When to Rebrand a Professional Services Firm
If you’re an owner or marketing leader at a professional services firm, you’ve probably asked (or been asked) the classic question: when is the right time to rebrand?
Rebranding is the process of changing a business’ identity. The different degrees to which that change happens can vary from business to business, and situation to situation. Sometimes companies just need a brand refresh—modifications and slight evolutions—while other situations call for a complete brand overhaul.
Typically, the rebranding process will review the business’ current visual identity (logos, colors, typefaces), its language (value proposition, reasons to believe, values, tagline), and its marketing and sales materials (website, sales presentations, social media, advertisements) and reimagine them to be more relevant to the target audience.
And the decision to rebrand will often have a major impact on a company’s growth trajectory: a refreshed brand image can help in charging premium prices, adapting to new markets and better reflecting the personality and professionalism of the company.
Rebranding is a realignment of a business and business strategy to be more meaningful and appealing to customers.
The right time to rebrand a business is situational, and can be different for everyone.
When to rebrand: Professional services firms and change
The most common reason B2B and professional services firms decide to rebrand is change—the company is at some sort of inflection point. Here are the most common situations our clients are in when they come to us:
Change in sales
Sales performance is stagnant or on the decline, and new opportunities aren’t presenting themselves like they used to. Altering brand positioning can help address this by changing brand perception and strategy to reach new audiences.
Change in leadership
New leadership, usually within the marketing function of a business, will often trigger a rebrand. The new perspective calls for a new brand strategy to guide the visual identity and messaging, with the intent of improving brand perception—and ultimately, sales. Companies also rebrand to counteract or move away from negative associations, such as a negative reputation or image.
Change in competition
When new players enter an established market and start to gain traction, established businesses will often feel compelled to update the brand to match the energy and excitement of the new competitor. A strong brand gives the company the necessary tools to compete with these new players, ensuring the business can maintain its competitive advantage and adapt to market changes.
Change in products or services
When a business makes substantial changes to an existing service line, or wants to introduce a new product offering into the market, it’s often cause for refreshing the brand. Introducing a new product or service often requires a new brand identity to effectively position it in the market and differentiate it from competitors.
Change in ownership
A merger or acquisition is a common reason for rebranding. Beyond just aligning the visuals and language of the brand, a comprehensive rebranding strategy ensures all aspects are considered. Effort also goes into reaffirming internal culture and maintaining the confidence of existing clients.
See our professional services rebranding projects
Change in style
When the current branding is showing its age, or is clearly an outdated brand compared to competitors in the market, that’s a clear sign it’s time to refresh the brand. Successful brands evolve and adapt to maintain success, ensuring they stand out and continuously engage with their audience.
Change in alignment
When leadership, marketing and sales teams are misaligned and disagree on how the business should be presented both visually and in language, it’s usually a good time to rebrand, and get everyone on board with the evolved direction.
Change in target audience
As companies evolve their strategy, services and business model, they’ll often decide to target a new audience. This often requires a brand refresh to ensure the company will appeal to the new or broader target audience.
Brand identity and business strategy
Most businesses that consider rebranding are experiencing a combination of the symptoms above.
Rebranding is often a reflection of a business that’s decided to move into growth mode. It can be be triggered by both economic and emotional factors.
But leadership teams often fail to understand how impactful their brand identity can be on their overall business.
Rebranding can be transformative. When done correctly, the investment in rebranding returns in the form of new clients, more business from existing customers, improved sales performance and the firm being more appealing to new talent.
There may be no scientific trigger for a rebrand, but I want to leave you with advice from famed motivational speaker Tony Robbins.
“The decision to grow is the decision to change.”
The right time for rebranding is when your firm wants to grow, and is willing to change to achieve that objective.
Our work has guided some of the most successful professional firms in the country to shape their brands for growth. If you’re considering rebranding and need an experienced partner, let’s talk.
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