Substance and Style

    Revitalize Your Brand Without Confusing Your Customers 

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    With Spring in the air, it feels like a good time to breathe new life into your brand. You should think carefully about making major changes. Rarely is a full rebrand warranted for an established business, and you don’t want to confuse your existing customers. Try these tips in order to remain relevant without being inconsistent:

    1. Think about adding rather than changing. Bring something new to your customer’s experience that can become a hallmark of your brand. Add a new social media channel to try out new kinds of content. Try new media. if you’re known for your blog, for example, add videos. By adding elements before you take other elements away, you’ll make it easier for your customers to understand the transition.
    2. Delve deeper into storytelling to create meaningful connections with your audience. People respond to narrative and it builds loyalty. If you haven’t been especially known for your stories in the past, start sprinkling some throughout your content. Even if you have used stories, telling new ones is a good strategy for refreshing your brand. Let the tone of your narrative evolve to fit where you want to go.
    3. Create content around the changes. Talk to or write to your customers about your thought process for changing the brand. Engage your audience in brand decisions if you are feeling particularly bold. Things like online polls about new designs really engage your audience and give them a sense of ownership over the brand.
    4. Refresh key visuals, especially if it’s been a long time. Update photos of your brick and mortar business if you have one. Update the staff or board page on your website with new photos. Slightly modify your current design templates so that they are still familiar but feel more modern. Make sure to incorporate the new visuals on your website and in your print collateral.
    5. If you do decide to completely change key elements of your branding, like your logo, try leaving a nod to the past in the new design by keeping the colors, fonts, or other graphic elements the same. You want people to still recognize you, even if it’s on an unconscious level.