How to Smash Your Competition by Rebranding Your Business

Most people, when they start a small business, know little about branding. As a result, they fail to develop impressive brands. Though they may be successful, businesses with weak branding are always at a risk.

A worthy competitor can ruin their hard work just by creating a better brand, given that both the products are at par. So, what is a brand anyway

Your brand is the personality of your business. Chipotle comes through as a GMO blaster. Nike encourages you to “Just do it!” McDonald’s makes you think “Mmmmm…!”

These are perceptions that marketers have created through branding because unlike real people, businesses do not develop their personalities by themselves. But when they do, they develop into poor brands—brands that can be beaten by competitors and ditched by customers.

Signs Your Branding Is Weak

• You don’t have a company mission or vision statement
• The content on your website is 10 years old
• You have a boring logo that you haven’t changed since ever
• You don’t have values to live by and promote
• Your marketing communication is all about your product and not about your customer
• Your website, outlet and social media look like they belong to different companies

Why Your Business Needs Rebranding?

In today’s world, sensational branding can make businesses hit stardom overnight.

Better branding brings more customers and revenues. Rebranding means that you define and promote the benefits and character of your brand instead of promoting your product.

Here are a few reasons for rebranding:

• Your followers can spread the word about your brand on social media. It’s free publicity. Without a brand, you don’t have any followers and your customers have nothing to promote.
• Clear and focused branding gets you the customers who believe in your vision and brand. They know what to expect from your product. If you give them a good experience, they’ll become your loyal brand ambassadors. Poor branding will lead to confusion, misunderstanding and disappointment for your customers and you.
• Great branding also makes your business easy to recognize and remember. It increases the ROI of your marketing campaigns.

So if you see your competitor’s branding and think “I wish my branding were as good!” you’ve work to do.

Rebrand Your Business In 10 Steps

Consistency is the key to effective branding. Your brand should offer the customers a consistent experience. Your product, voice and visual presence should reinforce your brand by being consistent from time to time and place to place.

#1. KNOW YOUR TARGET MARKET

You can’t possibly build a strong brand until you know your target customers. What are their needs? How does your brand solve their problem? What benefits do your customers seek from your business? You’ll need to do some research using questionnaires or interviews as tools.

#2. RESEARCH YOUR COMPETITION

Are there any other noticeable brands targeting the same audience with the same benefits as your brand? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How can you stand out from them? Do not copy their branding but learn from them.

#3. DEFINE YOUR MISSION AND VISION

What is the sole reason why your business exists (other than to earn profits)? Are you helping the environment? Are you an authentic Australian company? Is everything you sell natural? Do you donate to a certain social cause? You don’t always have to promote your mission and vision, but they will help you put things into perspective when you’re rebranding.

#4. POSITION YOUR BRAND

Positioning is the perception your customer has of your brand. Are you innovative or traditional, rebellious or conformist, candid or formal, up-market or frugal? How is your brand different from competitors? You may need to prepare and test several positioning statements before you know which one resonates the most with your customers.

#5. DEFINE YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION

You need to think of your product in terms of the value it offers to the users. McDonald’s satisfies hunger. That’s the core value. It does so while offering quality, service and convenience. That’s the actual value. They also deliver at home. That’s the augmented value. You should define the three levels of value that your product offers. This will help you build a robust brand and an effective communication strategy.

#6. CREATE YOUR BRAND IDENTITY

Your logo, colour scheme, fonts, slogan, layout, and voice should be consistent across your website, social media, retail outlet, packaging, and all other places where your brand comes in contact with your customers. The colours, fonts, design and voice of your brand will again depend on your target market. You can’t hope to successfully target Millennial with a retro-style logo and fonts.

#7. DECIDE YOUR PRICING STRATEGY

Pricing strategy is a part of your overall marketing strategy. Are you going to adopt a loss leader strategy or offer a premium product at a premium price? Groupon exists for offering discounts and low pricing to customers, whereas Gevalia coffee is a super-premium direct-to-consumer coffee brand with the heritage slogan ‘coffee for kings’.

#8. WRITE YOUR BRAND STORY

No one likes advertising. Everyone likes stories. How did your business start? What were the challenges? How did you overcome them? What kept you going? KFC had Col Sanders. Nando’s had Fernando Duarte. A compelling story makes customers relate to your brand, remember your brand, and mention it on their social networks.

#9. FIND YOUR BRAND’S VOICE

Real people have the same voice and tone that remains consistent. Your brand’s voice will depend on your positioning. One of the ways to find your voice is to choose three words that express the personality of your brand. Then, limit those words with three more words, for instance:

• Quirky, but not Weird
• Bold, but not Arrogant
• Humorous, but not Obscene

#10. BUILD THE RIGHT COMPANY CULTURE

Your brand should reflect in the way your employees interact with your customers and each other. Your people should know and uphold the brand’s values and attributes. Customers should have the same feeling when they’re looking at your website or call your office.