Despite your company’s success in establishing an attractive, easily recognizable identity, it’s still essential to ensure that your brand continues to remain relevant within its current market. Continue reading and we’ll tell you exactly what a brand refresh is and answer the question, “Why refresh your brand?”
What is a Brand Refresh?
Simply put, a brand refresh is the renewal of your business’s messaging and visual identity in order to retain freshness and reflect the growth and evolution of your company and customers.
A business’s brand is responsible for ensuring that its products and services are identifiable and easily differentiated from other businesses. Branding is a combination of factors like logo design, social impact, and social media presence.
The process of a brand refresh involves adjusting your branding strategy to spruce up your most visible marketing efforts, such as logo design, color palette, and slogans, without completely deviating from the original look and feel.
When is the Time for a Brand Refresh?
On average, a business should opt for a brand refresh every 7-10 years, to keep up with the times. These changes can be minor or major depending on the current brand image, position within the industry, and business goals.
Why Refresh Your Brand?
Industry standards are constantly evolving and your business needs to keep up. Branding and design trends are factors that can quickly grow outdated. If your company fails to adjust, this can negatively impact your business by undermining customer loyalty and market credibility. People expect businesses to “get with the times”, so a refresh is important in maintaining the image your company needs to continue to succeed.
A brand update can also garner customer loyalty by making customers feel like your company accurately reflects them and their interests. A brand that customers can relate to creates a stronger bond between a business and its patrons. This not only helps retain existing customers, but it helps to attract new ones, ultimately benefiting the company financially.
5 Reasons to Refresh Your Brand
The purpose of refreshing your brand becomes clear once you consider the benefits and rewards you stand to gain. A brand refresh, when done well, can do wonders for your business, maintain brand equity, and appeal to the right marketing segments.
Here are a few reasons why you should refresh your brand.
You’re Outdated
Your logo and visual identity may be starting to look old-school. Changing times mean changing tastes and visual elements that reflect this will only propel a business forward. In 2016, Instagram updated their logo from a vintage camera to a bright, minimalist icon that still stands out. Their brand refresh also covered its secondary mobile apps, for a more cohesive look, as well as a sleeker, black-and-white UI. This modernized Instagram’s look, unified its services, and made stories a focal feature.
You’ve Changed
It’s important to evaluate whether your brand messaging continues to accurately reflect your identity. If your business has evolved, so should your brand strategy. Dunkin’ Donuts debuted a refreshed logo that retained the same color palette and simplified their name to “Dunkin’,” which is how their customers have referred to them for years. With this refresh, they maintained their brand equity, built on their bond with their customers, and reflected their expanded menu, which now includes more than just donuts and coffee.
Your Customers Have Changed
Shifts in the market can create an ever-changing customer base. A refresh can help you maintain relevance to your target audience. Twitter recently launched a brand refresh with the goal of reinforcing its standing as a real-time source for news and world events. Although it is now primarily used by its audience as a social media platform, they wanted to emphasize their original purpose and brand message.
You’re Inconsistent
Inconsistencies with your brand look and feel and your messaging can be confusing to customers. Maybe your online and offline branding don’t align or you’ve had multiple logo changes in the past. Whatever the reason, a brand refresh could help ground your brand and focus it to most accurately reflect your identity. Starbucks has gone through a number of refreshes over the years. Minimal changes to their logo have ensured they keep up to date with current design trends, while maintaining their brand equity. Their most recent refresh involved the removal of their name from the logo and they’ve successfully cultivated a strong brand identity that continues to evolve with the company.
You’re Growing
Growth in a business is a good indicator of success. If your business sees change due to new products or services, a brand refresh is a good way to reflect this growth. With an increasingly competitive market for top talent, it is important to cultivate a credible brand image to attract prospective employees as your business continues to grow.
Refresh Your Brand with Versa Creative
If the brand refresh process sounds like something you might need a little (or a lot) of help with, reaching out to a team of professionals to guide you through the process may be ideal.
At Versa Creative, we’ve built a team of strategic thinkers, creative masterminds, and technical experts to help you execute your brand refresh with purpose. Whether you’re looking to bring your graphic design efforts into the 21st century or gearing up for a top-to-bottom overhaul of your brand, our branding experts are here to help.
