Previously we looked at the (link: https://www.superdream.co.uk/do-we-need-a-re-brand/ text: reasons as to why a business would rebrand popup: true title: Do we need a rebrand?) and the thought process regarding our own rebrand at Superdream. With that decision made, what were the next steps?
The first stage of the process was to involve the agency’s staff and create a re-brand project team which drew experience and opinion from all departments and all levels of seniority. It was a mix of long-serving staff, as well some more recent arrivals; the aim being to give the project a wider range of opinions and also to give ownership to the workforce, ensuring the project wasn’t the sole possession of the management team.
With the team in place there were three broad areas we considered:
– Where are we now?
– Where do we want to be?
– How are we going to get there?
Where are we now?
In order to develop a new proposition we re-visited the work the agency had previously completed as part of its business planning. The original visions and values hadn’t been assessed since the creation of the agency in 2012. Were they still relevant or did we need to start from scratch?
While the vision and values were solid, it was felt that they needed some refinement to better reflect the current position of the agency and where we wanted to head in the next few years. To do this we looked at the reasons behind our success over the past two years. Why had so many new clients bought into our ideas and the agency? The biggest discovery, with regards to the wins, was the recurring positive reaction to the personality of the pitch team being almost as important as the creative work.
An internal staff survey was also conducted to gauge opinion of what everyone thought of the agency. It turned up some interesting comments, mostly positive, but again re-enforcing the vision and values work and adding further content to the proposition development.
Where do we want to be?
Armed with this information research was conducted into Superdream’s market place. Questions such as: who are the main competitors?; what are their propositions?; what do their brands look like?; how do their websites work?
We would need to be sure our proposition was unique and the branding was strong enough to stand out from the crowd, but also appeared like it belonged in the brand set.
The positioning needed to be unique, but also true to the business and something the staff could buy into on a day-to-day basis.
How are we going to get there?
With the re-assessment internally and the understanding of the marketplace we were in the position to write the brief to create the new brand and proposition.
The brief focused on the need to reflect the journey the business had taken, encapsulate the growth that had characterised the last two years, build on the current values and stand alongside the competition. It also needed to be a timeless, not too fashionable, which is a big challenge for any creative team to develop.
Various routes were developed, from simple refinement of the logo, right through to a design that really pushed the boundaries and challenged what we stood for as an agency. These were produced in conjunction with a number of different proposition statement drafts.
The development work went through a number of rounds of development, with plenty of input from the rebrand team and the wider agency too. It was a great way to get everyone involved in the development.
With three routes emerging as the most suitable we took the opportunity to gain some feedback from outside of the business. We asked the opinion of key clients and suppliers, which would prove valuable, as the comments re-enforced what we thought, but also added an extra element of insight into the development. It also had a secondary benefit of building stronger relationships with important clients and suppliers.
After a final round of further refinement the decision was made. With the approval came the next challenge; planning the delivery of the project within a defined time period.
As with all businesses, time is a precious resource, and while a re-brand is important we were in the fortunate position where it didn’t (and couldn’t) take priority over all other work. With this in a mind a time-table was developed, which had a clear path, but also took into account the day-to-day work the agency had to complete. We still had to pay the bills after all!
Finally the budget for the development of the rebrand was fixed. Again this was something that had been taken into consideration during development. It wasn’t a major driver in the process, but it was taken in to account when assessing the various routes developed. We could have changed everything, from carpets to the colour of the window frames, but we didn’t. We would focus on items that had the most visible impact and created touch points with the client.
Conclusion
So, two thirds of the way through our rebrand project, we have re-evaluated the current position of the business and included as many opinions as possible from all the business’ stakeholders. We now further understand the marketplace and where we need to sit within it. Finally, we have set a timetable that can be achieved, without crippling the day-to-day running of the business, which will deliver a fantastic new brand.
The plans are in place, the work is going ahead… the next question is: how do we launch our new brand and positioning to the market-place?