Launching your new brand is the final key step in the rebranding process. In this post, we’ll walk you through the steps of launching a rebrand. This guide is meant to set you up for success so that your rebrand is something your customers celebrate. Let’s get started.
Launching your new brand is the final key step in the rebranding process. In this post, we’ll walk you through the steps of launching a rebrand. This guide is meant to set you up for success so that your rebrand is something your customers celebrate. Let’s get started.
This is your opportunity to tell your customers and others who you are and what you’re about. Tell them why you are rebranding. Be explicit about what’s changing and what isn’t. Show them the visuals of what is new and let them know what they can expect. Own your story and tell it.
It’s also a great time to pull back the curtain and show a little behind-the-scenes action that will help people connect to your business.
Before anything new goes out the door, it’s important to train your employees on the rebrand.
Review the rebrand with them. Talk to them about the brand’s values, how they apply to them and how to communicate them in everything they do.
This is also a great opportunity to answer any questions they may have: Why the rebrand? What’s different? Fielding these questions from your own employees is a great chance to see what type of questions you can expect from customers. It gives you practice answering them.
Remember, every customer touchpoint is a new opportunity to solidify your value, from the moment customers are greeted at the door to the posts they see on social media long after they’ve left. Preparing your employees to be good brand ambassadors will make the transition smooth and empower your entire team to be brand champions. Your customers will feel this energy from the employees, and it will make it easier for them to support the changes too.
After bringing your team up to speed and before announcing the changes publicly, consider other groups that should be brought into the loop. If you are a non-profit, these may be your largest donors and most dedicated volunteers. If you are a restaurant, these may be regular customers. Sharing the rebrand with them before announcing it publicly can help them understand and embrace the changes.
Be ready to start talking about the rebrand about a month before you launch.
Some things you can do:
• Count down to an unveiling of the new brand elements. The unveiling is the day that you switch over all assets. Before the big reveal, offer teases and glimpses of the new brand elements in your marketing and social media efforts.
• Give a “sneak peek” of a hot-off-the-presses new packaging or other branded deliverables like a logo update via social media.
• Show side-by-side images that compare the old brand to the new one. In doing this, you can visually show people the connection, if there is one, to the old identity. Be sure to explain it to them too, so they can see the thought process behind the change.
Don’t be afraid to share the “why” behind the change.
Your most loyal fans have a real emotional connection to your existing brand. At first, some may be skeptical, even a bit angry that you’re changing things.
Be ready to answer questions like: “Are there new owners?” “Why the change? I liked the old look!”
Questions like this are common and do not indicate a wrong choice. Change is often uncomfortable for people.
• Be ready with answers to questions you think they’ll ask. All employees should be prepared to answer these questions as well.
• Prepare your audience and biggest fans for the change. Help them to feel like they’re a part of it and build excitement. Tease until the date of the launch when everything switches over to the new brand, then don’t look back – make sure all imagery and elements match the new brand moving forward.
• Social media is a great place to tease this but also consider other opportunities to give your customers a sneak peek through other branded materials.
Have a launch party and invite people to celebrate. Create a custom hashtag and encourage them to use it when you launch. This helps spread the word and makes your biggest fans feel invested and like they are part of the change.
Once everything is ready, staff has been trained and you’ve laid out a game plan, it’s time to launch. Everything should launch at once. It should be a smooth transition.
Make a list of all the branded materials that will need to be updated as part of the rebrand:
• On-site
• Social media
• At off-site events
• Merchandise
• Advertising and marketing materials
• Website
• Educate staff. Start your brand launch internally by introducing them to the rebrand and educating them so they can be good brand ambassadors.
• Inform your most engaged audiences first to help maintain loyalty and alleviate confusion.
• Boost your social media presence. Follow people in your “community” – businesses and non-profits you identify with, community organizations, other businesses and other profiles that align with your brand. Beef up your following before the launch.
• Literally “boost” your presence with paid social media ads to promote the new brand. This will allow you to target who is seeing your posts and get your content in front of more people who you want to see it.
• Build anticipation. Through teases and sneak peeks, prepare your audience that a big change is coming and get them excited for it.
• Find fun ways to engage your community and promote your new brand. Host a launch party. Celebrate the new brand in a way that is unique to you. Consider helping bring your brand to life through activities, food and other ways that your customers can interact with based on your brand values.
• Roll out your new brand piece-by-piece. For example, don’t add your new logo to your social media profile picture then continue to post images that include your old branding.
• Create more questions than answers. Without properly introducing your brand, it will leave people wondering what has changed. Don’t create confusion. You should own the messaging, not react to it. People will tell your story with or without your direction.
• Ignore customers’ questions about the changes. There will be questions. Be ready for them and be prepared to answer them.
• Forget social media. Monitor social media closely so you can respond quickly and control the conversation. Train staff to be brand ambassadors so they can quickly and accurately address the changes when people ask in person. Unanswered questions lead to assumptions, rumors and the spread of misinformation.
A lot of work goes into a rebrand. At the end of the process, you should want to celebrate it and loop in your most loyal supporters. If you do it right, they will be excited to celebrate the rebrand too.
Like our work, the Hardy Brands team is an embodiment of the perfect balance of strategy and creative. We’ve cultivated a team of certified brand specialists and strategists, designers, copywriters and marketing professionals who are ferocious about helping you succeed. We’re a Montana marketing agency that will constantly strive to improve your business.
As a branding, marketing and design agency, we partner with all types of businesses, from restaurants and breweries to building and real estate professionals, nonprofits to accountants and many others. Get a better idea of who we are and what we do by visiting our Work page.
