Rebranding has become an increasingly popular strategy to put a jetpack on a business or an organization to revive its growth trajectory.
DDaily, businesses, charities, college and professional sports teams, and even communities announce that they are changing their names or at least their visual identities to be more relevant to stakeholders.
But rebranding can be a time- and resource-intensive effort.
Gaining leadership support and financial investment for a rebrand requires careful preparation of a rebranding business case that clearly outlines the need, the opportunity, the risks, and the cost of not rebranding.
Rebranding must be viewed as a strategic growth accelerator. It is an investment in your future, much like the commitment to building new facilities or branching into a new business line. It should result in enterprise-wide benefits from a clear understanding of your business proposition, support for growth into new business categories, and employee alignment behind a common service promise.
Significant changes should deliver substantial outcomes, and presenting the investment within the potential ROI is essential.
Rebranding Should Open New Doors
We recently rebranded a senior healthcare organization. Its 90-year-old brand made it challenging to grow revenue in an increasingly regulated and margin-strained industry.
The group’s strategic plan wisely called for the expanding service lines to younger people, beginning at age 55, to support their aging process and develop relationships for a broader range of services.
Rebranding the organization with an aspirational name allowed it to tell a contemporary and differentiating client-service story. We also coined a new business category of “adult life services” that created a context for more lifestyle (education, fitness, and wellness) and in-home care services to be marketed over time.
The business transformation’s success even surprised the client’s leadership as fellow industry players came calling asking for advice on how they had reinvented themselves in what seemed like an industry stuck in old models. The client has since established a business consulting capability that helps similar industry players transform to better meet the needs of aging Americans.
This case is an excellent example of how rebranding can open new doors and accelerate growth.
Nine Essential Elements of a Slam-Dunk Rebranding Business Case
Our experience working on rebranding organizations suggests that you must outline a solid business case that pre-emptively answers the nine critical questions outlined below to gain leadership buy-in and support for the effort and investment.
Compile the necessary quantitative and financial data, brought to life with anecdotes from qualitative research, to illustrate the advantages of rebranding along with the cost of not doing so.
What problem are you trying to solve
A clearly stated objective is necessary to start the dialogue and gain consensus that rebranding is the answer.
What has changed that requires you to rebrand
Within the market
With the new “speed of business.”
Among our competitors
In the way our customers purchase, the way our products and services will be delivered in the future
Within our organization
Consider SWOT analysis for each segment.
How does your current brand limit business growth
How successfully do we deliver our existing brand?
Review the promise and evaluate on a scale of 1-10 how aligned the company, its communications, and its actions are behind the proposition.
Evaluate customer brand awareness and loyalty levels.
Talk to customers about whether your current positioning matches your service delivery and aligns with their growth needs.
Figure out how adequately your brand is grounded in your corporate values, HR policies, and customer service differentiation.
Assess which business segments have reached capacity or cannot adequately compete with their current positioning. (Pull three years of financial performance numbers and two years of projections.)
What growth is at risk without untethering from your current brand?
Conduct qualitative and quantitative research among employees, especially your sales force and customer service team, to identify the disconnects with your current brand.
Compile quantitative analysis and pepper it with anecdotal comments from customers, industry leaders, and employees.
What do you expect from the rebranding
Describe the future state. Project new revenue growth opportunities from more competitive positioning, higher visibility, and a rallied employee base.
What timeline should the rebranding follow
Well-orchestrated campaigns can take 12-18 months from initial discussion to launch. Rebranding is not a short-term solution; it is a long-term game-changer.
Are you “ready” for this resource- and time-heavy commitment
Gain the perspective of your Organizational Development or HR teams on the “readiness” of the organization and employees to support the business transformation. Look at employee engagement survey results over a couple of years to determine how a rebranding could provide better linkage to their roles and overall business success.