THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING Contents Introduction

Introduction 02 Rebranding is a term that generates confusion and often gets thrown More than a logo 03 around loosely. In common vernacular it can mean anything What is rebranding? 04 from a change to your ’s look and feel prior to the launch of a new Refresh or rebrand? 06 campaign, through to a complete overhaul of your brand strategy Benefits of successfully rebranding your and the launch of the new company financial services organisation 07 name and logo.

Why rebrand? 08 The reality is that a true rebrand is a journey that involves Does my organisation need to rebrand? 11 comprehensively analysing what has changed within your business How do I rebrand? 12 and its strategy, bringing that change to life through a defined Getting internal stakeholders on board 14 brand , and signalling the change to the market, often via What is ? 15 a new logo or look and feel.

Pressure-testing your brand 17 Your brand is an asset and should be treated as such. According to A picture tells 1000 words 19 Millward Brown, in 2013 the world’s most valuable brand, Apple, has Your employees: your most valuable a brand value of over $185 billion. brand asset 21 By comparison, Australia’s leading company in terms of brand value In conclusion 22 was Woolworths, with a brand value of over $8 billion. About BrandMatters 22

Brand is the conduit that connects your organisation to its clients, its channels, its stakeholders and its community. THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING 3

Introduction

Your brand represents what is + MORE THAN A LOGO unique and valuable about your business that cannot easily be We should also state at the Your brand comes to life replicated. For example, many of outset, brand is much more across every touch point you your competitors may have online than a logo. Logos, taglines, have with your employees, retail stores or 24-hour customer and other external customers and stakeholders: service centres, but none has communications are merely from your employment strategy created a product or organisation representations of a brand. to your induction process; your exactly the same as yours. However An amazing logo alone doesn’t customer service standards the ability to capitalise on your make a brand great. to employee uniforms; your uniqueness is a valuable skill and advertising to your website A strong brand is the clear not something that necessarily copy; your PR strategy to your and evocative articulation of comes easily. approach to corporate social your purpose. It’s how people responsibility. Your brand is This guide aims to provide internal internally and externally the truth that underpins marketing teams with an overview think and feel about your your reputation. of when a rebrand should be organisation, its products considered and what is involved. and services. It’s not about Strong connect Its intent is to help you define the product or service itself, with and commit to your the scale and scope of what you but the impact you create in a customers. hope to achieve, and then identify customer’s life. milestones to help structure Strong brands unify your your rebranding journey. We’ve Internally, your brand should business and strengthen deliberately focused on the creation be the unifying force behind all your performance. of the brand and brand strategy your people so that everyone because this is at the heart of what is working towards a common Strong brands energise makes your brand unique. The goal and everyone understands and inspire your launch and rollout of your rebrand what it means to work for employees. is, of course, important — but if your organisation. you haven’t developed a unique, And strong brands are credible, relevant and sustainable about much more than brand to underpin your marketing just a logo. launch, you risk failing to maximise the ROI a strong brand can offer. 4 THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING What is rebranding?

Businesses evolve. Business Rebranding is one approach The difference between a rebrand strategies change direction. businesses can take to tell and a refresh is an important but Organisations grow, markets audiences about a change in often subtle distinction. A true contract, acquisitions are their organisation. Refreshing the rebranding of your organisation is a made, competitors arrive, existing brand is another. So what’s process, not a short-term project. organisations are sold. the difference? It is more than just changing your New products emerge. logo or adding a new design device To rebrand is to significantly change Old products are discarded. to your website and promotional your brand and tell your audiences In short, in an ever-changing, collateral. It involves identifying that you have done so, while to competitive environment, what has changed within your refresh your brand is to adjust no brand can remain the organisation; capturing that change it: to tweak it to align to a more same forever. and translating it into a new brand subtle shift in direction. For many positioning and brand strategy for companies, a rebrand could signal your organisation; and representing the introduction of new products that change to both your internal and services; a merger or important and external audiences. acquisition; a change of strategic direction such as discontinuing When you rebrand, it is a signal some lower-performing products to your audiences that they need or services; or the need to more to reassess their preconceived clearly differentiate itself notions of your brand. It is not a against its competitors in a trigger that should be pulled lightly. cluttered market. Rebrands launch with a bang. Refreshes roll out over time. THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING 5 What is rebranding?

