Is Now the Time to Rebrand—and Why Do It?
Every company has a brand, whether they set out to or not. At its most basic form, a company launches their “brand” when they first open their doors and create an identity—the extent of which typically consists of a logo, letterhead, and signage.
Over the years, factors such as who the company is, what it stands for, and what its mission is are more central to developing its brand. This generally guides how the company engages with customers and employees (and provides customers the “why they should care” to do business with your company), drives product innovation, and shapes brand perceptions around your company’s leadership in its industry.
For many B2B manufacturers, this approach is not uncommon. But growing recognition of branding’s impact on the bottom line has led many CEOs to revisit their corporate brand. There is a direct correlation between brand awareness and sales. In 2018, “the influence of a strong brand increased by 37%” over 2017 and was the “No. 1 factor cited by decision makers when choosing to engage with sales.”[i]
Brand Awareness Drives Sales
Brand awareness is a key driver for sales, yet HubSpot’s 2018 State of Inbound found the top challenge for 63% of marketers is to generate traffic and leads. Which makes you wonder: How invested are they in their brand?
Deciding to rebrand requires a significant investment of time and resources. Before you decide to rebrand, some excellent questions to ask include:
- What are the benefits of rebranding?
- Is our current brand relevant and compelling to customers?
- Do we answer the “why they should care” question for them?
- Where do I see our brand in 10 years?
And perhaps most important: Is our company ready to do this? Remember, you need to be able to stand behind your brand promise. Not delivering on this can be more damaging than sticking to status quo until you are ready.
Investing in a Rebrand
The components of a rebrand include:
- Research
- Brand positioning
- Creative development
- Strategy and implementation
The cost to rebrand depends upon many factors. As an example, comprehensive rebranding for a B2B company with $50-$100 million in sales—including all of the phases above—runs $50K to $100K+.
A company that wants a simple brand refresh, consisting of minimal research, brand positioning and limited creative (such as a logo and color palette) can expect to spend $25K to $40K.
When engaging an agency, it’s important to know what you are getting. A client can pay upwards of $50K just to arrive at a strategic brand positioning. Agencies can generally be divided into three categories:
- Visual branding
- Brand positioning
- Full service—research, brand positioning, creative development, strategy and execution.
Rebranding Yields Significant ROI
Grant Marketing provides a comprehensive, 360-degree approach to brand development. The ROI for a well-executed rebrand can be significant. Our work with Scully Signal Company to revitalize its corporate brand yielded a 280% increase in organic website traffic and 1,251% increase in sales leads.
President of Scully Signal, Katrina Ohl, says, “Working with Grant Marketing and learning how to take advantage of the great benefits that inbound marketing offers a B2B manufacturing company like ourselves has had a very positive impact on our business. Learning how to integrate HubSpot with our new website and create content has already had an impact on the number of leads we are receiving. We look forward continuing that process to increase leads, carefully track them, and grow our business.”
In a Nutshell
With the kind of a jump Scully saw in increased exposure and leads that a rebranding can provide—think about this: how many sales might your industrial manufacturing company be losing by not rebranding? How do you gauge that? So much for the saying, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you!” Ultimately, what’s the cost to your bottom line if you don’t?
As most B2B buyers are already 57% of the way through the buying process before the first meeting with a representative,[ii] your corporate brand may be the single most important factor in driving sales. If your brand is not engaging prospects, keeping the sales pipeline flowing, and solidifying customer loyalty, the time for a rebrand is now.
Knowing Your Brand
Of course, the first step in all of this is having a clear awareness of what your brand is, what it (you) stands for, and how your prospects and customers perceive it. Do you know? Take a look at our Brand Report Card and see how you are doing. We work with many industrial manufacturers and have years of experience helping them navigate through our brand development process for brand “maintenance” and refreshing, along with full rebranding programs and brand strategies. Download the Brand Report Card to explore how authentically you connect with your company’s brand.
[i] Linked In State of Sales 2018
[ii] http://www.curata.com/blog/the-buyers-journey-demystified-by-forrester/
