How do you ensure that your new brand reaches its full potential and that you achieve the intended return on investment? In this interview, brand consultant Jitse Derreveaux discusses the crucial steps to make a branding or rebranding successful.
How do you
maximise the
potential of your
company's branding?
How do you ensure that your new brand reaches its full potential and that you achieve the intended return on investment? In this interview, brand consultant Jitse Derreveaux discusses the crucial steps to make a branding or rebranding successful.
Jitse Derreveaux, Brand Consultant MOQO
“To answer this question, we not only look at the external factors such as marketing campaigns or presence on social media, but first and foremost to the heart of the company. By closely involving employees in the branding process, especially when it comes to determining brand strategy pillars such as corporate values and brand personality, the branding gains broader support within the organisation and employees automatically become ambassadors who will talk about your brand on social media both professionally and privately. This is an important first step in getting the maximum potential out of your branding.”
Which steps are up next?
"The first question we ask ourselves is: what do we want to achieve with this new branding? Is brand awareness the goal, do you want to gain market share or change the perception of your company? Based on the primary goal of the (re)branding, we get started with an activation plan to achieve the intended objective. The plan takes action once the brand identity is on point, verbally as well as visually, and the most important executions such as the website have been launched."
“The goal of brand activation is to spread the message, in this case the rebranding, at the right time, through the right channel. Determining the touchpoints is therefore an important first step.”
How is an activation plan drawn up?
"The goal of brand activation is to spread the message, in this case the rebranding, at the right time, through the right channel. Determining the touchpoints is therefore an important first step. After that, the timings of the various actions will play a major role. We work towards a launch date, usually preceded by a teaser campaign to create some buzz. Next, there are fixed action points associated with a rebranding, such as updating social media channels, replacing facade cladding and vehicle lettering, introducing new e-mail signatures, etc. In this, good preparation is crucial. We notice that especially with rebranding projects things may go wrong, as old logos continue to circulate on active carriers, and unfortunately unintentionally take away a lot of power from the new branding.
Finally, there are numerous targeted actions to activate branding in the market, which depend on the sector and the target group. For a B2B company, we can go a long way with trade press communication, LinkedIn and mailings. The activation of a B2C brand is then broadened, often with social advertising on Meta, Tiktok..."
Launch event for the rebranding of Global Estate Group
This will give publicity to the new brand in the short term. How does this translate into a long-term strategy?
“It happens that brands launch 'big', without having thought about their approach after activation. Ideally, the activation plan results in a strategic marketing and communication plan where the brand story also seeps through into sales-oriented marketing messages and where the brand itself is occasionally actively communicated. By respecting the branding guidelines both verbally and visually in every communication, you create consistency and increase positive brand association and brand awareness. Only communicating about topics directly from a top topical calendar, events or promotions will not be enough to make your brand story come to life. Create a healthy mix of expertise content, internal light-hearted topics and content in which you convey your brand story."
Also, monitoring and adjusting the brand may contribute to maximising its potential?
"It speaks for itself that every action should be monitored and evaluated, so that adjustments can be made based on the findings to do better in the future and to steer the perception of the brand in the direction you have in mind. Regular customer surveys, employee surveys and market research provide valuable insights into how your brand is experienced and can lead to further optimisations in the form of brand campaigns.
Finally, an underestimated factor is repetition. Repetition is key! As a messenger, it may feel like you are constantly saying the same thing, but your message does not reach the recipient in the same way you send it out. In any case, you will not reach your entire target audience, and the message sometimes only gets through in fragments, or is lost in the enormous flow of information that we have to process in one day. Dare to repeat, only then will your actions have an impact."
Work together to market your new brand and get the maximum potential out of it? Let’s have a chat!