You have a brand strategy, you have a logo, a slogan and a clearly defined visual identity. Customers recognize you, they know who you are and what you offer. Yet despite that, the desired breakthrough doesn’t happen. There’s no differentiation, no wow factor, and the market is moving fast while your position remains almost unchanged.
That’s the moment when you need to stop and carry out a thorough analysis. Is your brand strategy still relevant? Does it reflect the real market conditions and customer needs today? It’s time for a checkpoint: the circumstances that held when the brand was developed may have changed significantly, so the strategy that worked then may no longer deliver results.
What does a brand strategy look like?
Brand strategy is not just a logo and a brandbook, not just a slogan or a new campaign. These are the guidelines that define:
- Who the customers are (target audience)?
- What value you offer that competitors can’t easily copy (unique value / secret sauce)?
- Which tone and messages best resonate with our audience (brand positioning)?
- How we measure success (brand KPI)?
- How the brand position supports business objectives
- And many other business-significant elements
In-depth analysis, a marketing audit, analytics, quantitative and qualitative research will provide guidance on where your brand should go. Based on that you build a marketing strategy and tactics that will systematically bring you “back in the game.”
Brand strategy is long-term, but that doesn’t mean it’s static. You need to return to it regularly, check the brand’s progress and adapt it to changes in the market, competition and customer behavior. Only then do you remain relevant, visible and ahead of others.
If the brand is healthy but a little outdated: revitalization and redefining
If the brand is healthy but a bit aged and needs refreshing, the option of revitalization or redefining the brand is taken. This way you retain some core values while breathing new life into them - e.g., change the communication tone, refresh the visual identity, packaging or communication channels. This often delivers big impact at significantly lower cost than a full rebrand.
If the brand needs “new life”: rebranding
But there are situations when rebranding is not just an option but a necessity:
- Messages are no longer relevant to the target audience
- The cultural environment has changed (values, habits, evolution of social trends)
- The target audience has changed, their behavior or motivation has shifted and they now prefer something else.
- The product portfolio has changed, been refined, or expanded
- The market has changed, and the competition is far ahead of you, and so on.
In such cases rebranding can restore relevance and competitive advantage, but it’s a process that requires time and patience. Don’t do a rebrand and expect sales results after 2 weeks.
If we look at examples, a good practical case is Old Spice - which transformed from a product perceived as “for an older population” into a bold, relevant brand aimed at a much wider audience. Let’s not forget that its communication breakthrough also won many industry awards. Most importantly: it delivered growth for the company and changed perception.
Several times in practice we’ve gone through both the revitalization process and the rebranding process with different companies we worked for, and the same rule applies to each: patience.
Don’t rush
Whether you decide to run the process yourself or hire a branding agency like TORRIS,don’t rush. A well-thought-out approach reduces risk and increases the chances that the new direction will actually reach the customers you want and achieve the business growth you’re hoping for. Good luck!
