Branding is a tricky thing. A consideration for some businesses comes when they need to redesign their website. The choice is if the company should change their logo and rebrand their business for the redesign. It’s an importance decision and one that takes careful consideration. Here are a few thoughts to consider before making your decision.
The Re-Branding Question
A site redesign is exciting for a business. Most have experimented with a first design. Their current site was probably their first introduction to the Web. Now, years since the original launch, much has changed. A website has much more to offer visitors while also offering the business owner a chance to make the site a little more usable and visually appealing. The question most business owners have that aligns with a redesign is the question of a full re-branding effort. Since things are changing anyway it seems to make sense to re-brand the entire business at the same time.
A Fresh Start (Customer Frustrations)
A redesign and a re-branding effort signifies change at an organization. The website updates the online presence of your site. A new logo and new branding material signifies a larger change. For a business that is changing its focus, a full re-branding effort might make sense. This has been done in the past by even well established companies. Change is inevitable in business. You could be offering a different service or product five years from now. Your logo or even your business name might not make sense with your new offerings. This point would be a good time to make a re-branding change. As the business owner, you need to go where the demand is in the market. If this requires change then you need to make a change. With any change, though, comes resistance from the existing customer base.
For some reason, people do not like change. With a new website, your existing customers will likely be a little angry at first because they’ll have to re-learn your site until they become comfortable. Eventually the site might work better for them, but in the short-term they will feel frustrated. With a re-branding effort including a logo change, your current customers will be confused. They will have to re-associate with the new brand. The old brand will be gone and so will all or most of the good will, respect, and other intangible things that make a brand important. It’s risky to change your brand. You basically start over. You might succeed in making the change smooth for existing customers. You might be able to save most of your brand recognition and respect, but some things will be loss.
The question is to determine the trade-off. If your business is changing and the loss of any past branding efforts are worth losing then a re-branding effort makes sense. As you work to redesign your site or even to design your site for the first time, consider re-branding. It’s good to think about where your company is as it moves forward. If the purpose of your brand is changing then it might make sense to update your brand’s logo and other brand recognition items. There may be some resistence, but ultimately change can be good. Just because you are having a new site created doesn’t mean you need to update or change your brand and logo. Make the decision only if your business is changing.
