Let’s say you’re in the process of considering a rebrand for your organization, but you aren’t sure how to justify the expense to the C-suite. Or maybe your executive team has already signed on for brand change, and now they’re looking at you to make it happen. What’s your next move?
If you feel overwhelmed or uncertain about next steps, don’t worry. You’re not alone.
After all, implementing a rebrand is an extraordinarily complex undertaking. Yet it happens so rarely that very few marketers have enough experience with it to manage the process in an optimized manner. This issue is magnified when you consider that rebrand implementation goes well beyond the usual roles and responsibilities of the marketing team. Rebrands flow from marketing, but they involve the entire organization, including each individual operational unit.
Engaging a rebranding implementation partner like BrandActive is the key to success.
Why your organization needs a rebrand implementation partner
In order to execute a truly seamless rebrand — one that pleases your customers as much as your key stakeholders — you need an experienced partner to guide you.
Think of it this way: You would never hire a residential contractor to build a skyscraper, no matter how talented they might be at building homes. Likewise, most marketers find that they aren’t prepared to navigate the ins and outs of rebranding without an experienced guide.
And that’s exactly where a rebranding implementation partner steps in.
As a marketer, the need for a rebrand implementation partner may seem perfectly clear. But your executive team may not see it the same way. Rebrand implementation? That’s what marketing is for, right?
Your executives are more likely to get onboard when they hear that hiring a partner to implement your rebrand can increase your impact while saving your organization time and money on the overall project and limiting the risks of a change of this magnitude. Doing so can even help your business manage its brand more efficiently moving forward. (Check out this article for more on how to secure executive approval of your corporate rebranding plan.)
The benefits of hiring a rebranding partner: better brand management at a lower cost
There are many benefits to hiring a rebranding agency to manage the implementation of your company’s rebrand. These include:
A fiscally responsible rebrand.
An on-time and on-budget rebrand.
The complete and accurate conversion of branded assets.
A highly structured rebranding plan that provides momentum through the entire process.
A plan for dealing with risks and interdependencies.
Significant financial savings during the rebrand — and beyond.
Improved brand management.
A fiscally responsible rebrand. At BrandActive, we know from experience that there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all rebrand. And that means there’s no one-size-fits-all rebrand budget. Of course, the big-picture goal of any rebrand is to successfully launch a new brand and deploy it consistently and powerfully. But the smaller goals within that (and the details of how to get there) are highly variable. Discovering the right rebranding plan and budget for your company is all about prioritization. Before we get started with our clients on a rebrand, we work with them to model multiple, detailed rebranding scenarios. For example, we might compare the cost of transitioning a brand over two years versus six years given the breakdown of CapEx and OpEx expenses. In order to model these scenarios accurately, we apply our deep understanding of rebranding in general to our client’s unique organizational structures and assets. By comparing various timing and cost scenarios, we identify a best-fit solution that meets marketing objectives within a fiscally responsible framework.
An on-time and on-budget rebrand. Without the guidance of a rebranding implementation partner, marketers are more likely to overspend and lose control of the rebranding schedule. They do this despite their best efforts simply because they don’t have the experience, time, or people necessary to holistically manage a process of this kind and magnitude. When BrandActive takes the lead, we guide companies in executing rebrands that are consistently on-time and on-budget. Part of this effort includes working through CapEx and OpEx rebranding budget allocations.
The complete and accurate conversion of branded assets. The core work of rebranding involves transitioning branded assets from the old brand to the new one. It’s a major undertaking. And the stakes for getting it right are high. Get the timing or execution wrong, and you risk confusing your customers with an inconsistent brand experience. In our work with clients, we set specific asset conversion strategies that allow businesses to meet their internal goals while providing a seamless experience for customers. This often means packaging branded assets in strategic bundles that balance high-priority items with financial objectives. Depending on our client’s goals, these asset bundles might reflect the buyer journey, geographical regions, product families, or internal- versus external-facing assets. Our asset transition plan is as thorough as it is strategic. We have the experience necessary to unearth all of your firm’s branded assets, even the ones that are typically left behind.
A highly structured rebranding plan that provides momentum through the entire process. Rebrand implementation involves an extremely high level of organization and coordination. When it comes to getting it right, the devil is truly in the details. The major branded assets are low-hanging fruit. The hard work comes in implementing every last detail — even those that are seemingly insignificant. For this reason alone, rebrands are notorious for running out of steam after the most obvious asset categories have been converted. Using our highly structured plan and process methodology, we ensure that your rebrand is executed with momentum and accuracy from start to finish.
A plan for dealing with risks and interdependencies. In the early stages of rebrand planning, we work with our clients to identify risks and interdependencies and make a plan for how to deal with them. Then, we monitor those risks and interdependencies as we deploy the rebrand to make sure they don’t derail the process (or your budget).
Significant financial savings during the rebrand — and beyond. BrandActive’s rebrand planning process is specially geared toward increasing rebrand efficiency. For example, we leverage our clients’ existing operational cycles to transition assets in the most cost-effective manner possible. By planning for each detail and identifying efficiencies along the way, we often reduce our clients’ overall rebranding project costs by 15-35%. Depending on the scope of your organization’s rebrand, that could translate to very significant savings more. And that’s just the short-term savings associated with the rebrand’s initial implementation. There are long-term financial benefits to engaging BrandActive, too. We routinely help clients capture ongoing savings by using the rebrand as an opportunity to rationalize and improve brand-related operational processes and systems. This includes vendor portfolio management, asset purchasing and maintenance, and more.
Improved brand management. During a rebrand, we help our clients improve their brand touchpoints and brand management practices for the long run. We do this by rationalizing existing operations and implementing best-in-class systems, tools, and processes. The end result is a better customer experience and a more efficient operation.
Brand change takes time and money. And it adds significant resource strain to teams. By engaging BrandActive, you gain access to over two decades of rebranding experience to get ahead of pain points, benchmarking reduce risk, identify opportunities for cost savings, improve your operational performance — and magnify your brand impact.
