You know the level of disdain across the office that greets any new health and safety initiative, no matter how well-meaning? Well, that’s how all your colleagues outside of the marking and communications team feel about your new rebranding project.
Dundee Council's new logo and slogan
The recent derision aimed at Dundee Council – they were accused of wasting £73,000 and two years in changing their slogan from ‘city of discovery’ to ‘city of many discoveries’ - is yet another reminder of how difficult it is to develop and deliver as successful rebrand.
The launch of Aviva as the new, global incarnation of Norwich Union hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons last year. The Post Office’s rebranding in 2001 to Consignia was such a disaster that it reverted the following year to the more traditional Royal Mail Group. And who can forget the damage done to British Airways after its new multi-national tailfins were described as ‘awful’ by Margaret Thatcher who draped a handkerchief over an offending scale model?
Knowing that any rebrand is always going to be a hard sell, especially at a time when stakeholders and taxpayers are more concerned than ever about value for money, it can be helpful to take a fresh look at how we explain and communicate branding exercises. Here are five things to consider:
1) Get clear objectives and solid evidence
If you haven’t got clear business objectives underpinning your rebrand, then you shouldn’t be doing it. Your objectives should be backed by clear evidence to underpin the rationale for the rebrand. Evidence will be important to bring your stakeholders along with you and will enable you to measure and evaluate success.
2) Work out your communications plan at the start
You’ll want to win new customers and supporters, but you won’t want to lose old ones on the way. That doesn’t mean you need to communicate every detail every step of the way, but you do need a well thought out plan for when and how to engage staff, shareholders, regulators, partners, etc.
3) Is it really a rebrand?
Is there any benefit in calling what you’re doing a rebrand? That may be what it is, but does the term have unhelpful connotations? Would calling it a corporate identity re-fresh make it easier to explain? Is it updating a name or slogan? Is it about reflecting changes in the marketplace or environment in which your organisation operates? Describing it in a way that reflects the fundamental rationale underpinning it can generate support from your staff and stakeholders, making it relevant to them, not something that is the preserve of the marketing communications team.
4) Avoid D-day disasters
It is tempting to try and get everything lined-up for a big bang on launch day. But do you really need to? It’s near impossible to get stationary, signage, websites, publications, uniforms, etc all ready for the same day. And if you do, it will be at the cost of a lot of stress, expense and time and lots of people externally won’t notice anyway. It can be better to refresh through a process of renewal, and you can pick a couple of strategically important things for launch day if you need to make an impact.
5) Don’t get hung up on explaining the logo
The complicated rationale for the new logo / colours / font might have made sense when the designers explained it you, but Gary from accounts is always going to think it’s just a squiggle. So stick to the business rationale for the changes, don’t give any opportunities for your strategic work to be mistaken for a cosmetic exercise, and consider the reasoning behind why you chose that particular shade of mauve for your letterhead as your own little secret.
Time to rethink the rebrand?
You know the level of disdain across the office that greets any new health and safety initiative, no matter how well-meaning? Well, that’s how all your colleagues outside of the marking and communications team feel about your new rebranding project.
Dundee Council's new logo and slogan
The recent derision aimed at Dundee Council – they were accused of wasting £73,000 and two years in changing their slogan from ‘city of discovery’ to ‘city of many discoveries’ - is yet another reminder of how difficult it is to develop and deliver as successful rebrand.
The launch of Aviva as the new, global incarnation of Norwich Union hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons last year. The Post Office’s rebranding in 2001 to Consignia was such a disaster that it reverted the following year to the more traditional Royal Mail Group. And who can forget the damage done to British Airways after its new multi-national tailfins were described as ‘awful’ by Margaret Thatcher who draped a handkerchief over an offending scale model?
Knowing that any rebrand is always going to be a hard sell, especially at a time when stakeholders and taxpayers are more concerned than ever about value for money, it can be helpful to take a fresh look at how we explain and communicate branding exercises. Here are five things to consider:
1) Get clear objectives and solid evidence
If you haven’t got clear business objectives underpinning your rebrand, then you shouldn’t be doing it. Your objectives should be backed by clear evidence to underpin the rationale for the rebrand. Evidence will be important to bring your stakeholders along with you and will enable you to measure and evaluate success.
2) Work out your communications plan at the start
You’ll want to win new customers and supporters, but you won’t want to lose old ones on the way. That doesn’t mean you need to communicate every detail every step of the way, but you do need a well thought out plan for when and how to engage staff, shareholders, regulators, partners, etc.
3) Is it really a rebrand?
Is there any benefit in calling what you’re doing a rebrand? That may be what it is, but does the term have unhelpful connotations? Would calling it a corporate identity re-fresh make it easier to explain? Is it updating a name or slogan? Is it about reflecting changes in the marketplace or environment in which your organisation operates? Describing it in a way that reflects the fundamental rationale underpinning it can generate support from your staff and stakeholders, making it relevant to them, not something that is the preserve of the marketing communications team.
4) Avoid D-day disasters
It is tempting to try and get everything lined-up for a big bang on launch day. But do you really need to? It’s near impossible to get stationary, signage, websites, publications, uniforms, etc all ready for the same day. And if you do, it will be at the cost of a lot of stress, expense and time and lots of people externally won’t notice anyway. It can be better to refresh through a process of renewal, and you can pick a couple of strategically important things for launch day if you need to make an impact.
5) Don’t get hung up on explaining the logo
The complicated rationale for the new logo / colours / font might have made sense when the designers explained it you, but Gary from accounts is always going to think it’s just a squiggle. So stick to the business rationale for the changes, don’t give any opportunities for your strategic work to be mistaken for a cosmetic exercise, and consider the reasoning behind why you chose that particular shade of mauve for your letterhead as your own little secret.