The tell-tale signs you need to go back to brand

If you’ve been in business for years, you might be wondering if it’s time for a rebrand, or at least a brand refresh. But rebranding isn’t something you should rush into. It can involve changing your company’s name, visual identity, communications, tone of voice, website, and even your internal culture. This is a serious undertaking – one you need to be absolutely certain about to avoid losing time, money, and the hard-earned trust of your audience.

Done right, rebranding is a strategic move to reinvigorate your business, sharpen your focus, and reconnect with your audience. Whether you're looking to reach new customers, realign with your core audience, or reposition in the market, a successful rebrand can breathe new life into your business and give you the opportunity to redefine what you stand for. So, let’s make sure your brand reflects who you are now, and where you're headed.

Why do a brand refresh or overhaul?

Rebranding is often seen as a cosmetic change – a new logo, fresh design, and updated website. But in reality, your brand is much more than that. It’s the sum of everything your customer thinks they know about you. It’s the promise you make to them, and it lives in their perception. Put simply, it’s what people say about you when you’ve left the room. But even the most iconic brands outgrow themselves, and that’s when rebranding becomes necessary.

Eight signs it’s time to revisit your brand

Brands rarely break down all at once. The disconnect can be slower, subtler. So much so, you might not even notice it. Until it starts affecting your growth, reputation, and relevance. As a company, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, patching the symptoms with flashy campaigns or big budget ads, but missing the root cause: the brand no longer fits the business.

Sign #1: You’ve grown and evolved as a business

As businesses grow, so do their identities. What worked for you early on may no longer reflect where you are now, and this can leave your brand feeling misaligned. Change isn’t always easy, but clinging to an outdated brand can have a major bearing on your progress. Employees lack a clear direction or focus, stakeholders don’t resonate with the values you portray, and potential customers feel like other brands understand them better. And when engagement is stifled from every avenue, it’s going to hit your bottom line hard. So, if you find yourself saying, “that’s not who we are anymore,” it’s time to take a hard look at your brand and ensure it represents your business today, and where you’re headed tomorrow.

Sign #2: Your brand no longer reflects your values and vision

Your brand is shaped by how customers feel about your business. That feeling could be positive or negative, and it often starts with something as simple as the way your business communicates its vision and values. But at some point, what your business stood for and what it’s become might not match up. Maybe your audience has changed, or your product offering has evolved. Either way, if your brand no longer speaks to your core mission and values, it’s time to rethink the direction.

For instance, when HR consultancy hoomph (formerly e-volveHR) came to us, its old identity didn’t quite capture its immersive, future-focused, people-first approach. We gave the business a unique new name, reworking its brand communications and identity to clearly demonstrate how it thinks, acts, speaks, and does things differently to everyone else in the sector.

Sign #3: You're continuously attracting the wrong type of enquiries

Strong brands attract the right leads. But if you’re constantly dealing with the wrong people, this can be a sign of an outdated brand that doesn’t match your business’ vision – exactly like we discussed with sign #2. If your messaging or identity no longer speaks to their needs or expectations, it’s time to rethink and refresh your approach. This ensures your brand remains relevant, effective, and engaging. If you're finding your business is bringing in enquiries that don’t match your ideal customer persona, it’s a clear sign your brand messaging is off. Revisit your target audience, refine your messaging, and make sure it’s resonating with the right people.

Sign #4: You need to change perceptions

Perception is the sum of what customers believe about you. If the perception of your brand no longer matches the reality of what you offer, it’s time to correct that. For instance, a well-designed product could be misperceived as low-quality due to weak branding. Or perhaps you’ve evolved as a company, but the perception stuck in your customers' minds is still reflective of the past. Rebranding helps shift the perception your audience holds, and that’s what sets apart the brands that last from the ones that fall short. If you’re struggling with this, a rebrand can help shift those perceptions, refreshing your brand’s visual identity and tone to better align with how you want to be seen.

Sign #5: You're struggling to differentiate from the competition

If your brand isn’t doing enough to stand out, you need to refine your identity to show exactly why you’re different. Why is brand identity important? Because it’s everything to a customer. It’s what they see, how you make them feel, and what they perceive to be true about you and your products or services. So, if your market is leaning towards your competitors, it’s a strong signal your messaging isn’t effectively highlighting your distinct value. Revisiting your brand’s core principles and unique strengths can ensure your messaging consistently explains the specific benefits you offer, so prospects can easily understand why your approach is right for them. That no one ‘gets them’ like you do.

Sign #6: You've recently acquired multiple businesses and feel fractured

Growth is exciting, but it can create brand complexity. When your business grows through mergers or acquisitions, it’s easy for your brand to become disjointed and confusing. Rapid expansion can often outpace brand identity, leaving your communications in disarray. What’s the answer? If you’re struggling to integrate different offerings or audiences under one cohesive umbrella, it’s time to revisit your brand with a unified strategy.

We helped Ardent with this: when the fire suppression company expanded into new markets – including transport safety and telematics – its brand structure became increasingly complex. With multiple divisions and a growing portfolio, the company struggled to maintain clarity, reinforce its leadership across multiple safety sectors, and ensure brand consistency across all touchpoints. Rather than creating a fractured architecture, we brought all divisions under the existing Ardent umbrella, ensuring a clear, cohesive identity.

Sign #7: Your business model or strategy has changed

If your business model or strategy has shifted, your brand must reflect this. Whether you’re offering new products or services, moving into different markets, or adopting new ways of working, your brand should be the first to communicate these changes to your audience. If your brand no longer mirrors your new direction, you risk alienating customers and missing out on valuable opportunities.

Sign #8: You're trying to move into new markets/connect with new audiences

Perhaps your business is entering a new market, appealing to a different demographic, or launching new offerings that need to be communicated clearly. But if your brand is still entrenched in its previous identity, it can fail to resonate with these new customers. Rebranding can help you reposition your business to speak directly to new markets and show them why your solution is the best fit for their needs.

How to refresh a brand: the integrated approach

Working out how to create a brand identity that aligns with your current business can be complex. But it doesn’t need to be. With our tried-and-tested ‘Think big!’ workshop, we make it easy to uncover your brand’s biggest superpower, informing a watertight identity that engages stakeholders, outshines competitors, and builds that all-important emotional connection with your customers. Then, having honed a careful picture of your business’ current position, we drill even deeper into your audience’s needs and expectations to understand how we can market to them effectively. We diagnose before we prescribe, ensuring your brand is not only strong, but applied with maximum impact across every touchpoint.