The basic elements of initial branding usually have to involve bringing elements of assimilation so your prospective customers can recognize your company logo and business methods in an instant. What happens, though, when you want to rebrand all of that after using the same brand for decades? We’re already starting to see major companies make similar changes and face uphill challenges due to the extreme familiarity of their brands. McDonald’s, for instance, has made major changes to their characters and overall look that hasn’t been appealing to all.
Sometimes these rebranding measures involve changing a logo that the public has burned into their brains. Because logos are one of the most familiar elements of a business bringing the essence of everything you are, it’s going to be a major risk if you change it. But it may be necessary in your case if you’re merging with another business, or if you think the imagery is outdated.
How do you balance all of this so you can keep your logo updated without cutting too deep into customer familiarity? In some cases, and based on some recent national examples, you might want to go back to the original logo if the reaction is negative.
Changing Your Logo Only Slightly
Mergers can frequently mean creating an all-new logo, or at least an upgrade with part of a new name attached. Many national companies have done this to good effect while still maintaining the basic structure of the original logo. Overall, slight changes are going to be better, especially when adding something new. Keeping the basic essence (including colours and design) can help people still recognize it out of the corner of their eye, despite a few modern upgrades to stay current.
Overhauling Your Logo
It’s a possibility that your logo uses imagery that’s considered politically incorrect and it needs to be changed to avoid angering new customers. These kind of dilemmas can prove difficult and means having to essentially rebrand from scratch. If it’s to remove something offensive, though, it may do you a huge favour with the public who will accept anything other than what you’re using.
This isn’t to say you shouldn’t keep your same branding colours since colour is going to play a huge part in the familiarity of your brand.
If you go by a few recent national logo changes, though, some companies want to overhaul them for no particular reason. Airbnb recently revamped their logo into something 100% different. Subsequently, they received a lot of criticism for doing so, yet it hasn’t persuaded them to go back to their old logo yet. Some companies have, however, after trying new logos that didn’t gel with the public. Names like Tropicana, Gap, and JC Penney all went back to their original logos after trying new ones that received public backlashes.
It’s one reason why you should keep your old logo on file in case your own logo revamp doesn’t receive the response you hoped it would. Your important move is to test the logo with your most loyal customers first before you make it public. Don’t go and change things without consulting your customers first or you’ll give the impression you’re arrogant and know more than the customer does.
Let us help you make the appropriate rebranding changes for you here at McAllister Marketing. We approach our marketing process from the customer perspective so you’ll know how to approach things appropriately in how the customer perceives it.
Contact us and we’ll work closely with you to help make the smartest moves in rebranding when it becomes necessary. We’ll also help you analyze when it’s truly necessary rather than making changes without any thought put forward first.