One of the toughest things a new business owner faces is developing the brand for his/her company. Much like naming a child, once its on the birth certificate (or tax certificate as the case may be) it’s done. Keeping in that vein, let’s think about your brand like it’s “your baby”.
Your brand needs to stand the test of time. Branding your business after a passing fad is a recipe for regret, much like naming your child after someone with fleeting celebrity. Imagine going through life named “Spuds” because your parents thought the Budweiser commercials in the 80’s were cool.
Once you land, stay there. If you called your daughter by a different name every few months you’d be looking at some serious therapy bills. But I’ve known business owners who change their name every six months. One of my networking groups had a member known for this. It happened so often that it because an inside joke: “So who’s Robert this week?” (Not his real name, by the way.) Nobody ever focused on what his business offered because his fly-by-night brands kept speaking louder than anything else about him. You shouldn’t rebrand just because you’re tired of your current brand or because a handful of friends/family are critical of the brand you’ve recreated. You and those closest to you see your brand more than anyone else. You get tired of it long before anyone else even remembers it.
Get ready for a nickname. Sometimes we go to a nickname because it’s easier or faster than the full name. Richard becomes Rick, Robert becomes Bob, etc. Sometimes we use a nickname to avoid confusion. I once worked someplace with four different guys named John. They became John, Johnny, J, and Jack. We hit both of these reasons with CMC. It wasn’t long before Clear Message Communications became quite a mouthful for folks to say repeatedly. People who knew us quickly adapted to calling us CMC. We also hit an unexpected wall of being compared to a popular media company. I can’t count the number of times I smiled through gritted teach I’d was introduced as Gerry with Clear Channel.
So with all this talk of consistency – why should you rebrand?
The first reason to rebrand is the most unwelcomed – lawyers. As a start-up you should have done your due diligence before you opened your doors. You should have checked to be sure your business name wasn’t taken & you weren’t copying anyone else’s brand. However, there’s always a chance you missed something. If you did you could get a letter saying “cease and desist”. Some companies have entire teams of experts who do nothing but seek out those who come close to infringing on their brand. It doesn’t matter if it was accidental or intentional- you either stop or they could end up owning your livelihood. Check out http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm for a quick overview on trademark law. (In the interest of keeping appeasing any of your legal types out there – I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor do I ever wish to be a lawyer or someone who offers legal advice. I just thought this was interesting reading so please don’t sue me.)
Rebranding with an acquisition. A more welcome reason for rebranding is expanding your business with an acquisition. A fairly recent example of this is Sprint. A few years ago Sprint purchased Nextel. Sprint didn’t want to alienate the existing Nextel customers, but they needed to keep asserting the Sprint brand. The result was a brand similar in appearance to the traditional Sprint logo, but with the icon noticeably changed from red to yellow – the signature color for Nextel
Rebranding for growth and clarity. This is one of the main reasons CMC is now Ignite It Group. While consistency is key, you don’t want to look like you’re selling buggy whips in Detroit. No matter how much research you do, we live in the real world not on the theoretical textbook planet. All the preparation in the world can’t match the experience of running your business. CMC has maintained the same brand for over five years. The experience we’ve gained has given us insight we didn’t have when we started. Our rebranding is to reinforce our core strengths, our new direction, our growth, and the power we’re infusing into our client’s businesses. If also helps us eliminate the previously mentioned confusion with Clear Channel.
Summing it all up. Developing your brand is one of the most important aspects of developing your business. It’s part of the foundation for your marketing, and without marketing you don’t have a business (just a very expensive hobby). While you don’t want to hop frivolously from identity to identity, sometimes changing your brand can be a good thing. It can mean you’re growing in new and unexpected ways. It can open new doors by conveying a more contemporary message and can serve as a springboard, taking your business to new and exciting heights.
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