When you launch a rebranded Change can be seen as perilous: company you need to announce restructures often mean job losses; to your audiences that things and a new logo means new sales will be different from now on. A tools and internal templates so common method of making such employees can no longer simply an announcement is a meaningful recycle what has been used before. change to your visual identity. A rebrand challenges the status Any change to your visual identity quo and pushes people out of their needs to represent and reflect the comfort zones. In short, there is a following to your audience: risk that a rebrand can be rejected internally if it is not • Context: Why have you changed launched properly. your brand? Equally, your customers may feel • Meaning: What do the passionate about your brand. They changes to your visual identity may have had a long involvement symbolise? with your brand, they may associate • Benefit: How does your new it with positive memories and it may brand turn up as a benefit have meaning in their lives. The new for me? brand may grate with them to begin with as they adapt to the change — These messages need to be or they may reject it entirely. reflected in a way that resonates with your audience. No rebranding decision or process can occur When you rebrand, without risk. There is a certain comfort that is often associated it is a signal to your with an existing brand, especially audiences that they among internal stakeholders. need to reassess their preconceived notions of your brand. 6 THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING

Refresh or rebrand?

BEFORE AFTER REBRAND OR WHY? REFRESH?

The logo was updated to give it a more contemporary look and feel in line with Tourism Australia’s Refresh positioning of a modern and confident Australia, open to the world.

The revitalised brand was launched in response to negative customer feedback, and signalled a wider evolution Refresh of the organisation. It intended to capture the spirit of HCF’s commitment to leading the industry.

The rebrand exercise was aimed at better connecting Rebrand with customers and creating a distinctive positioning in an increasingly competitive market.

With the company splitting its entertainment and publishing Rebrand interests, a new name and new positioning was needed for its publishing arm.

A change of name and change of logo signalled Rebrand a bold new positioning for this financial institution. THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING 7

Benefits of successfully rebranding your organisation 01 02 03 04 05 You are able to Client and channel Prospective You are Top candidates concisely explain partner referrals clients perceive considered a seek you out not only what come more easily you as more thought leader and want to work you do but how because people dominant than in the market for you. you are different. can succinctly previously and and professional As a result, your explain what you as a result you publications employees, do to their friends win a greater seek you out sales team and and colleagues. percentage of for comments channel partners new business. and advice. are all aligned and delivering a consistent message to your prospective clients, and sales These benefits have the cumulative effect of creating the ultimate return on and marketing investment: organisations with strong efforts are more brands command higher valuations. effective. 8 THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING

Why rebrand? THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING 9

There are various reasons why an New strategic direction: If your Relevance: As your organisation organisation may find itself in a organisation is preparing a strategic grows, your markets expand position where it is considering plan that will change its future and new challengers enter your a rebrand. If you are considering direction, a rebrand can help competitive set, you may find your rebranding your organisation, communicate this new intent to sales are declining or your current start with an understanding of the your market. Virgin Blue did just brand is looking dated and your business need behind the rebrand. that recently when it became Virgin brand story lacks relevance to your Do you need to accelerate growth? Australia, announcing its clear target audience. A rebrand can be Have you been subject to a merger, objective to compete head to head an opportunity to revitalise and or made a significant acquisition? in the business travel market. modernise your brand positioning Are you hovering between being and look and feel in line with New product or service offering: a mid-sized and large sized the expectations of a rapidly If you have added a significant new organisation and do you need to evolving market. product range or service to your position yourself to compete with business offer that has changed businesses more sizeable than Reactive rebranding the focus of your organisation, your current competitive set? Or a rebrand may act as a circuit Merger or acquisition: If you do you simply need to grow your breaker to signal to your audiences have recently made a significant market awareness or meet your that your offering has changed. acquisition or been part of a merger sales budgets? For example, a rebrand could be a (that may have also necessitated a Before launching into a way for a software company that name change), and as a result the comprehensive rebrand you traditionally only made software for strategic intent of your business need to understand the business businesses, and was now launching has changed, you will need to problem you are trying to solve, and software for managing personal rebrand to reflect the different realistically assess if a rebrand can finances as well, to launch its intentions of your newly expanded effectively address your challenges. new offer. organisation. In this situation, a rebrand can act as a unifier for your Broadly, the business reasons that New audience: You may find new team, and can launch your new may trigger the need to rebrand can yourself in a situation where you company or new structure to your be divided into two classifications: are marketing your products and external audiences. proactive and reactive. services to audiences that were not previously relevant to your Reaction to recent growth: Proactive rebranding organisation. This represents Sometimes businesses may a significant strategic shift, and can experience periods of rapid Preparing for growth: If you are be a relevant trigger for a rebrand. A growth and find that over time a business teetering on the edge good example of this is Abercrombie their business strategy and brand of rapid expansion, a rebrand can & Fitch which reinvented itself from strategy are no longer aligned and, help position your organisation for a seller of classic hunting attire to in a sense, the brand has been left growth. It can act as a signal to teen must-have wear. behind. Their brands start to collide your customers, competitors and in different channels and against stakeholders that you are here, Finding talent: Despite the different customers, and their you are ready and you have lingering effects of the GFC, customer segmentation is no longer the momentum to drive your Australia continues to enjoy clear. In situations like this it is company forward. low unemployment and companies often also the case that the internal continue to struggle to attract culture has also drifted away from and retain the top talent. the organisation’s aspiration. Rebranding your organisation can position you to attract candidates who in the past may not have considered your organisation as a prospective employer. 10 THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING

Changing business environment: Refresh, don’t rebrand If your organisation does not The introduction of new industry genuinely meet one of the criteria regulations or a new competitor in In some situations you may not for needing a rebrand listed above, your market can rapidly alter your need to rebrand, you may simply consider why you are pursuing a ability to compete and can very need to refresh, or strengthen your rebrand. Minor tweaks to the logo quickly make your brand appear existing brand. Some examples of could achieve the revitalised look dated and irrelevant. In such a this include: and feel you are seeking, or an situation an assessment and review innovative new marketing strategy Reacting to a sales decrease: of your brand positioning can help or brand communication Broadly, it is unlikely that a decline reinvigorate your organisation campaign might help you stand in sales can be solely attributed internally, and can inject a new out from your competitors without to brand. Similarly, rebranding sense of innovation and energy requiring the complexity and cost alone will not necessarily fix behind your organisation to your of a true rebrand. a sales challenge. However, customers, allowing you to compete declining sales may be in response Finally, a rebrand will not help you more effectively. to recent negative publicity or to grow and prosper if it doesn’t Trademarking or legal issues: new challengers in the market, reflect a genuine change within From time to time trademarking or and may signal the need for an your organisation. A rebrand other legal issues may arise and organisational strategic shift. alone cannot turn a retail chain necessitate a rebrand. An example with poor service and low quality Low : Low brand of this might be an Australian products into a market leader. awareness alone is not a reason to business expanding to the US, All a rebrand will do is to create a rebrand. You may simply need to where its current name may already polished and professional-looking invest in educating your customers trademarked and unavailable for version of a retail chain with poor and prospects about your brand use. If this should happen, seek the service and low quality products, and the benefits it can offer. On the advice of trademarking lawyers to and consumers will see through other hand, low brand awareness ensure that you protect your rights the guise almost instantly. may be one symptom of a broader to use your new brand name and relevancy challenge, and may be a logo on an ongoing basis. sign that a rebrand is needed. Negative publicity: A worst-case — scenario is when your organisation is embroiled in a controversy so It is generally not advisable to significant that you need to rebrand rebrand if you have launched a new your organisation to demonstrate brand within the past three years. to the market that you have Building a depth of understanding moved on from the contentious and trust in a brand takes time, situation and are ready to and brands that are continually begin rebuilding trust from your changing and reinventing stakeholders and customers. themselves can risk not being taken seriously by their target audiences. Additionally, re-branding can also be a costly process, so a reasonable ROI is difficult to obtain over a shortened period. THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING 11

It is often also the case that the Checklist internal culture has drifted away from Does my organisation need to rebrand? the organisation’s aspiration. Before committing to a rebrand, check if your business problem appears in the list below:

Are you looking for a way to accelerate growth and lead your organisation forward?

Have you merged with another organisation or been acquired by another organisation?

