Branding
Brand ROI: 7 Ways a Rebrand Can Skyrocket Your Bottom Line
By Eric Groves
What’s the return on rebranding?
Marketing is ‘how’ people find you. Branding is ‘why’ people buy. Successful brands know how to connect with the ‘why’. According to Forbes, the main benefit of branding tools, and reason to employ them, is to boost profits. *
Like it or not, your business is more than the product or service you offer. And when you consider the wide range of competitors in your space vying for people’s attention, it’s essential that you have a strong brand that stands out from the pack. When done correctly, a rebrand of your business has the power to bring a significant return on your investment.
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The 7 Ways a Rebrand Can Significantly Improve Your ROI:
1. Attract Top Talent
Remember the popular kid in high school? Everyone wanted to be around him. If you were, you were in. Your brand has the same potential to attract consumers and prospective employees by simply being so irresistible they’ll be drawn to your success and champion your vision. Even the job posting itself creates an impression — is it engaging and colorful, or dull and descriptive?
It’s nearly impossible for an organization to achieve success without the backing of a dedicated team of employees. In fact, organizations with engaged employees outperform those with low employee engagement by more than 200%. For an employer, attracting and retaining talent is a challenge, but with a brand that oozes personality and charisma, you’ll easily start drawing the kind of people you want and need to become successful. Plus, rebranding creates a deep sense of loyalty with existing employees.
In fact, According to Mercer’s “2018 Global Talent Trends Report,” 75% of happy staff say they work for a company with a strong sense of purpose, twice that of less happy folks. And you’ll not only attract loyal people who love your company enough to do more and better, but you’ll have a greater chance of attracting customers who also love your brand so much they’re willing to pay more.
2. Raise Your Company Beyond Being a Commodity
The best brands have the highest margins and connect on an emotional level that elevates their brand into something much more than a product or a service. It’s also the best predictor of whether a brand will increase its bottom line. In other words, don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle. Effective brands are much more than what’s on a package, they’re what’s in the minds of consumers. Consumers emotionally connect with products or services when the brands repeatedly provide something that the consumer wants, desires, or needs.
Why Starbucks Can Charge 5 Bucks
Starbucks transformed coffee from a commodity to a $5 indulgence. They did this not by convincing consumers their coffee was superior, but by selling an experience — a community-centric “third place,” which dictated every decision about the Starbucks brand: the furniture, artwork, music, and more. And people happily pay for that experience because when you’re connected to a brand emotionally, price won’t break that bond.
3. Attract the Right Customers
When you have an engaging brand, your prospects and customers will instantly be aligned with you because they feel connected with you. You’d be amazed how many of your competitors are in lockstep with each other caught in the trap of mundane sameness. These imitators do nothing but offer humdrum sales jargon that conveys more about products and services rather than making meaningful, emotional connections with prospects.
A rebrand gives you the opportunity to rise above the monotonous uniformity of the pack by creating a more attractive and likable brand that understands and empathizes with your target audience’s wants and needs. While competitors try to educate consumers about who they are and what they do, you’ll be way ahead of the game speeding up the sales process and closing more deals because your brand is more alluring.
4. Create Brand Advocates
Brands that draw you into their fold do so because they’ve made you feel something. Rather than focusing on talking about their product or service they express more about the result—how it makes you feel or what you will be like if you choose to engage with that brand. When a brand makes you feel something, you carry it with you. You tell your family, friends, and even share it on social networks. A dynamic brand makes you feel like you are part of something special moving you from a passive observer to a passionate advocate.
How Harley Pulled Ahead of The Pack
In the ‘80s Harley-Davidson pulled itself out of bankruptcy by transforming its brand into one centered on emotion. They tapped into an insight about motorcycle riders who view their ride as more than just hardware, it’s a lifestyle and an emotional attachment. After implementing its lifestyle brand rollout Harley quickly became the bike to own standing for passion, freedom, quality, and independence. Today, thanks to brand-loyalists who pay a premium for bikes, wearables, and even tattoos, Harley-Davidson is the number one seller of bikes for women, younger adults, baby boomers, and is world-renowned for its brotherhood of riders. Customers are not just customers; they are members of the tribe, ambassadors for the brand, and heirs of the traditional American spirit. Last year, the company made Interbrand’s list of Best Global Brands and was valued at around $3.5 billion.
5. Create a Strong Perception
To increase market share, the last thing you want is a brand that’s working against you. If your business lacks a strong brand personality and essence you may be perceived negatively by prospective customers. When you invest in a rebrand, you’re paving the way for creating an engaging, authentic persona that can overcome even the worst perceptions.
How Old Spice Reached a New Market
In 2010, Old Spice, a 75-year-old company was known as the brand your grandfather smelled like. A rebrand was desperately needed. The insurmountable task of giving Old Spice a new spin reaching a younger crowd would require something extreme.
Old Spice didn’t change its logo, but rather changed people’s impressions of Old Spice by using someone young, fun and attractive. It enlisted NFL Player Isaiah Mustafa, affectionately known as the Old Spice Guy, to appear on a series of commercials aimed at women that portrayed Old Spice as something seductive and alluring. It even referred to its deodorant and body wash line as “scent vacations” rather than the same, old, antiperspirant pitch we’ve heard a million times before. They began by airing wildly humorous commercials a few days prior to the Super Bowl on YouTube, and Facebook in an attempt to create a buzz.
By May of 2010, Old Spice completely shifted its perception in the marketplace and unit sales had increased 60% and by July of that year, the sales had increased more than doubled compared to the previous year.
6. Enhance Your Company’s DNA
It takes a lot to run an organization. You need vision, a business plan, capital, talent, health benefits, IT, HR, and legal support, not to mention a whole lot of grit and determination. But, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, more than 50% of all new businesses fail within their first five years of operation.
Many fail because they don’t see branding as a best practice. Of course, it’s important to have a marketing strategy, but what good will that do if your brand lacks personality and charisma? You can spend all the money in the world on marketing, but you better give them a reason to connect or it’s money down the drain.
Marketing may make a sale today, but a great brand is what brings consistent revenue and growth for years to come. Remember, what you do is less important to your consumers than why it matters to them. So, it can be argued that before you even implement a marketing plan you should invest in developing the unique DNA of your brand. When businesses make branding a best practice, success inevitably follows.
7. Give You a Distinct Voice and Competitive Advantage
The way your brand sounds is just as important as the way it looks. So make the choice to find your voice. Your brand voice is a consistent way of conveying your brand’s message to your audience. Along with the design, it’s part of a brand expression that defines your brand identity and shapes the way your brand is perceived. Successful brands are intentional about defining their style of writing and speaking—often referred to as tone of voice.
Think of the most boring speech you’ve ever listened to. That’s the way most of your competitors sound like, droning on and on with literal, dry sales jargon that comes across more braggadocious and boring than authentic or genuine.
So, right out of the gate a fresh rebrand with a likable, engaging voice will energize your company and translate into attracting more of the right kinds of prospects. Brands like Geico, Apple, Coca-Cola, Old Spice, and Harley-Davidson instantly evoke images, emotions, and sometimes cravings thanks in large part to each one’s distinctive brand voice.
Eric Groves is the Founder and Creative Director of Flying Hippo Brand + Digital. Should you decide it’s time to take your brand to another level, please reach out for a free consultation.
