• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Pinterest
Digital Storyteller
  • Services
  • Pricing
  • Our Team
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Marketing Calculator
  • Contact
  • The ROI of Organic Digital Marketing
  • Menu Menu
Branding, News

Everything to Know About Rebranding Your Business

Rebrand

When it comes to “branding,” the term might seem a wee bit vague. Chances are the first things that come to mind are logos, colors, and fonts! While all of these elements are integral pieces of creating your business’s brand identity, branding, and rebranding, runs much deeper.

Here’s everything you need to know about rebranding your business.

What Is Branding? Why Is It Important?

Branding, according to The Branding Journal, is defined as “the process of giving a meaning to [a] specific organization, company, products or services by creating and shaping a brand in consumers’ minds.”

Branding “is a strategy designed by organizations to help people to quickly identify and experience their brand, and give them a reason to choose their products over the competition’s, by clarifying what this particular brand is and is not.”

Branding is important for not only consumers but also employees, shareholders, and third parties.

One of the most important parts of branding, which is wildly overlooked in our personal opinion, is the word “meaning” in the above definition. Too often, a brand becomes about the “aesthetic” or the colors.

Having a stunning logo is great, but what is the meaning behind it? Need a story to illustrate just what we mean? We’ve got the perfect client for you.

The Story of The Golden Screw

Meet John Milikowsky, founder of Milikowsky Tax Law. John is a tax attorney who focuses on helping clients navigate government agency audits from Employment Development Department (EDD) to Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 

John is one of our superstar clients at Digital Storyteller. (We actually refer to him as our ‘unicorn.’)

Here’s a before and after of the Milikowsky Tax Law logo.

Before Working With Digital Storyteller

Milikowsky Tax Law

After Working With Digital Storyteller

Milikowsky Tax Law

Now, of course, there’s a lot more that goes into branding than just your logo—but more on that later.

For now, let’s travel back in time with John to hear about how his new logo came to be, what happened when he sat down with us to explain the origins of his business, and how his skill set makes him a fantastic tax lawyer. Here’s what John had to say:

“It’s 1987 and I’m 10 years old. I’m sitting in a windowless supply room in the back of my parents’ lighting store on a stool and in front of me is an oil barrel filled with screws. Machine screws, wood screws, drywall screws, Phillips screws, you get the idea… a lot of screws.”

John’s task? Sort these screws into containers. Sort, sort, sort… In that entire summer, John never got through more than an inch’s worth of progress in sorting those screws.

“In the middle of that summer, I realized I had a choice to make… I could be furious, resentful, victimized by the mundane monotonous task set in front of me… or, I could do it well and fast. I could be the best at screw sorting.”

Not seeing where this story is going? Hold tight.

John describes his first few years of audits with his tax law clients. “They handed me their metaphorical oil barrels filled with numbers: profit and loss statements for three, four, five years, receipts faded with time, and transactions whose recipients had long gone out of business,” says John. “I came to appreciate that summer of sorting. That training in detail work, that patience for sifting through the most minute details.”

John’s passion is the detective work it takes to uncover the one piece of information that makes all the rest of a company’s business narrative fall into place. 

Like finding a needle in a haystack, John is equipped with the attention to detail to find ‘the golden screw,’ if you will.

After unpacking this story with our team, we were able to create a logo with meaning, as opposed to simple colors and font slapped on a page. In his logo, the “M” in Milikowsky Tax Law is encircled by tiny screws with the golden screw crowning the “i” 

What Are the Levels of Rebranding?

*Hint* A rebrand concerns more than just your logo! Knowing this as a business owner, however, you might be asking yourself, “How long will a rebrand take me?” and more importantly to some, “How much will it cost me?”

Well, the amount of money that you pay for a rebrand is dependent on the size of your company. For example, rebranding a mom-and-pop cabinetry shop isn’t going to cost the same as a rebrand of Walmart or Target.

Now, let’s dive into the different levels of rebranding.

The Brand Refresh

A refresh is the most simple level of rebranding, and might include:

  • Brand Discovery
  • Visual Identity
  • Corporate Stationery
  • Website
  • Copywriting
  • Photography

This timeline typically lasts three to four months.

