The evolution of your brand as your business grows
The Nike Swoosh, the NBC Peacock, the Apple clean sleek packaging. We are drawn to them. We form a bond with them. We give their brand love.
Design is the first thing that people notice that entices them to want to learn more. A great logo, brochure, presentation, or visually appealing social media posts — these are some of the things that attract your customers and connect with them. Crafting compelling content can work wonders for your business, and this compelling content is part of your branding.
The most recognized part of your branding is your logo
Every year around Valentine’s Day, Ruzow Graphics does a brand assessment to see if our brand is living up to its values. This year we are refreshing our social media by developing more branded content about our small and mighty graphic design firm. These new social posts will start hitting Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn on the 14th!
We change the O in the Ruzow Graphics logo keeping the font/typography the same. This is used in our email signatures.
We suggest giving your business love at this time of year by performing a detailed assessment of your brand. Don’t jump to assume you need a new logo. Before you make a decision to invest in a rebrand or refresh consider these questions.
1. Has your business changed?
Business changes can include a new corner of the market, a new product or service, even customer feedback. These are perfect reasons to do a brand assessment with a design strategist — like Ruzow!
2. Do you have new competition?
An updated logo shows existing customers that you are staying competitive and attracts prospective customers to win their hearts. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you have no competition. Everyone has competition — we can help you find yours!
3. Do you have a new audience?
When a rebrand is done right, the company can see an increase in sales from new and existing customers. A new logo connects with a new crowd and shows your existing audience that you are evolving with them. Think about them, not about you. Your branding should reflect your audience — how you doin‘ on that front?
4. How identifiable is your logo?
Many companies have long and established histories that provoke intense feelings, positive experiences or memories for their clients. For those companies you might consider retaining an element of an existing logo — it can be a choice of font/typography, a color, a favorite icon. Those are also things that can be refreshed or updated.
5. How important is honoring the past?
Dramatic rebranding could have heartbreaking consequences. Find out from your customers what part of your branding is favorable.
One of the craziest stories of a rebrand gone bad is Tropicana. In 2009 they decided to rebrand all elements at once:
- Simpler Packaging
- Logo design and new color pallet
- New marketing campaigns
The simplified rebranded products hit the shelves and customers failed to recognize it, leading to a 20% loss in sales. It looked generic and strayed too far from what their customers purchased regularly.
What could they have done? Focus groups would have been great in this instance. They definitely should have asked their customers what they liked about their brand design. They found out that changing too many brand elements at one time can be disastrous.
It’s not always about starting over
Think back to the last time your logo was refreshed. Are signs of age beginning to show? Was your logo built on trends from a few years ago?
Sometimes you just need small tweaks! You can still love your old one, but it may not be as relevant as it once was. We can work with design elements that are already in place without doing a total rebrand.
For example, Groton Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention logo rebrand kept some of its colors and gave it a similar feel. The lettering was updated and the icon was too.
For GASP we showed their customers that they are not mired in the past, but are committed to the future — making their brand easily recognizable, and still familiar, by marrying the old to the new.
Honor simplicity
That’s what modern design is all about! Logos these days work best when they can be adapted for digital presentations, branded social media, email signatures… the list goes on. No one wants to get stuck in the details. Let’s make your logo leaner and meaner.
We start by looking at the usage of your logo. Then we consider what the trends are and may remove out of style bevels, shadows, outlines and gradients that are dated. We cut out superfluous details to optimize readability.
Make your rebrand shine
At Ruzow Graphics we like to create a unique and custom look for every client — a look that your customers will remember. Sometimes we just choose a font/typeface that is easier to read or better represents your brand. They are often minimal changes (switching colors, typography shifts) that give your logo an original fresher look.
We also make sure that the brand assets are consistent. We update logos, colors, typography, and images across all company materials; email signature, web masthead, Twitter handle, Facebook and LinkedIn pages. We bring the old to new and carry where you were to where you are today and phase in logo materials or sweet announcements.
Keep the spark alive
Brand strategy is a powerful tool, especially when it’s fueled by strategy. Keep your brand vision front and center at all times. We can work together to find the right path for your company’s vision and growth.
Want to learn more? Let’s Talk