January 2024


Over the course of a company’s lifespan, undertaking a rebrand is considered a natural part of the evolution of a business. After all, the market changes, businesses changes, and the expectations of customers’ brand interactions change. And so, you must change along with that.

Knowing when it is the right time to rebrand can be a difficult decision.

Understanding the reasons behind when and why a rebrand is needed often helps. So, let’s unpack the top 5 reasons why it might be time for a rebrand.

1. Fundamental changes to the business

When a company’s brand is first established, branding research is (hopefully) undertaken to determine the brand strategy. This, in turn, feeds into the direction of the visual and written brand’s tone and aesthetic. Over time, brand research can become outdated or redundant due to fundamental business changes or natural shifts in market trends and expectations.

There are several changes that can occur either to or within a business that determine whether a rebrand is the best course of action. Examples of these are:

• Change to the business model.
• Change to business strategy, vision, or direction.
• Does the brand feel like it stands out for the wrong reasons?
• Mergers, demergers, and acquisitions.

In short, any changes to a business that bring about a change of focus, direction, audience, ownership, or market offering should cause a business to review its brand strategy and direction.

2. Audience alignment

The audience is a pivotal part of any brand. Understanding and aligning with an audience’s needs and brand experience expectations is crucial for trust development and an essential ingredient in a brand’s success.

For us, a brand has four types of audience:

• Potential new customers: Whether engaged through social media posts, blogs, downloadable resources, or online video content, the potential new customers are in the early stages of building trust with a brand. Every touchpoint they see at this early stage forms their beliefs about the company.
• Existing customers: Retaining existing customers should be considered an important resource investment. The acquisition of new customers is far more costly than investing in customer retention and growth. A business’ existing customers have a transactional and emotional connection with a brand, and this needs to be nurtured.
• Recruitment and staff: Jobseekers undertake research on the company they are seeking employment with. Attracting the right people from this audience segment can contribute to a company’s long-term business success. Once hired, this staff group becomes ‘internal stakeholders’ who become the group that, through their everyday work, executes the brand.
• Other stakeholders: Other stakeholders include groups like suppliers and other entities that come in contact with your brand. Internal stakeholders are the brand custodians. This group should be kept engaged with the brand and informed of any brand changes.

A good brand knows who its audience is, what their needs are, and how to solve for their problems. Aligning the brand strategy and brand communications (written or visual) to these factors will foster a connection between the audience and its brand.

3. Differentiation

‍We all want our brands to be different.

But how do you create differentiation from competitors?

By gaining a robust understanding of market trends and the competitor landscape through brand research, the process of differentiation begins.

Brand research is the act of researching who the competitors are, their market share, and how they are approaching the market. Only by undertaking brand research can a company set a course of differentiation.

Differentiation will occur when you’ve created an identity that stands out from competitors and connects with customers’ hearts and minds. This direction must also be aligned with the strategic business needs of the company.

A truly great brand will be an emotive one. One that connects with the audience through exceptional brand experiences (visual, written, interpersonal, experience, etc.) and competence of service (high-quality products or services).

4. Tired, Inconsistent, Dated, Misguided

All too often, a brand can become tired or dated through no fault of its own. Dated branding is one of the more common reasons we see as the catalyst for a rebrand.

By contrast, inconsistent or misguided branding is often the result of neglect or wayward execution.

All of these symptoms can be rectified with either a brand refresh (tidy-up) or a rebrand (complete overhaul).

Regardless of the symptom, it is a natural expectation of a brand’s lifecycle to be refreshed every few years to stay in front of market trends and customer expectations.

Here are some questions to ask yourself about your company’s brand:

• Are you embarrassed by your company’s branding, or do you feel yourself apologising for it?
• Do you feel the brand is sending the wrong message?
• Does the brand feel like it stands out for the wrong reasons?
• Does your brand feel old or dated?

5. Reputational repairs

Stuff happens. Things go pear-shaped. Some of it is avoidable, some we learn from, and some is just bad luck. The fallout from reputational damage can take a long time to repair. And of course, there are different ways to rectify a reputational fallout, regardless of the type of damage sustained.

How can a company recover from reputational damage?

With any reputational repair job, getting to the core of the issue is essential. Senior leaders, marketing, and PR teams should be heavily involved in analysing damage, righting wrongs, and undertaking strategic and tactical solutions that rebuild trust with the audience.

Undertaking a rebrand should not be the first option to repair a damaged brand. Only after other diagnostics and rectifications have taken place should you consider a rebrand.

Undertaken with the right intent, execution, and strategy, a rebrand will set about a new path for the business to follow, leaving behind past reputational issues.



In conclusion, great brand executions will lead to better brand recognition, stronger customer loyalty, and easier staff recruitment and retention. All of this can positively impact a company’s bottom line.

If your business branding is tired, misaligned, or your company is going through fundamental business changes, maybe it’s time for a rebrand.

At BrandOps, we partner with firms to design and implement their new brands, rebrands, or brand refresh requirements. Contact us for an obligation-free discussion. We’d love to hear from you.