Sooner or later the time comes when your corporate identity is no longer working for you, but against you. Recognizing when it’s time for a rebrand may seem difficult. Here are the top nine reasons for a rebrand.

 

Out with the old, in with the new

On average, organizations and brands change their corporate identities once every seven to ten years. This often involves restyling logos, color palettes, visual language and the photographic style. In a small number of cases, the name of the organization is also changed during this process. Although there is usually one main reason for making the change, the motivation behind a rebranding project is often a combination of several factors. Here is an overview of the ten most common reasons for a corporate rebranding.

1. Mergers, acquisitions and demergers

For the most part, changes of business ownership, such as mergers, acquisitions and demergers, result in an immediate rebranding. The aim here is not only to make the change visible, but also to comply with legal requirements. In the case of demergers, the party that has split off is obliged to develop its own brand. This makes clear that it no longer forms part of the organization.

2. Repositioning

If implemented properly, a change to the positioning and brand promise of a company has major consequences for the organization. Everything is adapted in line with the organizations new strategy and promise: its products or services, HR policy, customer contact, corporate identity, etc. Rebranding makes this change visible for all stakeholders.

3. Internationalization

In some cases, rebranding is necessary so that a brand can also be used internationally. This may be because the brand name is too specific to a particular country. In certain countries a brand name may also conjure up the wrong associations. Organizations that sell the same products in several countries, but under different brand names, are also increasingly opting to use one brand internationally.

4. Changing markets

For some companies, changes in the market situation mean that their very existence comes under threat. The digitization of society in particular is making it necessary for certain sectors to reinvent themselves. Different requirements call for a different product to be offered.

5. Bad reputation

If a brand has a bad reputation and this is having a serious impact on its operating result, rebranding can ensure that negative associations with the brand are ameliorated or dispelled. It is important here that not only the exterior changes, but that the change is also implemented in all other aspects of the organization. This is the only way that a rebranding project can remove any negative associations with the brand and therefore be successful.

6. Conflict with stakeholders

Developing a brand may in itself also lead to a rebranding. This may be because the new style is too similar to an existing brand, for example. Such a situation was faced by Multimate, which, after its rebranding, lost a lawsuit against Ikea as the two brands had become too similar. Multimate had to make sure that its new logo was no longer visible in any shape or form within a period of six months. Another reason is that a rebranding can sometimes be so negatively received by internal and external stakeholders that it stands in the way of the organizations success. An example of this from last year was the rebranding of clothing company Gap, which decided within the space of a week that it would keep its old logo after all.

7. New CEO

A new CEO often brings a new lease of life to an organization. This may result in (major) organizational changes that also influence the course the company takes. Such a situation arose at Apple, for example, following the return of Steve Jobs in 1997. At that time Apple had to change in order to survive. Jobs himself took a hand in choosing the new logo, which changed from the rainbow-colored apple to the more modern metallic variant.

8. Outdated image

One of the most common reasons for undertaking a corporate rebranding project is modernization. Trends mean that over time brands come across as old-fashioned if they have not been updated. Although in many cases it is not the main reason, a more modern image is often one of the motivations behind a rebranding project.

9. Changing brand portfolio

Over the years, an organization has to deal with the development and acquisition of numerous new brands. In time this results in an extremely diverse and broad brand portfolio that is no longer logical for anyone and is therefore only still understood by a handful of people. Furthermore, carrying many different brands often leads to high costs when it comes to maintaining and promoting the brand. In such cases, rebranding ensures that the entire brand portfolio is brought into line and tells a clear story about the organization. A number of years ago, USG People rationalized and coordinated its brand portfolio in this way.

A few years ago, for the majority of organizations a corporate identity consisted of just a logo, a primary color palette and typography. Brand elements such as a photographic style, visual language and a secondary color palette had not been defined back then. This meant that there was a great deal of freedom when it came to applying the corporate identity, with the result that the brand’s visual image ultimately became something of a mess. In such cases the further development of an organization’s corporate identity is a must to ensure the creation of a consistent and recognizable brand.