The Art of Rebranding on a Budget
By Alan Ferguson
After some time doing business, many companies find that it's necessary to shift the way the public perceives their brand. Businesses accomplish this through rebranding, where they change their image through intense marketing and operational changes.
Dominos pizza chain is one company that undertook a massive rebranding campaign in the mid-2000s, when they acknowledged that their pizza was terrible and promised their customers better. Millennials remember it. Our pizza parties changed forever! Dominos spent millions of dollars to do that, though, and if you're a small business owner, you don't have access to that kind of money. But rebranding can be accomplished on any budget; here's how.
Identify What You Need to Change
Rebranding shouldn't involve changing your mission, your vision, or why you're in the business to begin with. Those core ideals should stay consistent, but instead, what you should be looking to change is how the public perceives you living up to those tenets. In order to stay on a budget, however, you need to pinpoint what exactly it is you need to change. Maybe your business has developed a less-than-stellar reputation for customer service, or your product has become associated with a customer base that keeps your target market away.
Whatever it is you're trying to change, focusing in on those and not going too broad with your rebranding plan is key to staying within budget. You should also spend a good amount of time planning your rebranding strategy, and seeking expert's help if you need it. While it may cost a good amount up front, an expert might help you avoid problems and pitfalls that will end up costing more money in the long run.
Don't Automatically Change Everything
You might not need to change every single facet of your business in order to successfully rebrand it. A simple logo shift might be all you need to change (and if you're looking for a way to do that for free, check out LogoCreator, which has a wide variety of different templates for businesses in almost any industry). What needs to be clear is your marketing on what exactly you're changing; your customers need to know what it is you're tackling to make the company better. You may not have to have massive shifts in strategy or business operations; it could be as simple as one or two slight changes and then a consistent message on how those changes create more value for customers.
Take Advantage of Free Resources
You don't need to pay for things you can get for free instead, especially when you're on a tight budget for rebranding your company. There are so many free resources on the web that can help you with graphic design, email marketing, and social media management. Your rebranding effort isn't going to be completely free, but you can and should use free resources whenever possible.
For instance, if you need help creating and editing images and visual content for your marketing, check out a free site like GIMP, which is filled with powerful tools that are like the kind you'd find in much more expensive alternatives. If you want to start sending out newsletters to your email subscriber list and need help managing that huge task, use an automated email service like MailChimp. That's only a couple of the huge number of free resources available on the web, so check them out today and find something that fits your needs.
Rebranding Doesn't Have to Break the Bank
If you're an entrepreneur or small business, you likely don't have a huge budget to rebrand your company. If you follow these tips, though, you can cut the bill significantly and do what you're setting out to accomplish. Changing the public's perception of your company isn't easy, but it is possible.
Meet the Writer
Alan Ferguson has a background in fine arts, graphic design and agency experience. In recent days he started taking on the world of freelance writing as well. It gives him a great outlet to share his knowledge through informative articles. He’s also really into martial arts, travel and surfing.
