We don’t know where we’re going yet,
but we promise it won’t be boring.
A brand can be very personal for a business owner – reflecting their tastes, beliefs and values.
From our experience, we have spoken with business owners who have selected colour schemes based on their own preferences and the messaging is focussed on what they see as being fundamental to the offering, but a key question to ask is, “Does this brand appeal to your target audience?”
Whether a brand started out strong or weak, businesses are dynamic; where they set off from 10 years is typically never aligned with where they are today, which is why it’s essential to conduct regular brand audits and be cognisant of when the time has come to invest in a brand refresh.
It’s recommended that a brand audit is carried out at least once a year to track its health and progress. In this blog, I provide 5 signs that signify it’s time for a brand refresh:
1. Business Growth:
For many businesses, the first sign that it’s time to update the brand is during a time of growth, where the brand needs to scale in order to reflect more on the new markets or product offerings introduced into the portfolio.
2. Unclear Messaging:
A clear, concise message is core for any brand. If that message is not resonating with your audience, i.e. they are not feeling compelled to choose your business over a competitor, then it’s really important to rectify that issue as soon as possible.
As we highlighted in our previous blog, “Your Logo Is Not Your Brand”. This is why, at Journey, we like to dive deep to get an understanding of our client, their offering and their ideal customer so that we can develop an aligned, compelling message that can be rolled out consistently across different platforms..
3. Outdated Visuals:
While we are told not to judge a book by its cover, the visuals associated with a brand are important and make a lasting impression on potential clients. For many companies that come into us who have been around for some time, it’s pretty clear from looking at the visuals that a brand refresh is required as key signifiers such as the typeface or the colour scheme are outdated and frankly old-fashioned.
4. Not Unique:
While we want you to avoid getting bogged down by your competitors, it is important to do some comparative work, as if your brand sounds and looks very much like theirs, it will take more work to promote your business.
Again, during our messaging workshops, we spend a lot of time talking through the Unique Selling Points of our clients, continually pushing until we find a hook that we can hang our hat on to set them apart from their competitors while speaking to the target audience.
5. Declining Market Share
If your business is falling behind and losing market share, this could signal that your brand is outdated and not appealing to your target audience compared to similar brands.
If you can identify with all or any of these points, don’t sit on it; say hello@journeycreative.ie and let us look at your brand. We promise we’ll be kind but honest!
