5 Signs it’s Time for a Rebrand in 2024
If you need a spark this year, reimagining or realigning your identity is a great place to look.
If 2023 showed us anything, it’s that nothing is to be expected and nothing is off limits. We avoided an “inevitable recession.” Tech companies that make computers or started out selling books are now spending billions on content. Generative AI is radically changing budgets, organizational structures, and the worlds we work in (all within the span of little over a year). Taylor Swift invaded the NFL!
Our (as well as our consumers’) understanding of the way things are supposed to happen is shifting. Faced with this reality, why would you limit what your business or organization could be?
That can be a daunting question when approached broadly, so we’re looking at elements and strategies to change things up in 2024, starting with a rebrand. We’ve identified five scenarios in which a rebrand may be the perfect way to reimagine what’s possible in your business or organization.
1. You need to move the needle
Plateaus happen. Gaining and maintaining momentum is a constant battle, and while stagnation is a reality some organizations face, it’s not one they have to accept. Rebranding your business or organization is one way to potentially break out of a slowdown.
Take our experience with the Florence Y’alls for example. In 2019 they were the Florence Freedom: a local, lovable minor league sports franchise that had hit a growth spurt in terms of garnering new fans and ballpark revenues. We worked with them to reimagine what a local minor league sports team can be. From naming to experiential strategy, merch, web and much much more, the Florence Y’alls were born, and the organization has grown from a local lovable sports franchise to an identity with national appeal.
2. You Need to Spark New Cultural Energy
No matter where your staff works these days, hitting a lull in organizational energy is a challenge, and can be detrimental to your output, not to mention overall quality of life. Simply put, the people who choose to work for you need to understand what you’re all about and where you’re going.
We worked with architecture firm GBBN to help them shift from an architect of record to an architectural design agency. That shift in mentality, coupled with a new brand, has sparked new growth, retention not just in Cincinnati, but in their global office in China as well. So if you’re looking to reenergize your team, a rebrand could be a way to go.
3. You Find Yourself Looking (or Sounding) Like Everybody Else
Everyone has had the moment where they take a breath, look at their industry, and discover everybody looks and does the same thing (including themselves). It’s a horrifying discovery to make, and one that can feel overwhelming to fix, but through careful auditing and the right rebranding approach, a new look and sound can set you apart from your competition.
No other industry relies on standing out more than the alcohol and spirits industry. Working with Christian Moerlein Brewing Company, we helped them escape a recent rebranding effort that took away everything that made the legendary Cincinnati Brewery unique: its history and tie to the Cincinnati landscape and its underground. Leveraging their robust library of assets and ephemera, we revitalized the brand as the proper “Beer That Built Cincinnati,” and one that leveraged traditional German brewing standards to deliver timeless brews to German Standard, but with a Cincy style.
4. Your Vision Has Shifted
Businesses evolve over time. If your vision for the future has changed, but your brand remains rooted in the past, a rebrand can be the best way to help people understand things are different around here.
We experienced this working with Everything But The House. They were faced with the challenge of navigating the transition from darling startup to viable long-term business. Their solution was a rebrand that matched their growth from an estate sale marketplace to a place of ecommerce of all kinds. We worked with them to align to renewed strategy, focused on the things that differentiated Everything But The House from everyone else—The STUFF they sold. The answer was positioning Everything But The House as the “Marketplace for Uncommon,” and that mentality was paired with a brand that showcased the uncommon goods for sale every minute on their platform.
5. Your Product is Amazing, but Your Story Hasn’t Broken Through
Sometimes the magic of a product is really tough to explain. Especially for those in the tech world, explaining simply how a complex product can radically change our world is something Silicon Valley has mastered, but many other worthy startups have failed to capture.
We worked with Subterra, an underground infrastructure imaging and management tool backed by AI. It’s no secret America’s infrastructure has been inefficient at best, and dangerous at worst for some time. Subterra offers hardware and software that radically improves a municipality’s ability to maintain their sewer systems, they just needed a way to help people understand how incredibly beneficial that was. The answer was a rebrand backed by an extensive communication strategy. We helped reimagine their look, and broke their benefits down simply into “Digitizing the World’s Underground Infrastructure,” as well as their products’ ability to enable cities to map their underground systems, analyze them, better maintain them, and forecast using AI improvements that will be coming up in the future.
So… What are your challenges or opportunities in 2024?
Does a rebrand or something like it sound like something that could help you solve challenges or reach your wildest potential? Reach out to us and let’s reimagine possible in 2024.