Many businesses use the New Year as a chance to revamp their marketing – it might be launching a new and exciting marketing campaign, or perhaps refreshing your brand image to better reflect your business’s values, goals, and aspirations. It’s also a great time to revive a brand on its last legs – especially if it’s something your business has been meaning to do for years. Use this upcoming New Year as a chance to look ahead to the future. How do you want the public to perceive your business and all that it does? If your current brand image doesn’t reflect how you want people to see you, then it’s time for a refresh.

How to rebrand your business in 2021

A rebrand can create new interest in your business and breathe new life into how your customers see you.

Depending on how significant your rebrand is going to be, you’ll have to consider things like redefining your mission, vision, and values, creating new customer identities to better align with your target audience, and possibly even changing your business’s name or creating a new slogan which better reflects the rebrand. This will take research and time, but if handled correctly, will allow you to successfully refresh your brand image.

Once you’ve decided on these things, you can go to work on creating a new logo for your brand and rebuilding your brand’s identity as a whole. On top of a logo, this will include new brand colours, fonts, and new brand guidelines that will be followed in every marketing campaign and message launched by your business.

Don’t forget your roots

Before you go to work on creating an entirely new brand image, it’s important not to forget where your business came from. Even if your brand is outdated or no longer connecting with new customers, there are still people who have an attachment to your brand and what it represents.

Don’t forget this when creating a new set of values or declaring a new mission and vision, and keep it in mind for any graphic design work. If your previous logo featured a distinct element that is closely associated with your business, at least part of it should be carried over or at least referenced in your new logo. This will make the transition for existing customers much easier, allowing them to continue where they left off with your brand.

Hire a good graphic designer for your rebrand

If your rebrand is going to involve a new logo, colour palette, or font, it’s in your best interests to hire an experienced (and proven) graphic designer. Spend the money to get it right the first time – nobody wants to have to update their logo again in a year because their logo was bought for a song. Your new logo will be the first thing new and existing customers see when they search for your services online, see your brand on social media, or when they purchase one of your products.

Your new logo will represent everything your business is and will continue to do so for years to come. Spend accordingly. A good logo can be the difference between acquiring a new customer or losing one to a flashier competitor, don’t settle for something generic or bland. For example, there’s a major difference between what a $1,000 logo looks like compared to a $300 logo, and your customers will be able to tell if you settled for a “dime a dozen” visual identity. There are places you can save money, but your brand image shouldn’t be one of them. 

The importance of building a brand book

With your direction set and a new logo established, it’s highly recommended that you produce a brand book to be used by employees and vendors when using your brand in campaigns or future messaging. Your brand book will establish what look is to be used, how it should be used, what colours must be used with the logo, what fonts should be used, and the tone of voice to be used in messaging. It can even incorporate your business’s social media presence and how to structure emails.

In order for these things to remain consistent, especially if multiple employees or vendors are responsible for producing content for your business, can be extremely difficult. A brand book addresses this head-on, dictating exactly how your brand’s visual style is to be upheld, and how employees and vendors should communicate with audiences in a way that reflects your brand’s tone and identity. It also makes the job of your marketing team much easier, giving them guidelines with which to work from when creating new content for your business.

The New Year presents the perfect opportunity for your business to refresh its tired old brand. If a rebrand is on the books for your business in the next year, you can count on the team at ion8 to help guide you through the process. ion8 is an all-in-one business consultancy with a full team of experienced graphic design and digital marketing experts who are ready to bring some new life to your brand image. To find out more about how ion8 can help you successfully rebrand in 2021, get in touch with us today.