Have you acquired a significant new asset?

Have you introduced a game-changing new product or service?

Are you developing a new strategy that will change the direction of your organisation?

Do you need to introduce your services to an important new audience?

Have you been involved in a damaging or controversial situation that will impact your brand?

Has it been more than 5 years since you reviewed your brand to check it was still relevant?

Has it been more than 10 years since you refreshed your brand or rebranded your organisation?

Have you been exposed to trademarking or legal issues?

Is a new competitor threatening your market position?

Does your brand tell the wrong, or an out dated story?

Do you struggle to recruit the industry’s top talent?

Checking two or more of the boxes above is a decisive indicator that it is time for your organisation to rebrand. If your situation doesn’t appear in the list, consider if a rebrand is truly the best solution to take your organisation forward. Not sure if you should rebrand? Contact us for an assessment of your current situation. 12 THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING

How do I rebrand

How do I rebrand

If the decision is made to rebrand, The task: Do you have any the first and a critical requirement specific deliverables in mind is a detailed project brief to clarify for the rebrand? your thinking and consolidate Supporting information: Are there the business objectives behind any relevant business strategy or your rebrand. support documents that should go Your briefing should include: with your brief?

Background: Brief background Budget: What is your project about your company and how you’ve budget? What elements does arrived at the need to rebrand. This this budget need to include? For section should include the business example, is this the budget for the case behind the rebrand. brand strategy only, or does this budget also need to include any Objective: Why do you want subsequent design work? to rebrand? What do you hope to achieve?

Audience: What is your current target audience? Does this need to change? THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING 13

Timeframes: What are your At this stage you’ll also need to There are three key types of expected and/or immovable consider procuring a brand strategy research you may want to timeframes for this project? partner. Having an external partner consider for your rebrand: Are there any specific project can help offer objective insights milestones or deadlines? For that internal stakeholders may be 1) Desk research: Documents example, are you attempting to unable to see. They will also bring like annual reports, presentations, rebrand in time for a launch at a variety of skills, resources and previous market research or a major upcoming industry or industry experience that will help customer feedback studies that trade show? Are you attempting keep your project on track and have been conducted, business to announce the rebrand at the deliver stronger project outcomes. strategy documents, existing release of an upcoming quarterly or A truly professional brand strategy marketing collateral and competitor annual results reporting seminar? partner will not shy away from websites and marketing materials making tough recommendations can help build a detailed picture of Contacts: Who is leading this and challenge you to reach the your organisation, its competitors, project? Who is in the project team most authentic, creative solution its history and what it stands for. for this project? for your brand. 2) Qualitative research: Depth If you are looking for a briefing Research: the cornerstone of interviews and focus groups with template you can access one your rebrand internal stakeholders, external from the resources page on the stakeholders and clients can BrandMatters website. A thorough research program is give you detailed insights into the cornerstone of an effective the history and politics of your With a detailed brief you’ll be rebrand: if you don’t understand organisation, your leadership in a strong position to recruit a your customers and your market team’s vision for the future, and project team. A project team with you will not be able to build a brand how your organisation is viewed representation from across your that truly resonates; and if you externally by both customers and business, including HR, IT and legal, don’t understand your internal stakeholders. Qualitative research will be important to ensuring you stakeholders you risk alienating can also help inform and craft are able to maintain engagement your employees and developing a future quantitative research. with internal stakeholders and brand that doesn’t truly come to life ensure your rebrand considers the 3) Quantitative studies: across all your brand touch points. needs of all areas of the business. Understanding your current and Often, it can be more effective to prospective customers is core partner with an external researcher to building a strong new brand, to help you with your research. and quantitative research can An external research partner help you get a statistically valid can ensure that any research understanding of their needs undertaken is objective, and a and wants. strong research strategist will be Once you’ve conducted your able to analyse the research results research, the skill lies in to uncover insights that will be distilling the data to identify the critical to the rebranding success. critical findings, and extracting insights from these findings. The identification of these insights will be crucial to pinpointing the heart of your business and from it, building your brand positioning. 14 THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING

