Power of Rebranding: Did Musk Have the Right to Ditch the Bird Logo?
The dos and don’ts of rebranding
The Twitter rebrand was less than ideal. There are different opinions on the matter. Of course, there are more negative than positive reviews. But ultimately, only time will tell if the platform can shake off the blue bird and make a name for itself as X.
But this case study brings up an important question—when should a brand take the risk of rebranding?
Some reasons why you might consider a rebrand include:
● Differentiating a brand from a similar competitor
● To attract a brand new audience or engage with a small demographic
● Reflecting a new goal or mission of the company
● Avoiding bad reputation or PR mishaps
● If the company merges with or buys another company
But choosing why to rebrand is only half the battle. How you execute the transition is just as important. Below are four important strategies you need to consider:
1. Rebrand the entire experience
Rebranding is not for the faint-hearted. It’s not just about changing a website’s logo and color scheme. This can include changing logos, email addresses, advertising, packaging, social media handles and entire product lines.
When rebranding, make sure every point of contact with customers drives home your new message. If inconsistent assets or traces of your old brand are still present, it can confuse customers.
Using ‘X’ as an example, many people, including news websites, still use the word ‘Tweet’ and refer to the site as Twitter. Many of the platform’s URLs are still in use
As for the twitter.com domain address, it adds more confusion. This can make it harder for customers to ‘follow you’ through rebranding.
2. Protect your brand from cyber threats
When rebranding your business, you will undoubtedly download and upload many new assets to your various websites, social media and more. You may need to install brand new software on your company’s devices.
While this can be a tall order to manage, it can also open up your cybersecurity risk, as an employee can download malware, compromise your systems, and sabotage your operations.
Antivirus software is an effective way to avoid this risk. The best software should be able to scan files for viruses, remove threats, warn you when visiting malicious websites, and ultimately provide real-time protection throughout the rebranding process.
3. Explain yourself ahead of time
When rebranding, it’s essential to explain why it’s happening and how it might affect your customers. Above all, they’ll want to know what to expect, including any potential new benefits they can look forward to.
Businesses can easily explain the entire process in a variety of ways, including informative videos, ads that roll out before the official rebrand, and social media teasers.
Using these messages to ‘celebrate’ your rebrand and bring new attention to your business can reaffirm your position in your market.
4. Protecting Your Intellectual Property
When rebranding, companies invest heavily in research and will undoubtedly gather a lot of data to help guide the transition. This data may include customer information, sensitive financial information, market research, company secrets, etc.
All of this data can make a company a prime target for cyber attacks, as criminals aim to grab data and hold it for ransom. The nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center tracked more than 2,116 data compromises in the first nine months of 2023, the highest on record. The three most targeted industries include financial services, healthcare and professional services.
When conducting research, collecting and analyzing data, and storing your files, you must take adequate measures to protect against data breaches.
Simple steps you can take to avoid a data breach include:
● Keep only necessary information, don’t hoard extra information.
● Destroy files from devices before disposing of them
● Regularly update software and procedures.
● Restrict access to sensitive files to a select few
● Make regular backups and store them safely.
The threat of a data breach is huge. Not only can this delay your rebranding, it can cause you considerable reputational damage in the eyes of customers and business partners.
Lucas is part of the content writing team at GraphicSprings, bringing his marketing expertise to the fore. With a degree in Marketing, he creates informative articles on social media, branding and logo design.
