you need to leave all of your original brand components like visuals, voice or logo behind. You can still leverage the things that made it strong to begin with to carry it into the future.

Experiencing Growing Pains
The dominant perspective in business is that any and all growth is a good thing, but the changes that come along with it could put a ding in brand recognition. If growth includes a new product mix or offerings, will you need to create an umbrella brand that everything lives under so they don’t compete with each other? Maybe it makes more sense for each product and service to become its own brand. Or should you reorganize your existing brand with sub-brands beneath it, each targeting a different consumer? These are the things to think about to keep your brand’s reputation intact while clearly communicating this shift to set expectations with new and existing targets.

Geographic Expansion
If growth has taken your brand beyond its original geography, its current form may have to be rethought. Why? Because what works in one region may not necessarily work everywhere else, especially internationally. Just like language, there’s a good chance your current logo, messaging and products may not be recognized or correctly interpreted universally. For successful growth, you have to understand how your brand travels and translate it so it fits within new markets and different cultures. This could include a new positioning relative to local competitors, updated visual elements for better cultural appeal or a possible name change—all things associated with a rebrand.  

Broadened Target Audience
When you started your brand, you most likely had a primary target and a focused offering. But as businesses become established and successful, it’s normal for some business professionals striving for growth like yourself to broaden their target audience to reach a whole new demographic. If this is something you’re considering, a rebrand can help you reorganize your brand so that it works across multiple targets without replacing, alienating or confusing your established, primary target.

Increased sales, brand recognition, expansion and new products are all signs that a brand is moving in the right direction. The irony is that they’re also a sign that it’s time to change some of what made your brand work in the first place in order to keep things going well. That can be a tough call to make, but as we’ve shown other brands that have been in that situation, with the right branding partner (ahem…), it’s a good decision.

Which leads us to the big, important questions:

Do you still recognize your brand and like how it’s grown? On the other hand, has business taken off and left your brand behind?

What’s your plan for your brand? Do you have a product/service roadmap for future offerings of geographic growth that you can start to build around now?

Last but not least, when was the last time you took a breather and thought about how your brand fits your developing business?