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When Brand Strategy Demands A Rebrand – How Much Should You Pay?
BrandQuest has now been undertaking brand strategy reviews for over 10 years.
In many cases the objective outcomes of a brand strategy underscore any number of valid commercial reasons why a brand may need to challenge its current brand image, this usually starts with an overhaul of the brand logo.
A rebrand can typically range from an evolution (or brand facelift in human parlance), to a brand new logo or in some cases a brand new name and logo.
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Typically, when we review the many typical drivers of such recommendations we find the following catalysts:
Nine Reasons To Rebrand Your Business
- Your brand position has been eroded and is tired
- There is confusion in the market re competing brands
- Your employees don’t understand the brand or their connection to it
- It is simply outdated ie; what you do no longer reflects your brand
- Your brand promise is not reflected in your brand
- You have suffered bad publicity or have earned a poor reputation
- Your brand lacks relevance and is outdated
- The brand was never, and cannot be, trade marked
- Your brand is an acronym that is meaningless outside your business
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Throughout this article, you will see examples of famous rebrands to some well recognised brands.
As with our own client experiences, many of these rebrands can be traced to the above ‘nine reasons’.
So, when your brand strategy exposes the need for a rebrand – what’s next, a simple update (same name, evolved logo) or a major makeover (new name, brand new logo?)
Again, your brand strategy, your brand vision (and in the case of BrandQuest Clients) your Brand CanvasTM should inform your objective decision-making.
But hat is the likely cost and importantly the return on such an investment in a refreshed brand for your company?
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What Is The Potential Value Of A Refreshed Or New Brand Logo?
Well this is indeed a commercial reality. What is the value of creating a new brand and what value does a new brand potentially bring to your business.
I can think of two immediate instances in our BrandQuest history, firstly a not-for-profit organisation who relied almost entirely on donations and corporate sponsors for their revenue.
One specific sponsor they had been seeking for years but to no avail, almost immediately became a six-figure sponsor as a result of the new brand and name (see numbers 7 & 9 above for reasons why).
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The second example, is a UK based international brand and manufacturer (see numbers 4 & 5 above), who upon a ‘makeover’ went on to immediately break all sales records at the next global trade fair and lifted penetration of their product globally exponentially – and really the only explanation? Their new and refreshed branding.
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If Your Brand Strategy Demands A New Brand Logo How Much Should You Pay?
So, how much should you pay for a new brand logo? Is there a difference between the costs of a makeover versus a brand new logo?
The answer is found in what value do you place on your brand and its inherent ability to present the public face and image of your products or service?
At BrandQuest we draw no financial delineation. The outcome, whether evolutionary or revolutionary should have the same positive effect for your business or organisation, so why should the time, energy and creative smarts and talent involved differ?
On this page, you will note the highly distinctive ‘citi’ logo – recognised globally.
Incredibly simple in design, outstanding in its presence.
It is widely reported that the designer, Paula Sher, when attending the initial client brief to design a logo that reflected their 1998 merger between Citicorp and Travellers companies, picked up a paper napkin and scribbled a drawing (see below) that reflected citicorp’s lowercase typography with the ‘citi’ abbreviation of Citicorp and an overarching umbrella from the existing Travellers logo.
TABLE NAPKIN REBRAND
And the executives walked out with the embryonic start of what is now a logo instantly recognised worldwide.
“A lot of clients like to buy process and think they’re not getting their money’s worth; like I solved it too fast” Sher says.
“It takes a second and it’s all over the world. But it’s not done in a second, it was done in a second and 34 years”
So, what should she have charged for the citi logo? Five minutes of her hourly charge out rate?
The fact is, what a Client pays for is the value of the outcome, not necessarily the time of the input. Unless you are buying a Picasso the actual value of creative process is intangible.
Therefore, our advice on pricing is to look beyond the estimate – ask what experience your potential designer or studio has in the same or similar category on similar sized companies or organisations and can they provide a case study on the outcomes.
Remember, the purpose of a re-brand is to re-define and focus who you are, how you express your values and what you mean to your target audiences and your staff.
And if the underpinning reasons are validated commercially the results can often be priceless!
About BrandQuest
BrandQuest is a strategy and brand management consultancy that intrinsically believes that great brands are born of the founders and staff who work within the company.
They are not the result of an outsourced creative endeavour but the cumulative knowledge and culture that a company possesses.
Since 2007, BrandQuest has developed a process that can extract and refine this inner knowledge into a powerful brand strategy ready to implement within a 4 to 6 week time-frame.
Our clients work with us because they seek:
- Increased brand and business value
- Strategic Alignment, clarity and direction
- Robust, authentic and fearless advice