The Brand Reboot

According to Ignyte, this level of rebranding is best for companies “who are dealing with the systemic issues that typically accompany business growth and/or age,” and, in addition to everything included in a refresh, might include:

  • Customer Research
  • Brand Audit
  • Brand Strategy Naming and Tagline
  • Brand Identity
  • Marketing Collateral

This timeline typically lasts six to eight months.

The Full Rebrand

*Cough cough* Mark Zuckerberg rebranding ‘Facebook’ to ‘Meta.’ (Can’t say we are huge fans…)

Anyway, according to Web FX, a full rebrand involves “changing every aspect of your brand,” including:

  • Company name
  • Logo
  • Tone of voice for your company

A fantastic example of a full rebrand is Nike. In 1964, Blue Ribbon Sports (now Nike) was founded. Seven years later, “Blue Ribbon Sports did a complete rebrand and became Nike,” according to Web FX. Blue Ribbon Sports changed everything: colors, logo, name, tone of voice.

Blue Ribbon Sports Nike Rebrand

Think of the full rebrand as the ultimate glow-up for your company; you’re entirely new. As you could guess, this is the most expensive level of rebranding.

This process could take up to a year or more in some cases.

The Meaning Behind Your Branding

So, it’s time for some self-reflection. 

Would you be willing to send your website to everyone you know right now, as is? If the answer is no, consider why not. What about your branding doesn’t satisfy you?

Branding is so much more than colors and fonts. Here are some questions to get you thinking about your branding:

  1. How does your current branding reflect you as a company?
  2. If you were a consumer in your target demographic, would you want to work with your company?
  3. How do people feel when they come to your site or visit your social media? Are you pushing out consistent content?
  4. How does your brand make people feel? Safe, excited, confusing, overwhelmed?

A Quick Bit on Font Psychology

Well, what is font psychology? According to this article by Canva, “font psychology [is] the study of how different fonts impact thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.” For example, Comic Sans as your primary brand font might evoke a very different reaction than if you were to use Arial, Roboto, or Montserrat.

By understanding font psychology, which you can do more of here, you will be able to choose the best fonts for your brand.

The Value of a Rebrand

Many brands consider rebranding when they realize that their mission, or their ‘why,’ isn’t being reflected accurately in their existing brand. The value of a rebrand, when done correctly, is priceless. Think: Do you think Nike would still have the global brand recognition that it does if it were still Blue Ribbon Sports, branding and all? Most likely not.

At Digital Storyteller, we begin every client relationship with a Brand Storytelling Session to get to know your business at its core. Because after all, we can’t accurately represent your brand until we truly understand who you are, who your audience is, and what your goals are. Get in touch with us today to learn more about your free Brand Storytelling Session deliverable.

December 12, 2021/by Amanda Rogers
Tags: blue ribbon sports, brand design, branding, nike, rebrand, rebranding
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://digitalstoryteller.io/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Everything-to-Know-About-Rebranding-Your-Business.png 628 1200 Amanda Rogers https://digitalstoryteller.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Digital-Storyteller_Logo_RGB_Signature_Full-Color-300x300.png Amanda Rogers2021-12-12 07:00:002021-12-10 10:00:12Everything to Know About Rebranding Your Business

SEARCH

CATEGORIES

LATEST POSTS

  • sign pointing one way to b2b marketing and the other way to b2c marketingB2B vs. B2C Marketing: What’s the Difference?November 13, 2022 - 7:00 pm
  • black and white question marksWhy Do We Call Our Company “Digital Storyteller?”October 30, 2022 - 7:00 pm
  • desktop and laptop on desk used for website auditsThe Importance of Website AuditsOctober 9, 2022 - 7:00 am

Follow us

RESOURCES

Blog
Privacy Policy

GET IN TOUCH

2710 Lone Jack Rd
Encinitas, CA 92024

858.945.1069
info@digitalstoryteller.io

STAY CONNECTED

Follow a manual added link

© Digital Storyteller 2020

Get The Secret Sauce

Delivered right to your inbox (napkins optional)



© Digital Storyteller 2020

What to Expect Working with an Outsourced Digital Marketing AgencyOutsourced MarketingHoliday TraditionsIt’s the Most WINE-derful Time of The Year… Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Accept settings

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy
Accept settings