It’s tempting to jump right into a rebrand. The process represents an elating new era, and it’s invigorating to review creative concepts, taglines, and color schemes. But to maximize the launch of a successful new rebrand, you first need to pump the brakes — enter the rebranding committee checklist.
Structure plays a critical role in ensuring your rebranding project stays on track and achieves maximum impact. While there’s no doubt the creative process is important, a thoughtful, methodical process shapes the creative concepts. In other words, the more work you do upfront will garner greater success down the road.
Here is a checklist of essentials every rebranding committee needs to achieve:
Identify the team
Firstly, establish a communications committee to work with the branding agency. This team should consist of individuals who can champion the work and provide diverse positive perspectives from different functional areas of the business.
Set clear expectations
After identifying the team, each stakeholder on the committee should consider the time they’ll need to dedicate to this project. The success of the project depends on committee members’ meaningful contributions, insights, and enthusiasm for the long-term success of the brand.
Identify a branding agency
The branding committee should collectively agree on a third-party expert that will bring objectivity, best practices, creativity, and analytical expertise to the process.
Set a clear scope of work for the collective group
Include the goals and the specific challenges of the business that the rebrand should address because these goals will serve as constant points of reference during the project. Work with the branding agency to set clearly defined milestones and checkpoints to keep project momentum.
Trust the research
Don’t rely on personal opinions about crucial points like the brand’s market position and value proposition. Research informs your organization’s unique positioning and lends insights into your messaging point of view and perspective. During the fact-finding process, engage staff and solicit opinions outside of your organization — most importantly, the customers you serve.
Create a plan to launch the new brand internally
The internal launch is ALWAYS FIRST. Your employees are your most important brand ambassadors.
Create a plan to launch the new brand externally
Maximize impact by choosing a date to switch branding to your external audience, and make an external announcement simultaneously on all channels. Begin exclusively using the new brand immediately at the time of the announcement.
Continue measuring for success
Lastly, follow through on how the reality of the brand launch aligns with the goals the committee strived to achieve with the new brand and messaging. Have realistic expectations for both the short term and long-term commitment to the brand’s success. What are you doing to ensure employees embody the brand in their day-to-day operations? Think of creative ways to keep the momentum going through employee contests or recognitions and make the brand part of the daily vernacular when making decisions in meetings. For example, branding should include more than just marketing. When making operational or purchasing decisions, the decision-makers should consider which option best supports the brand promise.
Ready to assemble your branding committee and create a structured approach to a rebrand? The branding experts at id8 are here to help. We can share best practices garnered through hundreds of successful rebrand projects. Contact us today!
