What is rebranding? I would like to delve into the details from the perspective of the meaning and purpose of rebranding, the effects it brings, and the reasons for its attention. Rebranding is the process of improving, regenerating, and reconstructing a brand that once boasted prosperity to suit the times, and regaining its appeal and appeal. Rebranding is necessary when there is a mismatch between a company's brand strategy and the market (consumers). Therefore, "rebranding" is to correct the direction of the brand and revitalize it. It's not just about redesigning your packaging or logo. For success, it's important to practice the right steps and the right methods.
■ What is the meaning and purpose of rebranding?
Transition of brand logo
For example, if you have been doing it for many years with one brand image, but the response from customers is not good and your business does not go well, you can lead your business to success by improving branding problems. "Rebranding" is the process and strategy of evolving an existing brand into an ideal brand even to social media marketing for small business. Even if you have been aware of the importance of branding and have been working on it, it may not lead to the establishment of an ideal brand image. In some cases, a brand image that is completely different from the actual company / product / service content may permeate. It is important to convey them correctly and as an ideal image and to communicate with consumers. If you want to create a brand from scratch, you don't have to worry about it that much, but rebranding is not a future that is an extension of the current situation, but an effort toward the future that you want, that is the brand strategy. We need to take a deeper look at what we are aiming for.
And if there is no problem with the contents of the product or service, changing the design may be sufficient. Design preferences change drastically according to the trends of the times. Technological innovation enables new expressions. It's important to adopt a design that is acceptable to your customers. In addition, if a product or service is no longer accepted by traditional customers, the brand's positioning (repositioning) will need to be changed. By targeting different customers, it is possible to sufficiently increase sales of products with the same content as before.
■ Five purposes in rebranding
- Improvement and change of products and services
- Consideration of repositioning
- Improvement of approach to consumers
- Change of target group
- Improvement of corporate culture and culture
Services, technologies, know-how, and creativity cultivated over a long history are important assets of the brand. On the other hand, in today's rapidly changing times, no matter how wonderful an asset is, simply telling it will lose its freshness. It's imperative that you get the most out of your brand experience in the right way, efficiently.
■ When does rebranding need to be done?
- As a result of market research, it can be judged that changing the brand image is effective.
- Misunderstandings and misunderstandings about the brand have permeated.
- An effective approach to the expected target group has not been realized.
- I want to stand out with a stronger impact than other companies due to commercialization with many rivals.
- Enter new fields and markets that are different from the past.
- Develop new products and services in the same fields and markets as before.
- I would like to improve and revitalize the branding, and convey the changes to many people.
- Quality improvement and high-level competition are expected due to the expansion of business scale.
- I want to raise the expectations of consumers by showing future directions and ideals.
Rebranding is nothing more than "inheriting the tradition of the brand while adapting to the changing times and innovating." Therefore, when embarking on rebranding, it is essential to thoroughly identify the current situation and problems of the brand. It is important to build a brand revitalization plan after examining and verifying various matters such as the positioning of your own brand, strengths and weaknesses, the position of rivals and points that can be differentiated. As mentioned above, the new package design and logo mark design are part of that rehabilitation plan. Keep in mind that simply changing the look of your packaging or logo design will not be successful.
■ Rebranding to rebuild your brand and lead to success
Conceptual diagram of positioning (present and future)
In some cases, the image of one brand has been used for many years, but the response from customers is not good enough to make the business unsuccessful. But don't be discouraged that it didn't make sense. By improving branding issues, you can dramatically improve your work success. Let's rebrand and review the points that we did not notice until now and let's succeed in the work. It will lead to a chance to rebuild your work. What is the secret to the success of such rebranding?
How to make rebranding successful
① Continue without compromise
Rebranding is not an easy task. This is because we must change the image and corporate culture that our customers already have. Rebranding will be successful if you continue to make decisions without compromise. "Would you like to take a safer approach?" But rebranding cannot be compromised. It can be said that it is difficult to change the image of the brand.
② Review of problems
When rebranding, it is important for success to re-examine the services up to that point, the products and services that are hit in the world, and the problems and defects that you have, and to look at them objectively and calmly. It also leads to the meaning of brushing up unnecessary parts. It also gives you a chance to take in a lot of awareness, such as whether the site structure was good and whether the brand image was trendy, which leads to success.
③ Objective perspective
Improving various areas, such as how to approach prospects and the mindset of business owners, is one of the meanings of good rebranding, and it can be said to be the key to success. There are many cases that you do not notice by yourself. Asking objectively familiar service people, friends, and industry professionals can also help you succeed. It also makes sense to take advantage of opportunities to interact with entrepreneurs in new fields that are not relevant, and services featured in the media for your own work.
