In the past few months, I have had a couple of conversations with clients that made me realize that rebrands are a confusing thing. When you have a rebrand coming up, understanding the timing of it all can feel tricky. Let’s talk about rebrands and whether you should market before your rebrand.
In each of the conversations I had, the client was dormant in their marketing on social media or by email. Knowing that a rebrand was happening in the background and would soon need to be announced, they assumed that they should stay dormant on those platforms until after the new brand was in place.
“Won’t it be confusing to market and then switch to a new brand? Won’t it feel disjointed?” they asked.
In fact, the opposite is true. If you haven’t been marketing to your audience, they have you all the way at the back of their minds. If suddenly they start to receive messages on any platform for a company (your rebranded company) that doesn’t sound familiar, what would their assumption be? Probably that they have somehow been added to the list of a company they don’t know. Your audience receiving marketing out of the blue from a company they have never heard of ultimately undoes all the work you have done over the years to build a relationship in the first place.
Your audience receiving marketing out of the blue from a company they have never heard of ultimately undoes all the work you have done over the years to build a relationship in the first place. #rebrand #business #marketing
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Launches of any kind, including rebrands, work best when you give your audience as much advance notice of upcoming changes as possible. If you have been dormant on a platform knowing that a rebrand or a change is coming up, this is the time to rectify that. Keep reminding your audience of what you do – your mission and the values behind it. As a major announcement approaches, start teasing it. Let them know that something exciting is ahead. Let them know that the exciting thing doesn’t change your mission or your values. If your mission or values ARE changing, let them know something else important that is staying the same. Maybe the product or service is just as good as it was before. Or the team running the operation is the same.
Launches of any kind, including rebrands, work best when you give your audience as much advance notice of upcoming changes as possible. #rebrand #launch #marketing #business #smallbusiness
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The more teasers you can put out there, the more you will prime your audience to expect the change. Potentially, you will soften the blow of a big reaction. So, when you do finally announce your rebrand, they will be anticipating this news.
With rebrands – in particular with name changes – you may also need a long off-ramp to keep reminding them of what was familiar. You may see “formerly known as ______” for a while with some companies as they work to transfer the social capital they built to the new brand.
When there are changes coming up, that is actually the BEST time to communicate with your audience. Reach out more. Lean in harder. Remind them who you are. In the end, they will be more likely to be with you for the ride.
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