From research to a defined Once you’ve assessed your brand CSU is one of Australia’s leading brand: architecture, architecture you can begin the educational facilities, with positioning and strategy process of identifying and finessing campuses throughout regional your brand positioning. A brand NSW, the ACT and Canada. It is Before building your brand positioning (or brand essence) is the also the largest national provider positioning, confirm your brand most concise, yet most meaningful of online courses in Australia. Two architecture is still relevant and expression of what makes your decades of large scale growth appropriate moving forward. For brand unique. As organisations are had resulted in a confused set example, is a house of brands acquired or sold, often multiple of overlapping identities within a better strategic fit for your times, their brand positioning may CSU. The university environment organisation, or would it be better no longer align with their parent was changing and becoming more served by a branded house? company’s broader intent and competitive and CSU was struggling Johnson & Johnson, a house of this is a signal that a rebrand is to find itself and carve out a unique brands including Listerine and required. This can also be the case positioning. In addition, multiple Band Aid, was able to escape major if an organisation experiences rapid stakeholders in multiple locations damage to its parent brand when growth. Charles Sturt University led to inconsistent use of logos and one of its products, Tylenol, was (CSU) is one such example. visual styles which exacerbated the found to be laced with cyanide. As confusion and eroded the brand. this example shows, the decision on the right brand architecture can have an impact on your business and must be well thought through.

Getting internal stakeholders on board

Once you’ve decided that a Meet with senior stakeholders to rebrand is necessary, ensure you open up a discussion about the have support from across your ROI a strong brand can offer, and organisation, especially your the challenges a new brand can leadership team. While many of help address. Discuss the your executives may support your current brand, its challenges approach, you will often find one and what could be improved. or two who fail to see the potential Examples might include a loss ROI as they don’t see the benefits of market share, an inability to a strong brand can offer. meet sales budgets or an overall lack of market awareness. Highlighting the issues will give you the opportunity to demonstrate the tangible benefits that building a new brand based on quantifiable evidence can deliver to your organisation.

THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING 15

What is Brand Architecture?

Brand architecture is the way Brand architecture allows each you organise, manage and go to brand within the portfolio to retain market with your brands. While your its own unique brand integrity organisational hierarchy reflects while also working together to your business strategy, brand reflect the organisation’s overall architecture reflects your brand brand positioning. strategy. It expresses how Your organisation’s brand your brand is presented at a architecture will generally corporate, divisional, product and fall somewhere on the service level. following continuum:

Similar businesses, markets, Different businesses, customers, visions, values markets, customers, visions, and positioning values and positioning

Branded House Co-Brand Sub-Brand Endorsed Brand House of Brands

Branded House: Apple

House of Brands: Colgate Palmolive

House Blend: Google

To learn more about brand architecture, click here. 16 THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING

BrandMatters conducted an the relationship between the A comprehensive brand strategy extensive market research study individual and the university. may include: using the insights to define the As the opposite example Summation of company brand, its positioning and CSU’s demonstrates, brand positioning vision, mission and values unique role in the market. It then is distinctly different from a identified that the current brand Overview of current tagline. Positioning is a conceptual mark did not reflect the university’s business strategic plan statement that reflects the values, new brand or strategic intent. ideals and aspirations of your Brand vision To address this, BrandMatters organisation. A refined brand created an entire brand identity positioning is generally no more Brand positioning that could take the university into than four words long. A brand Brand pyramid: physical the future, including a new logo, positioning statement is supported attributes, functional visual identity and key messaging by a detailed breakdown of your benefits, emotional to align with the refined brand organisation’s physical attributes, rewards, personality positioning. It then encapsulated all functional benefits, emotional and values of this into a comprehensive set of rewards, personality, and the brand guidelines. values your organisation aspires to. Customer value proposition/s (CVPs) The new brand essence, ‘Better Brand architecture and brand Together’, backed by a modified positioning come together to form Employee value Sturt Desert Pea motif, was the basis of the strategy for building proposition (EVP) embraced by the University Council, out your brand, embedding it in staff, students and stakeholders, your organisation and delivering it Elevator pitch and key and continues to be executed consistently to your customers. messages consistently across the length and breadth of the university. A tagline ‘You + CSU’ has been created based on the brand essence to illustrate

Before After THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING 17

Brand story

Tone of voice

Customer segmentation

Brand objectives Brand measurement plan Pressure – Testing your brand Brand support structure Before presenting your new brand positioning to your executive, Your brand strategy will be a stress test it against the following criteria: summation of how you will take the new brand to market. Is your brand:

Credible: believable, internally and externally?

