To Rebrand or Not to Rebrand: “When” is the Question

Let’s get right into it: When is the best time to rebrand? As a tech company, branding might not be at the forefront of your startup strategy, but it’s vital to ensure your products or services reach the right audience and that your content portrays a consistent message.

Rebranding is often seen as a way to bring new life into an ailing company, or simply refresh one that currently doesn’t have a cohesive brand strategy. However, knowing when to rebrand is just as important as knowing how to rebrand.

Let’s take a look at the reasons companies rebrand — and when they really shouldn’t.

When to Rebrand

The LinkedIn B2B Institute believes that branding for B2B companies will be the most important success factor over the next decade. They posit that great branding creates literal memory structures that nudge businesses toward particular vendors when they’re ready to buy tech products or services — part of the science behind the concept of brain engine optimization.

It would make sense, then, to rush out and completely transform your tech company’s brand to fit in with these emerging expectations, but in reality, you can confuse existing clients or customers if you make sudden changes for no apparent reason. However, there are plenty of situations when a rebrand makes sense.

Problematic Company Names

Issues with company names happen all the time, from customers not knowing how to pronounce them to business names that are actively problematic. In 2020, for example, the Quaker Oats Company retired their Aunt Jemima brand after a “hard look” at their portfolio of brands and a realization that this one was based on highly outdated racial stereotyping.

Sometimes company names are too complex, have too many alternative spellings, or are simply difficult to remember. Starbucks used to be Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice. Sony used to be Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo. Nike used to be Blue Ribbon Sports. If your company name is overly complex, you could take guidance from these brand giants.

It’s worth checking your logo, too, for the same reasons. Complicated logos can have the opposite effect than intended, often too busy to be eye-catching. Starbucks, again, famously evolved its logo over time to the simplified version it is today. In the B2B world, business messaging service Slack changed its logo in 2019. The original featured 11 colors, while the new one has just 4 combined with simple white text.

Potential Trademark Infringement

Another reason to work on your brand strategy is if your company name, logo, or tagline borders on copyright or trademark infringement. With 266 new startups in America so far in 2022, there will always be some convergently evolving ideas. If an existing company already has an established customer base for an idea you wanted to run with, you may want to adjust your branding and focus to avoid potential litigation risks.

Change of Business Direction

Our final rebranding reason — and of course there are many more — is a change of business direction. PayPal is a great example of this. They’ve recently rebranded to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, focusing on inclusivity. As a FinTech brand that works with both consumers and businesses, they could be leading the way for other B2B vendors to bring diversity and inclusion into their own branding efforts. PayPal also rebranded dramatically after its break away from online auction platform eBay. They embraced the change in direction, integrating it into their entire marketing strategy.

If your company starts moving in a different direction, a rebrand could be a way to let your existing customer base know and also a vehicle for engaging new leads and investors.

When Not to Rebrand

Rebranding is expensive, requires marketing experts and often design professionals, and can cause existing clients and partners to lose interest if they were highly engaged with your existing brand. Here are two key business concerns you shouldn’t use as justification for a rebrand.

Lack of Business Growth

Rebranding shouldn’t be seen as a magic wand for refreshing businesses that have seen slow or even reversed growth. Work with your business data and a marketing professional to discover the underlying causes for the lack of growth. Branding may be part of the issue, but there are more than likely several factors. Bring your existing brand strategy back in line with your messaging framework and assess your successes with a view to replicating them

Boosting Revenues

All companies want to increase their revenues, but rebranding is not a failsafe way to do this. If there are other reasons to rebrand, then increased profits will naturally occur once a thoughtful branding strategy is in place. However, simply rebranding in the hope that it will boost revenue is not usually a sound strategy. Talk to a marketing executive about what’s working and what’s not, hone your content strategy, and find out where your ideal clients are engaging with their tech vendors.

Final Word

Branding is much simpler when you have an effective messaging framework and advice from a team that’s worked with numerous successful tech startups. Book a 15-minute introductory call with our team who can advise you on brand messaging courses, resources, and marketing expertise.

Sign up for the Arch Collective Brand Messaging 101 Course and learn how to drive more revenue in as little as 10 days.