Thinking About Rebranding?
What to consider
A name change, a new logo and you’re all set right?
Wrong.
There are so many things that go into a rebrand that are not even part of the branding processes that you need to stop and think about before you sink the time, effort and money that a rebrand is going to take.
Let’s start with some legal considerations.
Are you changing your company’s legal name, or are you doing a trade name? Each of these requires different steps to be completed and then you must notify EVERYONE about the change. (Please note that these lists are NOT comprehensive, so please make sure to review your particular situation.)
Legal Issues:
- VHave you filed paperwork with your state corporation commission
- VUpdated your business license
- VUpdated you state employment tax records
- VUpdated your unemployment records
- VUpdated your workers compensation insurance
- VUpdated your employee benefit programs
- VNotified your vendors/suppliers & updated in required documentation
- VUpdated external contracts that need to be under the new name
- VUpdate payroll accounts
- VChanged over utilities
- VYou need new signage – inside and out
- VWhat about way finder signs? Do they need to be updated.
- VDo you have branded posters? Those will need to be updated.
- VAre the furnishing going to be reused?
- VWhat about equipment? What can stay and what needs to go?
Your People:
- VWhat about staff uniforms?
- VName tags?
- VBusiness Cards
- VDo you need to retrain them with new terminology that the brand is going to use?
Systems:
- VTelephone / answering system
- VIs there a new way of answering the phone?
- VEmail addresses
- VWebsite
- VPatient Contact – appointment reminders? Phone or email?
- VDo you need new email templates?
- VDo you need new forms for patient visit?
- VAnd we haven’t even moved into the bulk of the brand issues yet.
- VOnce we get into the branding there are so many other things that may change.
your branding:
- VAre there changes to the foundational elements of your organization? Mission, Vision, Purpose & Values?
- VDo you have a clear vision for you are trying to connect with?
- VDo you have a clear understanding of what you are providing to them?
- VDo you understand what sets you apart from every other practitioner that is in your field? Can you express it, clearly?
- VHow is your aesthetic changing to reflect the “new”?
- VIf there is a fundamental shift how is this going to be explained and expressed to your staff? To your patients? To prospects?
- VHow are you going to create awareness of your new brand?
- VHow are you going to transition existing brand followers over to the new brand?
- VHow do you create the gateway from your old social media accounts to your new ones, or do you keep the same account & see if you can change the names?
- VHave you looked at all of your existing marketing materials and determined what you need to re-purpose under the new branding and what you want to let go of?
- VHave you decided on what types of new campaigns the new brand will run?
- VHave you created, or at least thought about your content plan for the next year under the new brand?
- VHave you planned out your buyers’ journey?
- VWhat about the patient experience? Have you scripted what the visit should look like, so that each patient has a consistent experience?
- VHave you considered the culture in your practice? What is it like now? What do you want it to be? And what steps are you going to take to get there?
- VAre you going to play music in your practice? If so, what kind? Remember, it is part of the brand experience so make sure to put thought into it & don’t just flip on a radio station.
- VAre you going to have a smell associated with your practice?
- VWhat about the lighting?
All our senses come into play when creating an experience & the experience that your patients have in your practice goes a long way to creating your brand. So, think about what you want them to see, hear, feel, smell & taste when they walk in your door.
And one final note…If you’re having your logo redone, PLEASE have someone who does not know what you do look at it & tell you what they see. Or even better, ask a teenage boy – way too many logo disasters could be avoided if someone would have just pointed out the “other image” that was seen in the logo mark instead of the one intended. If you don’t understand…just do a search for logo fails.
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