Relevant: to customers and the market?

Unique: differentiated relative to the competition?

Sustainable: able to maintain relevance into the future?

Does it offer:

For employees: meaning, direction and a sense of pride?

For customers: ease of choice, lower risk, greater value?

For the business and the shareholders or partners: higher margins, greater customer loyalty and secured future earnings?

For the future: aspiration, industry leadership, future-proofing and a reason to care?

Brand Positioning: not a tagline

Positioning Authentic Athletic Performance Fun Family Entertainment Helps Fulfill Aspirations

Tagline ‘Just Do It’ ‘Where dreams come true’ ‘More Give, Less Take’ 18 THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING

Bringing your brand to life: developing your

Before committing to an entire new In order to develop a deep The new brand was successfully brand identity system, weigh up understanding of Manor’s launched in late 2014, and has how familiar your audiences may be product offer, customers and contributed towards building a with your current corporate identity, market, BrandMatters conducted strong sense of momentum and a and the cost benefits of retaining a comprehensive program of robust sales pipeline for the Group. that familiarity. desk research and stakeholder When you are briefing your interviews with both Manor If you are truly trying to re-establish creative agency, consider which employees and Manor customers. your brand as distinctly new and of the following elements of your different from your previous brand, BrandMatters then used the corporate identity require change: a new corporate identity may insights gained from this research • Logo and/or logotype deliver a strong ROI. But if you are to develop a brand positioning trying to demonstrate a strategic for Manor Group. This, in turn, • Typography shift, preparedness for growth informed the development of the or the launch of a new product, organisation’s new corporate • Colour palette it could be appropriate to retain identity, displayed across signage, • Secondary design device/s some elements of your old brand brochureware and website mock- to extract maximum value from ups. BrandMatters also partnered • Imagery style existing brand awareness. with Manor to develop a tagline for Any changes to the corporate the Group, ‘built for living’, and key Manor Group is a family-owned identity will impact your corporate messages for each of its audiences: and run business specialising in stationery, electronic collateral, country home customers; park modular homes. It delivers both print marketing collateral and home customers; and employees park homes and private country brand guidelines documentation. and suppliers. dwellings primarily across the Weigh up the impact this will Hunter and New England regions, The new logo used teal and a soft have on your overall budget by but also across Australia. Manor grey-purple to capture the sense completing the brand audit on the had recently made strategic of harmony Manor achieves by BrandMatters website. changes within its business delivering homes that align with its to streamline production and clients’ lifestyle and surroundings. develop a more consumer-focused, It also uses the angular shapes in productised solution. It was seeking the icon to capture the precision to capitalise on this shift to drive inherent in the quality of Manor’s business growth, while at the same construction, and the systemised time beginning to shift consumer home building solution that perceptions of modular, or system- Manor offers. built, homes from being purely about efficiency and cost; to being about the simplest way of building stylish home from start to finish. THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING 19

A picture tells 1000 words

When you brief an agency, using Some of the characteristics that Imagine the outcome images and examples can help form part of the ‘outlaw’ archetype ensure you extract maximum value are ‘countercultural’, ‘revolutionary’ if you envisaged your for your investment. and ‘disruptive’. brand looking like

Consider this example. Brand However, when you type Steve Jobs, and your archetypes are increasingly used ‘countercultural revolutionary’ into a agency delivered to help organisations pinpoint Google image search, the first page their brand positioning. There of images includes Che Guevara, Che Guevara. are twelve brand archetypes: Steve Jobs and Jesus. Imagine innocent, explorer, hero, sage, the outcome if you envisaged your outlaw, magician, regular guy/girl, brand looking like Steve Jobs, lover, jester, caregiver, creator and and your agency delivered Che ruler. Each encapsulates different Guevara — a potentially disastrous personality traits that can help communication disconnect. Working provide an understanding of your with brand archetypes is not brand’s personality, values and necessarily as easy as it seems! aspirations. You can learn more about brand archetypes here. 20 THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING

Selling your story: launching In late 2013, SGE Credit Union your brand to market decided to move from being a credit union to being a bank. As a result, Launching your brand to the market it was necessary to change its is, in a sense, the big ‘reveal’. It’s a brand and its visual identity, and rare opportunity to cut through the the leadership team recognised an clutter and make a bold statement opportunity to review and update to the market. With a strong its brand positioning and key launch plan you can maximise the messaging at the same time. opportunity to gain the attention of BrandMatters worked with SGE your customers and stakeholders. Credit Union to develop its brand A launch of some description is positioning and brand story; and strongly recommended for all develop a new logo and corporate rebranding projects. As mentioned identity for its new name, G&C previously, any change to your visual Mutual Bank. The new identity identity needs to communicate the was applied across all collateral, context for the change, the meaning including stationery, the website, behind the change, and how the ATM screens, branch posters, customer benefits from the change credit cards, the member – and a dedicated campaign is a newsletter and more. welcome opportunity to make these The G&C Mutual Bank brand was benefits clear. A launch also boldly launched with the intent of taking marks the point in time where both both employees and existing employees and customers leave the members on the new brand journey old brand behind for good. and facilitating a smooth change process. The internal and member Don’t underestimate the benefits launch included a brand video, of having the opportunity to tell a branded merchandise, brand good news story: something exciting story graphics, direct member and fresh for your internal and communications, employee screen external audiences, but also…the savers, computer wallpapers, a project team who dedicated time refreshed website and more. As a and commitment to the rebranding result of the brand refresh, G&C process. Mutual Bank is now unified and When G&C Mutual Bank launched aligned behind its brand, and is their new brand, they did so with positioned for growth in its new a comprehensive internal and banking environment. external communications strategy. THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING 21

Employees: Your most valuable brand asset

Your employees are your Communicate and launch your organisation’s most valuable brand internally prior to launching it assets, and strong, successful externally. By developing resources brands are built from the inside specifically for your employees, you out. As the real representation of will help make them informed brand your brand in the marketplace, advocates. Tools to achieve this employees must be living examples could include an employee launch of your brand essence, values event, a brand book, a microsite, and brand promise. CEO key messaging, regular internal email communications, resources on the intranet, posters in common A key rebranding objective is to areas, and brand induction make your employees aware of workshops where you can deliver your brand prior to the launch. They the brand face-to-face. need to understand what it means to live the brand, and have a strong understanding of what is expected Your frontline staff of them. Your frontline staff are members are the the first human point of contact prospective customers will have first human point of with your brand and it is crucial that contact prospective the experience of your brand that prospects receive via advertising or customers marketing seamlessly transitions to will have with the personal experience they have with your brand. your brand. 22 THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING

In conclusion

A clearly defined brand delivers If you are thinking about a rebrand, strong tangible and intangible whether it is because you are benefits to all organisations about to embark on a merger or you regardless of the industry in are facing a situation where your which they operate. Brands born business strategy has outgrown of a deep understanding of your your brand strategy, take a organisation’s market, business, considered approach. customers, competitors and By enlisting the support and people will perform strongly and sponsorship of your senior facilitate business growth via an leadership; building a strong and increased number of referrals, committed project team; taking shorter sales cycles, reduced price the time to truly understand your sensitivity and a lower interest in organisation and what makes competitive offerings. it different; and ensuring your internal stakeholders become your strongest brand advocates, you will ensure your business is well-placed to capitalise on the benefits a well- built brand can offer.

About

BrandMatters is in the business of building We believe, to our core, in the transformative strong, enduring brands that enable business power of brand.To find out how we can growth. We are a Sydney-based brand help create or revitalise your brand please strategy, design and marketing consultancy, contact us: and we deliver the full spectrum of brand and marketing services – all under one roof. We partner with medium to large organisations across many industries - yet we have a deep specialisation in financial services and B2B. T: +61 2 9954 7900

At BrandMatters, we believe that building E: [email protected] strong brands requires equal parts science and W: www.brandmatters.com.au imagination. We uncover powerful, research- derived insights, and combine them with disciplined strategy, a healthy dose of intuition and creative excellence to define and express your brand’s unique essence. We can then bring your brand to life via effective, aligned marketing and employee branding collateral and programs.

THE GUIDE TO REBRANDING 23

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