④ Review ineffective promotions
There are times when rebranding has no effect, such as when the WEB or package design has been completely changed but it does not sell. In such cases, the product itself is often received from a long-term perspective, and there is often no problem with branding or attractiveness itself. A good product cannot be sold without doing anything. In such a situation, it is necessary to review the promotion focusing on the promotion to be marketed. If the result is successful, then you can say that rebranding made sense. If rebranding is done too many times, it will be meaningless and it may be difficult for customers and people of related companies to conclude a contract. It is desirable to have a drastic makeover or a change in the invisible part, but it is meaningless if it fails. If there are as few defects as possible in the main theme, it is safer not to change the good parts. Timing is also an important factor for success.
■ Examples of rebranding development
Menicon: Menicon rebranding deployment example
From November 22, 2016, Menicon Co., Ltd. will rebrand product packages and websites to develop the NEW Menicon brand. Since developing the first corneal contact lens in Japan, Menicon has been leading the industry as a pioneer company in contact lenses with the corporate slogan of "contributing to society widely by providing better eyesight." As the only comprehensive contact lens manufacturer, Menicon, which celebrated its 65th anniversary in 2016, integrated all the images of contact lenses, care products and services (fixed-rate contact lens Mels Plan), and made the brand concept "Japan" and "shining". We will create a new brand as "Hitomi" and develop more attractive NEW Menicon lenses.
Design changes in rebranding
- Brand logo (symbol)
- Brand logo (logotype)
- Brand logo (service icon)
- Sub graphics
- Brand communication design (general)
Innovation and frontier spirit, which are the DNA of Menicon, are used to develop brand design communication with icons for each brand with circle motifs that express "Japan," "brilliance," and "eyes," and coloring that matches the new era.
elleair: Eliere's rebranding deployment
Eliere was reborn with a renewed brand logo in August 2015. Since its birth, elleair has consistently focused on quality and has pursued the delivery of "gentleness" through its products to all users. By changing the logo design, we inherited the brand slogan "Can I touch it gently?”. I am aiming to go. Taku Sato, one of Japan's leading graphic designers, is in charge of the design development of the new logo design.
Design changes in rebranding
- Brand logo (symbol)
- Brand logo (katakana logotype)
- Brand logo (English logotype)
- Brand slogan (message)
- Brand movie (video)
■ Apple's ever-evolving branding
At Apple, there are many enthusiastic followers who only buy Apple products, such as Macs for PCs, iPhones for mobile phones, and iPods for music. This is not just a product design, good function and performance, but a very well-thought-out branding result.
Make the product simple and easy to understand
Apple is very particular about products that are easy to use and have a simple design. By carefully researching, planning, and producing what kind of design and what kind of usage procedure should be used by consumers to use the product in an easy-to-understand manner, high customer satisfaction will be created as a result. In addition, Apple makes design and operability consistent for all products. Therefore, once you get used to the operability of any one product, you can use it with other Apple products without any discomfort. This will make it easier for you to adapt to new Apple products and make it easier to buy repeatedly.
Stick to products with high design
All Apple products are carefully designed from the packaging, down to the user interface. Simple colors, icons, and sleek exteriors attract customers using Apple products every time they operate or see them. Also, users of Apple products have their own pride, and the image that Mac users are smart, sophisticated, and cool has taken root. On the other hand, for Windows users, the image of "dull, boring, old" has spread widely, especially in the United States. In this way, Apple's brand image, including the emotional part of the user, is a solid thing.
Existence of specialized store "Apple Store"
The appearance of the Apple Store consistent with the brand design of Apple products. Even if you are walking around the city, if you see an "Apple store", you can immediately recognize that it is an Apple store, and by entering the store, you will feel a "high-quality user experience" that electric mass retailers do not have. can do. Until now, Apple has been dissatisfied with the inadequate product knowledge of electronics retailers who have not been able to fully convey the appeal of their products to their customers. The "Apple Store" was born to solve this problem. At the Apple Store, we are thoroughly committed to everything from store design to space production and the quality of customer service, and we are trying to give our visitors a better experience. This is another factor that contributes to the image of the Apple brand.
■ Summary
To make rebranding meaningful and successful, you need to look at the right shortcomings and strengths. The original meaning of rebranding is all actions for reconstruction. But it's very important for success to decide how to change and develop the good parts, rather than changing all the themes. It is important to make rebranding meaningful by incorporating the opinions of those around you and leading to success even for digital marketing company.