Sometimes rebranding might seem like a contradiction. The entire point is about changing your identity, and not clinging on to the old. But, if you have spent a great deal of time building up your brand reputation and cultivating contacts within the industry, starting from scratch probably isn’t the best option. You want your rebrand to be viewed as a natural evolution of your business and not as a completely new proposition.
At Sprii, we’re known for being exceptionally passionate about customer service and using innovative solutions to continually improve user experiences online. We realised that rebranding presented us with an incredibly exciting opportunity to take the business to the next level, and to truly deploy our global vision in the process.
With this in mind, we decided to not only change the look and feel of our website but the name as well. We had become synonymous with being the destination for everything mums and kids. However, our category and product range had expanded far beyond that.
It became an exercise in re-educating our customers on just how much we had to offer; we were no longer just for mothers, we were Sprii.com. A place for the every-woman to discover, interact, engage and shop the best selection of brands in the region.
However, arriving at this conclusion didn’t happen overnight. The key is not to lose sight of what your core proposition is. The nature of your business may shift to move with market trends or tech developments, but ultimately your USP should remain the same.
Nevertheless, when it comes to perception, providing a linkup between the old and new brand, however, small will help provide context for your consumers. In our case, we have rebranded and changed our colour scheme, but there are still some original elements present, only now they are much more muted.
There’s a tendency to err on the side of caution when it comes to changing the name of your business in any industry. Yes, there’s risk attached, however, think about how much more potential damage you could do if your brand and message don’t line up with your proposition?
If your business needs to rebrand, embrace it! Why stay stagnant when you have the chance to create something even more incredible? Remember, your name is not your identity… it’s you, your team and your customers that make your business what it is and ultimately, what makes it succeed.
Here are three top tips for an effective rebrand
Keep your customers informed: Once we had decided on a full rebrand, we had a strategy in place to tease this through our emailers and social platforms, so when we did ‘flip the switch’ it wasn’t a total shock. Our Customer Service team were trained months in advance to ensure they were fully briefed on what to expect from customers when this happened.
Involve the whole team: We’re lucky to have still employees who have been with the business from the very beginning, so utilise the knowledge they have, its positioning, and it’s future to help shape your rebrand. It’s the small things which often prove to be crucial.
Have a backup plan: With the best will in the world, not everything runs on schedule and if you can’t launch when planned, keep your cool and adjust your timeline accordingly. Communication is key, so just keep your customers informed.