The rebranding activity ranges in all fields, from the change of name, logo and design to a new communication strategy that differs from the well-established brand on the market. This process can affect the perception and positioning of the company with respect to competitors in the same sector.
Referring to the two authors Muzellec and Lambkin, the need to carry out a rebranding derives and at the same time leads to a change that can evolve in two dimensions: the positioning on the market and on the web and the visual and aesthetic elements, such as the logo. Following their reasoning, change can occur in a gradual, evolutionary change, or immediate and radical, revolutionary change. In the first case, the evolution refers to the visual aspect such as logo, slogan and visual communication strategy and is less perceptible to external stakeholders. In the second case, however, the change leads to the creation of a new name for the Brand, a radical action as the name of a company also affects its positioning on the market.
When is a rebranding action taken?
There are several reasons why a company might decide to implement a rebranding strategy and these reasons can be divided into two areas: proactive and reactive rebranding. In the first case, the company chooses to rebrand as it identifies opportunities for growth and change that can improve its image, innovate its strategy, position itself in a different market or, finally, turn to a new target or strengthen the relationship with the original one.
Usually, the goal of proactive rebranding is to maintain a certain relevance and authority and establish itself as an incubator of innovation and constant updating in the sector while maintaining constant consistency between the evolution of your business and the new identity. We can think, for example, of a company that expands its initial business with new services or products, in addition to those it has traditionally offered to the market, and that following this change decides to adapt its corporate identity to its new form. . In this case, rebranding is an innovation strategy that captures new business opportunities, a proactive rebranding strategy.
Viceversa, reactive rebranding is an almost imposed choice in response to specific events such as the purchase or merger of a company by another or deriving from legal issues deriving from the trademark or, again, in response to the evolution of competitors that in a certain sense modify the dynamics of the reference market, forcing other companies to make substantial changes such as rebranding in order to maintain a competitive advantage with them. In these cases it can be said that reactive rebranding is a strategy of support and reinvigoration of the brand reputation with the aim of maintaining a high level or improving the perception that consumers and customers have of the Brand.
Reasons aside, if the renbranding is not managed in the best way and with extreme awareness of all the dynamics that count and must be monitored, it can involve risks such as confusion in the minds of customers towards the company or the loss of historical customers. or recently acquired. Consumers do not always welcome change if they are not involved in the process of innovation and creation of the new brand image, a dilemma that can be easily solved with specific potentially winning communication strategies. For these reasons and the costs involved, the choice of rebranding must be studied with caution, taking into consideration all the potential advantages, possible risks and probable evolutions.
