4 Steps to an Effective B2B Rebranding Strategy

Businesses often neglect to update their brand because they think what they have works. But just because something works doesn’t mean you should stick with it. Think about your car that you keep taking to the repair shop. Or those clothes that you love, but are a bit snug in some places where they shouldn’t be. They operate but aren’t optimal.

Oftentimes, business owners don’t realize their brand isn’t actually “working”. A brand “working” does not look like having a logo, website, and social media. A brand works by creating a tailored experience for your clients that simultaneously fosters relationships, bringing in profit, and drives forward internal work.

Making the investment in updating your brand will help smooth the road later. It should fit you as you and your audience’s needs change, and be flexible enough to endure those changes for a while.

The two B2C and B2B rebranding examples below showcase different brands that are now timeless, identifiable, and adaptable. But one of them wasn’t always that way.

On top, Coca Cola presents a brand that hasn’t changed much since 1900. With some slight tweaks to the font and the addition of the iconic red color, Coke started their brand strong with a timeless logo that adapts easily to modern trends. 

On the bottom, IBM took a little longer to get there. From 1889-1924, their branding fit their decade well, but was not easily adaptable as the years passed. Their 1946 rebrand provides us with a direct, clear presentation of IBM’s brand and values that can be shifted to fit changing times.

Here is our B2B rebranding methodology that will ensure you have a brand that comes out timeless, adaptable, and meets your target audience’s needs.

Catalog

Rebranding for any company, not just B2B, begins with a brand audit. A brand audit is an evaluation of your brand’s performance and/or place in the market, and can include a SWOT analysis. This includes reviewing all documents, logo materials, website, social medias, and anything else that has your distinctive branding on it.

A brand audit takes inventory of what you are currently presenting to the world. How does it make your audience feel? What values does it showcase? Is your design timeless, or does it take the form of a specific place and time?

A great tool here would be interviews with past clients and conducting market research, as well as evaluating your digital presence. You could even ask your current followers if they’d be able to partake in a quick survey, and incentivize them by entering their name in a gift card drawing.

Clarify

After your brand audit, you need to get clear on your brand identity. All of the market research you did should feed into the strategy of this phase. Defining yourself is what will trickle down into the rebrand.

Now that you’ve gathered feedback and audited yourself, redefine your brand’s mission, values, and unique value propositions in a way that fits your goals as they currently stand. Your mission might have changed as you’ve grown, or you may have discovered new UVP’s that you want to highlight in your brand.

Make sure this new definition aligns with your target audience and sets you apart from competitors. After defining your mission, values, and UVP’s, think about how your brand benefits your target audience. This answer should be at the forefront of your rebrand.

Another way to ensure that your brand will suit the needs of your audience is to engage your stakeholders in this process. Ask them questions about what specific needs they come to you for, and what is significant about the way you fulfill these needs?

Create

Now you have finally arrived at the creation phase of B2B rebranding. 

Creation is both visual and cognitive, and requires you to think about how things look and also how they feel. Look at fonts, colors, and think about the psychology behind them as well. From here, decide on a brand voice and a color palette. Emotional branding is a key tool in creating a brand that resonates with your audience. To learn more about emotional branding strategies, check out our other blog here.

Your digital presence should reflect the new brand identity you have created. How will this feed into your website design and social media feeds? You may discover that these will need to be redone too to match your updated brand.

Communicate

Now that your business is rebranded, it is time to spread the word about it. Keep everyone updated and make them aware of the changes you have made and why. 

This is also a great opportunity for posting content. Share the news on social media, your email list, to your current and past clients, and your colleagues so everyone is aware of your rebrand. Your new brand identity should shine through this communication, so be sure to integrate it into your existing communication strategy, or create one if you don’t already have one. Let your brand’s new voice be heard.

 

Enthuse Creative Can Help

Enthuse Creative can help your business develop the right messaging for your brand or marketing communications content. Reach out to us today for a free consultation.