How often should I refresh my brand?
Clients often ask me,
“How often should I refresh my brand?”.
Whether overhauling your brand or giving it a tweak, keeping your brand updated is something you should consider doing regularly. It’s important to make sure your brand remains fresh, relevant, and aligned with how you currently want your company to be perceived by customers.
Rebranding is a natural part of a company’s evolution, just as it’s natural for people to change their wardrobe, their look, and their life focus and goals as they mature. At your core, you may still be the same person at 19 as you were at 14, but at 19 you found yourself at a new life stage, in new environments, talking with very different people, and people who matured right along with you.
Now imagine yourself growing mature, working at a good company but still wore your teenage clothes? Would your maturity, skills align with how you are presenting yourself?
There is not a set number of years but there are a few signs that will indicate you need a brand refresh.
1. Your design looks outdated
Does your brand look like it’s from the 90s, the early 2000s, or even 2012? In the past, small businesses could get away with keeping the same look and website for five years or more. Those days are gone. Change is happening more rapidly in the digital world. Just like fashion comes and goes, brand style changes seasonally. Since we’re all spending more time online, we see our favorite brands and websites getting a facelift regularly. If you’re paying attention and your website starts to look outdated, you’ll know it.
2. Your offerings might have expanded or pivoted
Businesses evolve. A few years in, you’re probably offering different products and services than you did in the beginning. When you started, maybe you were the affordable or sensible choice; but now that you’ve got some notches on your belt, your prices are at a premium. Does your brand reflect this change? Would I know you’ve moved up in the world if I landed on your site? Would I know you’ve shifted from bookkeeping to full-service accounting, or that you’ve added home staging to your interior design services?
3. Your audience has changed or you are not attracting the right audience
It’s not uncommon for a business to change its target market or ideal customer. Perhaps you started off thinking your interior design business served residential properties but found yourself attracting retail and commercial spaces. Maybe you set out to work with Millennials but your personality is better suited for Baby Boomers. You thought you’d only be working with women but realized just as many men are hiring you. It might be time to adapt your brand to better connect with your changing audience.
4. Your current brand doesn't align with your vision
If you have brand shame, you’re not alone. Maybe you didn’t know what you were doing or what you wanted, or maybe you worked with someone who didn’t nail it for you. And the longer you’ve been living with the brand, the more uncomfortable it feels, like an ill-fitting suit. If you look at your brand, and you feel like it simply doesn’t represent your style, personality, or vision, it’s time to let it go and get a revamp.
5. Your online and offline branding isn't cohesive
If your current brand is inconsistent, incoherent, and you didn’t put a whole lot of thought or effort into it, that’s okay. It’s normal. It just means you were too busy getting off the ground and serving your customers to build a proper brand. Now that you’re ready to take your business to the next level, you’ll need to get clear on your brand and work to establish a strong one. So, yes, your mess of a brand definitely needs a major refresh.
The bottom line is, you don’t want to change your brand just for the sake of changing your brand. You want to refresh your brand every so often to benefit your business. Get super clear on how you want to show up in the world and what you want your brand to stand for. Then ensure that our brand reflects that vision. Once you have a solid core brand established, don’t just toss it aside; build upon it, create brand equity and do what it takes to remain recognizable and relevant. If it’s time for an overhaul, invest in creating a brand that will serve you in the long term.