A lot of clients have approached us recently with queries that amount to a variation on a theme.
They are phrased in different ways:
-“We’ve been around for 20 years now, a new CEO has recently been appointed and we are not sure our brand is fit for purpose for the direction of the business today – can you help?”
-“The market is shifting and the messaging we developed five years ago is being tested and found wanting, but we don’t want to unduly pivot without doing our due diligence first. What would you suggest?”
-“I’ve just joined the firm, they did a ‘rebrand’ three years ago, but it was never fully cascaded across client touchpoints. There is no appetite among stakeholders to fully revisit the messaging, but I don’t know how to make it work for all our capabilities and audiences, can you support?”
-“We are entering a couple of new markets and want to be sure we are articulating our brand in a way that will resonate with these audiences – can you tell us how you would approach this?”
Ultimately, they all boil down to the same thing – people who don’t want to do a full rebrand but for whatever reason need to, or are willing to, do a brand “refresh”.
Common reasons clients want a refresh over a rebrand:
- Budget – they are trying to box clever with the budget they have and don’t believe the investment required for a rebrand is proportionate to what they need
- Internal buy-in – there is a level of fatigue among internal stakeholders because they feel like they “only just rebranded”
- Implementation – they feel the right building blocks are there, they simply haven’t been applied consistently
- Evolution – the business is entering new markets or trying to engage with new audiences, so they need to tailor messaging appropriately
- Visual update – they are happy with the overarching value proposition and want to stay true to their existing visual identity. They simply would like it to look more ‘modern’, or ‘elevated’, or ‘refined’
These are all valid reasons, and parameters, we can work within at Alpha Agency.
Of course, there are times when we dig into the detail with a client and gently challenge that what they are looking for is indeed a rebrand, just by a different name.
But mostly we find a way to adapt our best practice approach to suit their specific use case(s), while also protecting the integrity of the results.
Whether it is a full global rebrand or a local capability refresh, the end clients should be top priority when executing this change, and that is where our industry knowledge and understanding of clients needs come into play- from creative to messaging and positioning.
The quality of our work is what truly unites and motivates us as a team, which means you can be sure we will always find a way to deliver great work, on time and in budget – or tell you honestly if we feel your brief would overly compromise one of those elements.
If you’d like to chat about how we can help solve your specific brand challenges, please do get in touch.