Straightcurve Brand guidelines and brand Style Guide

Rebranding your business? Ever felt like you could do with a style upgrade as you catch your reflection in the mirror? Brands are no different.

Just like when winter rolls around and your once comfortable jeans are now a little too snug, your business can outgrow your branding.

A successful brand:

  • Communicates what your company does
  • Communicates how it does what it does
  • Establishes trust and credibility

Your brand is the core identity of your business. When it comes to new customers in particular, it is the first impression they will have of your business.

So, could you be losing people at hello?

Here are a few questions to help you identify if your brand is letting your business down.

Contents

What is rebranding?

Rebranding is the process of changing the way your business is perceived by updating elements like your name, logo, visual identity, messaging, positioning, or all of the above. It can be a complete overhaul or a more focused refresh, but the goal is always the same: to better align how your brand looks, sounds and feels with where your business actually is today.

A rebrand is not about chasing trends or change for its own sake. It is about closing the gap between your business and the brand representing it, so the right customers understand you, trust you and choose you. The questions below will help you work out whether that gap has opened up for you.

1. Have you outgrown your current branding?

Like hairstyles and fashion, design trends change. Over the course of a couple of years, fonts, colours and shapes that once seemed cool have become passé.

Or perhaps it’s a matter of scaling. If your business has grown and is now playing in the pond with other big fish, it is often necessary to leave your old brand behind so you can compete in the higher-tier market.

Outdated, stale, boring, unoriginal.

If your online presence or corporate identity could be described by one or more of these adjectives, you need to update your brand.

2. Are you having trouble converting?

You’re getting traffic through your business but… no one is converting. Once you rule out marketing strategies, it could be a branding issue.

A brand should represent the service or product it provides, it needs to clearly align with your trade and objectives. If it doesn’t, chances are you won’t attract the clientele you’re hoping to.

That said, conforming so you just become another service in your niche is not something we would recommend either. You still want to stand out from the crowd, but with a style that is consistent to your core identity, values and services.

3. Are you lost in a sea of uniformity?

Branding is all about competitive differentiation. If you feel like your brand is getting lost in a sea of marketplace uniformity, you could benefit from rocking the boat a little. Re-position and capitalise on your unique value propositions to exponentially increase your brand visibility with consumers searching for unique solutions.

4. Have you over-complicated your brand?

Your brand needs to be clear, concise and to the point. If your design is confusing, your messaging is making your audience nod off or your business has become a patchwork of offerings with no unified narrative, it would be wise to take a step back to refocus. From a branding perspective, increased complexity means a decrease in cohesiveness. The best way to remedy this? A rebrand.

5. Do you want to raise your prices but feel it’s impossible in the current market?

If market price for your product or service seems hopelessly fixed, don’t despair! Brand ultimately boils down to customer perception. The value of your offering is entrenched in the mind. A rebrand allows you to reshape the way customers perceive you, and you’ll be able to raise your prices accordingly.

6. Has your target market changed or expanded?

If your target demographic has altered for any reason, it’s highly likely you’ll need a rebrand. An effective brand speaks directly to the people it’s trying to reach. This is what makes the brand relevant and relatable. A brand that appeals to middle-aged men won’t appeal to teenage girls. Revise your image to stay alive.

Today it’s millennials. Tomorrow it’ll be post-millennials. There will always be another generation hot on the heels of the last. A rebrand allows you to redefine yourself, helping you to reach the goal of tapping into these new and untouched audiences.

Staying on top of demographic shifts is being business savvy. After all, the last thing a shrewd young demographic wants is to associate itself with the dull brands of their parents’ generation.

7. Have you changed your mission or values?

Your mission and values dictate the development of your brand. If they change, your brand needs to follow.

For example, you may decide to start providing more eco-friendly products and moving your company towards minimising its global footprint. It would be wise then to opt for a more earth-friendly brand. Do whatever it takes to make your brand a reflection of your company’s identity.

8. Was your original brand poorly executed?

Of course, it’s also possible that initially your brand was assembled poorly. This could be the result of working with a cheap or inexperienced agency or designer, an unqualified in-house worker on your team, being rushed or produced on a tight budget. If your brand was originally “botched”, you may need to rebrand to get a fresh start for your company’s identity and refocus it within the marketplace.

Rebrand vs brand refresh: what’s the difference?

Not every brand problem needs a full rebrand. It helps to know the difference between the two.

A brand refresh is an evolution. You keep the core of your existing brand, the equity people already recognise, and modernise it: tidying the logo, updating the colour palette, sharpening the messaging. It’s the right move when your brand is fundamentally sound but starting to show its age.

A rebrand is a more significant change. It rethinks the brand from the strategy up, and can include a new name, identity, positioning and voice. It’s the right move when the business has outgrown its brand, changed direction, or the original brand was never right to begin with. It’s a similar judgement call to deciding between a rebuild and a revise on a website: the real question is whether the foundations are still solid.

Where to start the rebranding process

Answered yes to two or more of those questions? Assuming you would like to follow through with rebranding your business, here are the next steps to follow.

  • Identify or redefine your business goals. Do you want to rebuild your company’s image from scratch, or just take a little off the top to redesign your identity for a modest change? Do you want to appeal to a new audience or to revitalise engagement with current customers? This will change the process quite significantly, so start here.
  • Research branding strategies for your business. We have five helpful starting points here.
  • Work with an experienced branding professional. Branding is one area you can’t afford to skimp on. A clear brand strategy should come first, so work with the best people you can find.
  • Proactively announce your rebrand. Don’t blindside your customers. Proactively prepare them for your rebranding rollout via a series of formal announcements. You might also like to consider celebrating with a promotion or sale to get them excited about your changes.

Rebranding FAQs

What is rebranding?

Rebranding is the process of changing how your business is perceived by updating elements like your name, logo, visual identity, messaging and positioning. It can be a full overhaul or a more focused refresh, but the aim is always to align how your brand looks, sounds and feels with where the business is today. It’s about closing the gap between your business and the brand representing it.

What are the signs you need a rebrand?

The clearest signs are that you’ve outgrown your current branding, you’re getting traffic but not converting, you’re lost in a sea of sameness, your brand has become over-complicated, you want to raise your prices, your target market has changed, your mission or values have shifted, or your original brand was poorly executed. If two or more of these ring true, it’s worth seriously considering a rebrand.

What’s the difference between a rebrand and a brand refresh?

A brand refresh keeps the core of your existing brand and modernises it, tidying the logo, updating colours, sharpening the messaging. It suits a brand that’s sound but ageing. A rebrand is a bigger change that rethinks the brand from the strategy up and can include a new name, identity and positioning. It suits a business that has outgrown its brand, changed direction, or whose original brand was never right.

Can rebranding let you raise your prices?

It can. Price is closely tied to perceived value, and perceived value lives in the customer’s mind. When a rebrand reshapes how customers perceive your quality, expertise and positioning, it can lift you out of a price-driven comparison and give you room to charge accordingly. You’re not just changing how you look, you’re changing what people believe you’re worth.

How do you start the rebranding process?

Start by getting clear on your goals: a full rebuild or a modest refresh, a new audience or renewed engagement with existing customers. Research your branding strategy, then work with an experienced branding professional rather than skimping, because a clear strategy should come before any design. Finally, plan how you’ll announce the rebrand so you prepare customers for the change rather than blindsiding them.

Should you tell customers about a rebrand?

Yes. A rebrand should never blindside the people who already know you. Prepare them with a series of clear, proactive announcements explaining what’s changing and why, and consider marking the moment with a promotion or launch to build excitement. Handled well, the rollout itself becomes a chance to re-engage existing customers and attract new ones.