Ask anyone who has been through it: rebranding implementation is a stressful time for the people in marketing who are usually the ones responsible for making it happen. The scale of the project, which touches every branded asset, is daunting enough. Add to that the need to juggle executive demands, tight deadlines and limited budgets. Even the most capable members of the marketing department may end up feeling like their heads are about to explode.
Having access to rebranding implementation benchmarks—data that reveals how much it typically costs a company of your size in your industry to rebrand—is invaluable. Benchmarks help you get to accurate budget estimates and executive approval quickly. And that’s key to complete rebranding implementation at or under budget.
What are rebranding benchmarks?
A benchmark is a standard or point of reference against which things may be compared or assessed. Rebranding benchmarks are created by collecting and tagging detailed data points from hundreds of rebrand implementation projects.
Way before data was the hottest buzzword around, BrandActive routinely collected and categorized cost, technical specifications, and associated data on branded assets from our clients. Our goal was to equip our rebrand implementation consultants to provide our clients with reliable recommendations. Twenty years later, we routinely draw on this robust benchmarking data to help clients quickly answer their big question: How much will rebrand implementation cost under various scenarios?
Benchmarking data also underpins the team’s ability to create several different implementation scenarios. These potential courses of action differ in the timing of the brand change, the quality of branded assets purchased for each category, and other factors.
The role of rebrand implementation benchmarks in high-level and final cost estimates
Here’s how it works: Start with the basic facts about a company, such as number of locations, gross revenue and number of employees. Then tap benchmark data from companies of similar size, industry, and geography to create different cost scenarios. Some scenarios deliver a higher level of quality for some branded assets. Others may assume a slow rollout over time, allowing large inventories of existing branded assets to be depleted.
So, if you want to focus on customer impact and be a big spender on your new website and exterior signage at a few key locations but cut back to industry-standard quality at your warehouses and lower profile locations, there are benchmarks for those different costs.
Once you select a scenario, an extensive library of benchmarking data becomes even more valuable. We’ll dig into to detailed technical data for each type of branded asset to create a specification that delivers the quality, durability, and flexibility appropriate for each distinct setting.
Understanding more about how rebranding implementation benchmarks add value
Our implementation teams collect thousands of pieces of data about branded asset specifications, locations, and more from each client. This data is stored in our custom-built, RAE – REBRAND ANALYTICS ENGINETM and tagged, and then used to create benchmarks. As a result, we are able to answer tough questions about the cost and impact of the rebranding as well as other variables such as the size and composition of the labor force required to execute brand change.
Benchmarks inform four key decision-making components of a project:
- Understand the probable scope of the project
- Quickly produce high-level cost estimates for senior management approval of rebranding projects
- Understand feasible timing and transition strategies for each type of branded assets
- Select and contract with vendors who offer the right blend of price and service for that particular project
Using benchmark data for vendor selection and management
Benchmarks play an important role in constructing effective RFPs and vetting vendors. You could say that they’re worth their weight in gold when shopping for high-dollar branded assets, such as signage or fleet vehicles.
Over the course of hundreds of rebranding implementation projects, we’ve worked to identify thousands of vendors. Along the way, we have established an extensive vendor network. All of that data resides in RAE. And we’ve touched unique branded assets such as trains, planes and helicopters. (Not to mention thousands of IT systems, scores of uniform types, and too many pieces of digital collateral to ever count.)
We can attest that there are vendors for literally everything you need to rebrand physically or digitally. We haven’t yet been asked to figure out how to rebrand a submarine, but if someone asks, we’re ready to take on that challenge. We would bone up on saltwater-proof paint, map out the logistics of efficiently removing and returning submarines to the fleet, and follow our own best practices for costing and contracting for services.
In the end, having access to and using benchmark data allows you to create budget and plan options, choose the right transition strategy, and work with qualified, price-competitive vendors to get the best deals. Also, you’ll be assured that your rebranding implementation project can finish on time and on budget and drive future operational efficiency.
