We live in a highly visual world where what people see creates an instant opinion. I like that dress, I think those shoes are hideous, that car looks expensive, that wine looks cheap and so on. The visual may not always tell the truth but when you’re looking to sell you product or service for top dollar, you’d better be sure it looks the part because I can promise you that it will 100% affect your sales.
We like to say at the studio that a consistent trait of successful business owners is to assess their brand image yearly to make sure they’re hitting the mark. This exercise is a brand refresh and it’s a tactical maneuver that plays an important role in marketing. Now, the brand refresh is not a rebrand, that’s a much larger project which I’ll talk more about in another post. It’s simply looking at your goals then assessing your messaging, the look/feel of your marketing pieces and refreshing them to better convert. Simple!
There are many reasons why you would want to do a brand refresh however we’re going to dial in to our top 5 in this post.
- Your look and feel is outdated or not appealing to your target audienceIf you’ve worn holes in your go-to shoes wouldn’t it feel amazing to have a new pair that made your feet feel great and give you confidence as you walk down the street? Would it not also be great if everybody noticed those new shoes and that sparked up new conversations? Humans are attracted to things that look a certain way and while antique may be good for some things it is often a detriment to your brand identity. Design trends constantly change and it’s important to evolve to stay relevant and show your people that you’re innovating, not staying in the past. A refreshed logo, colours and fonts may just be the missing piece that’s preventing the right people from choosing you.
- Your messaging isn’t clearThis is an important one and is equally as important as your design. Attractive graphics will only get you so far, clarity is paramount to ensuring people get what you’re offering. It doesn’t matter if your products and services have remained the same or change a few times a year, ensuring the communication about them is landing in the present is key. Take teenagers for example. If you sell a product for teens you certainly would not market it in 2022 the same way you did in the 1980’s. Tastes have changes and certainly media has too. Clearly communicating your product or service to your target audience ensures you will hit the mark.
- You want to reach a new demographic with your product or serviceWhen you’ve been successful in one demographic but see that you now need to move into another, the same approach may not properly land. Researching your new audience and learning what appeals to them will certainly impact the way you refresh. If the new demographic loves modern, clean visuals and messaging but the old was more conservative and corporate your brand refresh will be all about modernizing and simplifying.
- Your growth has stalledThis is quite common when you see your sector become saturated or when you’ve been in the game for a while but failed to keep up with the times. Many businesses will hit a plateau with their revenue and growth despite being well run and producing superior quality or services. Refreshing your brand image and messaging not only shakes up your position in the market but also infuses new energy into teams which naturally leads to new sales.
- Your products or services have grown or changedThere is nothing worse that visiting a website thinking they offer X only to find out they actually stopped doing it months ago. Similarly, when you hear about a great new thing but can’t find any info online it leaves a sense of frustration and aggravation for wasted time looking. As you add, remove or change your line up you need to look at how to share the information so it’s not only accessible but also crystal clear. As a business evolves so do its products and services and it is paramount to make sure they land with your target audience. These may be mini-refreshes throughout the year versus a larger brand refresh.
To sum it up, your yearly brand refresh is sometimes just a few tweaks, and other times it’s a bigger task. The important thing to remember is to take the time to add this into your business practice each year to ensure you’re always in touch with how you’re connecting with consumers. The world is fast paced, your business is always evolving and the image and message that you’re presenting directly impacts your revenue. Enjoy the process and the energy that comes from refreshing your brand, it’s always exciting and it can make all the difference in world!