When Is It Time To Rebrand Your Company?

by Daniel Ors

Businesses and other organizations connect with their customers and target audiences behind the guise of their brand. A brand is not a viral video. It is not a tagline or logo, nor is it a corporate cartoon character. A brand is not a commercial, outdoor advertisement, or web banner. A brand is a promise made by an organization to its customers or interest group and facilitated by its products, services, and offerings.

Changing Superhero

At Fueled, we believe that successful brands build products users really care about. Our award-winning brand design, website and mobile application solutions deliver products, services and offerings that users value and make brands relevant to consumers. We help brands make good on their promise.

Coming through on your corporate promise is key for good business, and all-star brands like Apple have mastered the skill of fulfilling their promise to consumers with the products, services and offerings that consumers value most.

As dynamic as these all-star brands may be, however, even they have encountered periods of stagnant growth and poor market performance. In the late 90’s, Apple was Microsoft’s distant competitor as the PC maker commanded over $400B in market capital in comparison to Apple’s less than $1B.

Apple lacked relevance amongst personal computing consumers until refocusing its positioning with personal tech products including the iPod, and services such as iTunes, promising and delivering high utility innovation. It was this brand pivot that inspired Apple’s rocket-esque ascent to the top of the market past its competition, now being valued at over $597B according to Google Finance.

The rebranding that brought us the current generation of iMac, Macbook, and iTunes also gave rise to the iPhone and most recently, the Apple Watch making Apple the most valuable brand on the market.

Apple’s “0 to 100” case of rebrand success is rare, but a well-planned and effective rebrand can turn any old jalopy of a company into a hot-selling new model but the need for new direction can be masked by high sales volume in social chatter. Your brand may have the hot sale of the moment and a viral success, but success in the present may not indicate future market performance. Strong brands possess longevity and endure. So how do you really know when it’s time to rebrand your company?

Madison Avenue has produced a number of models for evaluating brand strength, and Young & Rubicam’s brand asset valuator model is frequently employed. This model measures two key performance indicators, Brand Strength and Brand Stature, which are the sum of (Differentiation + Relevance) and (Esteem + Knowledge) respectively. Brands with low Brand Strength and Brand Stature are in immediate need of a rebrand.

Here are a few questions to ask about your company when determining whether or not a rebrand is needed:

Are my products, services and offerings easily differentiated from the competition?
Are my products, services and offerings relevant in today’s marketplace?
Do consumers have high regard for my corporate brand?
Are consumers aware my products, services and offerings are available in the marketplace, and do they have access?

If after answering these questions, you feel that your brand does not have the strength it needs to succeed in the market, a rebrand may be wise for your company. We at Fueled focus on the consumer as the source of success for a brand, and you may need to realize that your brand’s success hinges on your ability to convey a trustworthy promise your potential consumers. Without a trustworthy brand, the consumer cannot and will not spend their capital on your product when there are more reliable options.

This post was written by Daniel Ors of Fueled, the premier agency for iPhone app design and Android app development in New York City.