Top tips for rebranding your small business

Buying a business brings many operational advantages, such as access to an established customer base, pre-existing supplier relationships, and proven financial viability.

However, putting your own creative stamp on the business in the form of refreshed branding can breathe new life into the enterprise and make it feel like your own.

Rebranding must be approached carefully, especially if the existing brand has good visibility. Only recently, X/Twitter retired its bird branding to mixed reactions, prompting the ire of some users. Destroying billions in brand value, tech reporter Casey Newton described Musk’s approach as “an extended act of cultural vandalism”.

With a café, a restaurant or a beauty salon, the stakes are not quite as high, but maintaining relationships with your customer base is key to a successful rebrand.

1. Understand your reasons for rebranding.

Before overhauling the existing brand, think carefully about your reasons for making changes. Is it to create a unified brand identity between two companies that have merged? Is to modernise the pre-existing brand so it keeps pace with industry trends and customer expectations? Is it to tailor the company’s image to a new audience? Is it intended to reflect an expanded portfolio of products or services?

2. Notify your customers!

Keep your customers informed by notifying them via your social media platforms, mailshots, or a post on your local Facebook group. Be transparent about the reasons behind the rebrand, while highlighting continuity and focusing on how the rebrand enhances existing values and offerings.

3. Ensure that your refreshed branding is reflected across all platforms.

There’s nothing more jarring than inconsistent branding, so ensure that all your platforms (your website, ecommerce sites, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn) reflect your refreshed branding. And if your website URL has changed to reflect a new trading name, ensure that the old website URL redirects to the new one.

4. Hire a freelancer.

Want a new logo but don’t have a knack for graphic design? Or maybe you’re looking to launch a sleek new website but your web development skills are somewhat lacking? There are plenty of platforms around, such as Fiverr and Upwork, where you can access high-quality professionals selling their services for competitive prices. Hiring freelancers is a great way to find the perfect talent to elevate your brand.

 

Case studies of successful rebrands

Dunkin’ Donuts becomes

Top tips for rebranding your small business

In 2019, Dunkin’ Donuts shed the “Donuts” from its name and branding, reflecting the increasing popularity of its coffee, as well as its bagels, sandwiches, and pastries. While retaining its signature colour palette and playful curvy typography, the brand subtly tweaked its image to match its evolving product offering.

 

Top tips for rebranding your small business

In 2003, Lego was teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, grappling with plummeting sales and straining under the weight of £800m debt. The brand had started to feel stale and outdated in a fast-moving newly digital world, while an internal report revealed that it hadn’t added anything of value to its portfolio for a decade.

By overhauling its brand identity and diversifying its product/service offering, Lego has re-established itself as the world’s most recognisable toy brand, and in 2022, the Group’s revenue amounted to 8.7bn euros.

The rebrand involved adding digital channels, movies and Lego-themed entertainment venues – the company even built its own video games company from scratch, involving the largest installation of Silicon Graphics supercomputers in northern Europe.

 

Top tips for rebranding your small business

In a bold move signalling a major strategic shift, Facebook transformed into Meta in October 2021. Ditching its social media roots, the company set its sights on becoming a pioneer in the metaverse, replacing the familiar blue thumbs-up logo with a sleek infinity symbol.

Looking to put your creative stamp on a pre-existing business?

Check out CoGoGo’s vast array of buyer-ready businesses!