By Jesse Swash, Co-Founder.

Surely a business owner is so close to their brand, they will instinctively know when to rebrand, won't they? But this isn't the case. Some businesses let an outdated brand limp on and then wonder why they are losing customers, engagement and ultimately money. So, how do you know when it's time to rebrand?

The brand lifecycle covers introduction to market, growth and maturity. The product lifecycle includes two additional stages, 'development' at the start and 'decline' at the end. While there is a distinction the terms are often used interchangeably.

In truth, it's not as linear as this, the best and most successful brands are continually refining, nurturing, and campaigning their brands to keep them fresh and top of mind. Here are some signposts that it may be time to rebrand.

Consider the three ‘Ps’ – Push, Pull and Positioning – are you clear about where you are in your brand activity?

The moment you feel your business has grown, your brand needs to:

• reflect that your business model has changed and your brand needs to catch up.
• acknowledge that your audience engagement may have changed.
  – therefore, who you were selling to, may no longer be who you are selling to.

Push and pull considerations
Push factors are the negative factors influencing your market, and subsequently your business, and pull factors are considered the positive or opportunistic drivers for your business.

Push includes things such as when someone new comes into your space and your brand looks dated, or a competitor has innovated, and you look a step behind, or when the market has changed, and you look like you haven’t.

Now look at your pull strategy, is it doing enough and still reaching (pulling) the right audience/customers to your product/service?

When it comes to positioning, do you occupy a distinctive place in the mind of your target market (audience), how are you different and how do you set yourself apart from your competitors?

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, there are other considerations for a rebrand such as a merger and acquisition or preparing for sale, but starting with the above points will require a brand review and may lead you to a rebrand to get you market-ready. Like Bezos said, ‘Brand is what people say about you when you are not there’.

...You always need to be aware of what they are saying.

To discuss the above-mentioned points in-depth drop us a line.