Is your brand stale, out of date, or worn out? Is it time for a rebrand? Has your business changed, but your brand hasn’t kept up? If so, it’s time to take a hard look at your branding.
10 Signs to Know it’s Time for a Rebrand
1. Is Your Logo Outdated? Or Your Images Need to be Updated?
Do the fonts and colors in your logo feel outdated? Maybe you don’t need a completely new logo, you may just need to update your logo slightly to refresh it. The use of modern san serif fonts and current colors will help. Just be sure the logo update still reflects your company goals and culture.
Have you been using the same marketing photos since 1998? Well then, it’s time for an update. Images used in your marketing materials can become out-of-date fast, especially if you are using photos of technology or even people, as equipment and fashion quickly change.
2. Have You Merged or Acquired Another Business?
We worked with many trucking and logistics companies that have acquired other trucking companies and need to rebrand the acquired company’s fleet of tractor-trailers. This can be a huge undertaking for a fleet manager as trailers are spread out throughout the country. For example, when an international shipping company acquired another carrier and took possession of their fleet of semi-trailers and tractors, they approached TKO Graphix about completing a 17,000 piece rebrand. Their trucks and trailers needed to reflect the new ownership and needed to do so quickly.
3. Has Your Market Changed?
If your target audience has changed, it’s time for a rebrand, because you may not be attracting the right audience with your current branding. However, a rebrand can do more in the marketplace than chase an audience. A rebrand can make you look bigger, more successful, and innovative. It can position you as a leader in your field and point to you as an expert in current market trends.
4. Do You Have New Locations or New Vehicles?
If you have new locations or vehicles, it may be the perfect time for a rebrand. If there are a large number of new vehicles, it may be cost-effective to rebrand the entire fleet at once.
5. Do You Need a Pick Me Up?
If sales are down, a rebrand is not the only answer, but a targeted rebrand with an urgent call to action can stimulate your market. It may be a good time for a rebrand.
6. Has Your Business Developed a Bad Reputation?
There are plenty of examples of companies ditching their bad rap, such as Time Warner Cable, which developed a bad reputation for its poor customer service. The company was losing market share. Another provider, Charter Communications, had the same problem. In 2017 they merged, rebranded, and became Spectrum leaving their bad reputations behind.
7. Do You Have New Leadership Taking the Business in a New Direction?
This is ancient history, but when Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he successfully rebranded the organization beginning with the logo, and then redirected not only the marketing but also the direction of the business.
8. Is Your Organization Repositioning its Place in the Market?
A good example of repositioning is Walmart. Before 2007 their slogan was always “Low Prices.” Unfortunately, they developed an image of selling cheap, overseas-manufactured products. Then in 2007, they changed the slogan to “Save Money. Live Better.” Their marketing went from pushing only low prices to adding value.
9. Does Your Brand Look Too Much Like Another Brand?
You don’t want to look like a copycat or get lost in the marketplace because your brand is too similar to others. It’s definitely time for a rebrand if this is the case. You want your branding and your business to stand out as being unique and recognizable as your company.
10. Are You Expanding Your Territory?
Are you going into new markets, not only geographically, but new market segments as well? If so, does your brand fit the new territory? Ask yourself if your brand appeals to those new markets. If not, it may be time for a rebrand.
How Do You Start to Rebrand?
Your brand should reflect who you are and what you do. It should be unified across all marketing, including print, online, television, and fleet graphics. The question is, how much of a brand change is needed?
Here are three options:
Refresh Your Brand
If your branding is stagnated or out of step with the rest of your marketing, you should consider just refreshing your brand. This blog is an example of a brand refresh. In the 4th quarter of 2020, the TKO Graphix marketing team concentrated on updating the blog format with new, more consistent images, fonts, colors, and more. We didn’t change everything. We just refreshed it.
You can do the same with every marketing media in your advertising toolbox. It could be an updated logo, new social media icons, modern fleet graphics, or all the above.
Reboot Your Brand
Have you expanded beyond your old brand, has your audience changed, or have your organization’s core values and culture changed?
A reboot doesn’t necessarily mean a complete makeover. It might mean added text, a new tagline, listing new products, new images, or even new fleet vehicle graphics.
When the culture of your organization changes, you should consider rebranding your fleet of vehicles. A vehicle that doesn’t match what the business stands for, at best, sends a confusing message. For example, if your company has always marketed to B2C (Business to Consumer), but you’ve begun marketing to B2B (Business to Business) – it’s time for a rebrand.
A Full Rebrand
Is it time to tear it down and start over? If there’s a lack of brand unification, the best answer could be a full rebrand. For example, with fleet graphics, when organizations have multiple types of company vehicles, from cars to box trucks and everything between, it’s not uncommon for the brand to get off track quickly, because of varying designs made to fit the various vehicles without unifying the designs.
Is it Time for a Rebrand?
If it’s time for a rebrand, whether it’s a refresh, reboot, or a full rebrand, TKO Graphix has you covered on fleet graphics, commercial graphics, as well as promotional products.
Our professional fleet & vehicle graphics team at TKO Graphix is committed to steering you through the process of fleet branding to meet your needs and goals. Give us a call today at 888-544-8051 or Contact Us online.
