By Ellie Hennessey, Insight Lead at The Frameworks
In a continuously shifting landscape, businesses need to adapt – or risk getting left behind. And when confronted with a changing marketplace, it’s not uncommon for those businesses to look to a rebrand.
Let’s face it – the decision to rebrand is seldom done on a whim. It’s a lengthy process that consumes time and resources. So why does a rebrand still so often miss the mark?
Brand building from the inside out
Businesses might be overlooking their most valuable asset: their people. Getting employees involved in your rebrand – from inception through to finished product – is a wise move. The numbers don’t lie – an organisation deemed to be ‘human-centric’ can provably generate revenue growth rates of up to 20% or more.
After all, a brand identity that your workforce can genuinely get excited about is more likely to strike a chord with your audience than empty platitudes.
It might sound clichéd, but your people are what makes your brand real. Rooting a brand in the genuine experiences of both employees and customers is how businesses establish authenticity; tapping into the collective voice of a workforce allows us to build something that truly resonates. On a base level, what’s good for your employees is probably good for your customers.
If nothing else convinces you, think of this: when employees feel actively engaged and involved in the process of a rebrand, they tend to become its biggest champions, helping to cement change. On the flip side, your best efforts will fall flat in the hands of an unenthusiastic workforce, rolling their eyes and dragging their feet.
Insider insight
What does this mean in practice? Research, and plenty of it. Build a comprehensive understanding of the company’s challenges and opportunities from the perspective of your employees. Find out what fills them with pride about their work, and what qualities they believe the brand can and should be associated with.
And it’s not just about speaking to your senior leadership team. Whether it’s they’re on the factory floor, sitting behind customer service desks or making executive decisions in the boardroom, everybody will have valuable insight to share. Brands tend to skip this step and, as a result, research has shown that only 21-33% of junior and mid-level employees are likely to be brand champions within their business, compared to 43-59% at the senior level.
With this breadth of insight to guide them, brands can put together a creative and strategic brief that ensures any new identity aligns closely with the aspirations and experiences of those who will bring it to life.
Yokogawa, the electrical engineering and software company, recently based its entire brand refresh around its engineers – aka ‘The Precision Makers’. Able to see themselves reflected and represented in the brand, employees embraced the new identity with pride – and it even helped to secure new hires.
Pride is one of the most powerful emotions a business can hope to foster within its workforce. According to research from Siegel + Gale, 93% of employees who understand and are committed to what their company stands for feel productive on a typical work day, and 94% actively look for ways to improve their work.
Navigating resistance
No one’s saying it’s easy to engage employees in a rebrand – in fact, it can be highly challenging. Resistance to change is common and, like most of us, employees don’t like to step outside their comfort zone. Introducing a new direction can naturally create scepticism and concern.
Effective communication and change management is therefore critical. Educate your employees on the need for a rebrand, the benefits you expect it to bring, and the impact it is likely to have on their roles directly. Help them to envision the better future a new identity will usher in; this can quickly turn scepticism into enthusiasm.
Gathering genuine insights can also prove difficult. Without a culture of open communication, employees may hesitate to share their real opinions. Demonstrate a true commitment to employee involvement by implementing feedback channels and let them see how you’re incorporating their suggestions into the rebrand strategy.
Perhaps one of the worst outcomes of a badly executed rebrand is a sense of misalignment between the new brand and the company’s existing culture and values. You need to show employees that the rebrand is a natural evolution, not a radical change, by reinforcing its connection to the company’s heritage and shared purpose. You must consider both when creating the new identity and crafting communications around it.
Finally, once the new brand has hit the market, the last challenge is how to ensure it is implemented consistently across all the business’s touchpoints – both internally and externally. The bigger the business, the harder this is, but creating thorough training programs and deploying committed brand ambassadors can make all the difference.
Again, no one is saying this is easy. But it is vital. Alienated or disengaged employees are less productive, less committed and, ultimately, less effective. The repercussions can extend well beyond the brand.
Done right, rebrands can be extremely valuable opportunities for businesses. They can be powerful catalysts for a renewed sense of direction and purpose.
So, take the time to bring your employees along on the journey. Show them that you understand how valuable they are. And make sure your new brand is one that reflects your business as it truly is.
