Rebranding in a Pandemic? That Is the Question. What’s the Answer?

During the past several months while we’ve sheltered in place, eaten more meals at home, and learned how to become teachers to our students while maintaining our full-time careers, there’s been another phenom that’s been happening in the world – organizational rebrands.

Chartwell has been assisting several clients with their rebrands since early this year. While some were already in the works prior to the pandemic, the revelation that these stayed on track – and that new clients decided to take this time to address some internal needs to better position themselves for the future – is inspiring. While I’m not an economist, and hope is not a strategy, organizations focusing on rebranding demonstrates optimism that companies have for the future of business.

Some of the rebrands involve enhancing or reworking logos and graphics, others are full organizational name changes. But whether in a pandemic or during times of “normalcy,” the same guidelines apply on whether a business should rebrand. Consider these questions as you determine a rebrand.

• Does your organization’s name reflect your current capabilities and services? Companies are meant to grow and leverage opportunities that bring in profit, but these same initiatives may impact and differentiate from the initial services offered and reflected in the current business name. New ownership also may need to be represented in the changes at an organization. When either of these impacts your business, it may be feasible to justify an updated name and brand. It forces clients, prospective clients, partners and influencers to take second and third looks at you for business. There’s nothing worse for a company to hear from a prospective client than, “Oh, we didn’t know you did that.” A new name and rebrand may position you for a seat at that new business table.

• Do you need/want a full company identity rebrand or just an updated logo? If your name is still relevant, don’t mess with it. But if you’re ready for an updated look that enhances your brand and encourages others to “see” you again, a refreshed logo may be the way to go. This can entail changing everything from your brand colors to the font to the just revising how your logo is laid out, or it could just be one of the options. Determine your nonnegotiables and make sure you voice them before you go too far down the rebranding pathway. Chartwell Agency rebranded to our current name in 2014; three years later we opted to update our logo. However – and my team knows this – don’t mess with our colors; I have a fondness for them, so they know it’s a nonnegotiable for me.

• Do you have the time, resources and energy to invest in a rebrand? A rebranding effort takes energy – lots of energy – so we recommend partnering with an outside firm to oversee the efforts for two reasons. First, a rebrand does not happen overnight and other, everyday work needs to be completed, so a trusted partner can take the heavy lifting off your shoulders while you continue to move your business forward. Second, an outside party can provide objective eyes, ears and ideas to your approach. While working with an outside agency adds dollars to your marketing budget, you will see that the return on investment of allowing experts to work on rebranding while you continue to focus on business is money well spent.

Conducting a rebrand is not for the faint of heart – but it’s also great fun and can attract new business and further accomplish your business goals. Of course, Chartwell Agency is always ready to be that trusted partner in your rebranding efforts.