Thinking

Is it time to rebrand your business?

If your answer is “YES”, it’s time to REBRAND.

We’re firm believers in the old saying, “don’t fix what’s not broken” so be sure you’ve thoroughly examined the state of your organization before you gather up the troops for a rebrand. Although it sounds like a very daunting process, these 5 steps below will ensure your success!

The old proverb “The bigger they are, the harder they fall” is very appropriate when I think of some recent epic fails by some big brands, namely Pepsi and United Airlines. If you know anything about brand communications, you probably shook your head in disbelief as I did at their recent snafus.

People within the brand strategy world will often argue that the most difficult client engagements are those that involve naming — projects like complete rebrands. I would agree.

It seems that on an almost weekly basis we are hearing stories of customers being removed — forcibly or otherwise — from commercial airlines. The headlines are sensational. The memes on social media are often hysterical, but the brand perception problem is no laughing matter to the $736 billion USD passenger airline industry. There is a big problem and a big opportunity.

Today you are looking at a brand-new company. A company that is based on a new way of thinking about business growth. A company that has, combined, over 30 years of brand strategy and marketing communications experience behind it, but is as fresh as if it were day one.

AdsmithChina and Aloft Group have merged to create a new brand and a new ideal. One that is built on the way brands need to operate to be successful in the future. And we couldn’t be more excited. 

Hello Brandigo!

Earlier this year in his blog recapping 2016 as the Year of Live Streaming, my colleague Brent Martino noted that we’re just starting to round the corner toward increased immersion into a “360-degree world” through continued advancements in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). As our physical existence collides with the digital technologies meant to enhance it, we marketers need to pay close attention to how this will impact the new ways people will soon experience the world around them – not just as consumers but applied across every aspect of our daily lives.

1. There has been a merger or acquisition.

It’s not uncommon for several companies to become one. The single thing that unites those businesses is a new brand — something that encompasses each company and brings the uniqueness of those companies to the forefront. Your rebrand should make clients of each organization feel welcome and comforted by the change. 

The last several months have brought significant speculation about President Trump’s long-awaited legislation to replace Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA). Though Trump has pushed lawmakers to get onboard with his American Health Care Act (AHCA), the Act was ultimately withdrawn from vote with Obamacare (OC) remaining as the law of the land for the foreseeable future. Still, it’s likely that some form of the bill will make a return to the docket in the near future, leaving all eyes on the Oval Office for signs that a revision is in the works.

Organizations are seeing true payoff from investing resources, time and money into their organization’s project management expertise: lower costs, greater efficiencies, improved stakeholder and customer satisfactions, and greater competitive advantages. 80% of global executives believe having project management as a core competency helps them remain competitive, per an Economist Intelligence report.

If you’re an avid user of LinkedIn, you have likely noticed by now the recent update this popular social media platform has undergone. As a millennial, the UI update is welcomed. I often thought the look and feel of the platform was clunky and extremely outdated, sometimes even confusing. The desktop version of LinkedIn is now more tightly aligned with the UI of the app and mobile version — a good move, considering 58% of unique monthly visitors are accessing the platform from a mobile device. However, the new UI is similar to more than just the app. Take a look at the comparison between Facebook and LinkedIn, as described in WIRED's recent article.Although alarmingly similar, this might be a good move for the now Microsoft-owned company. Millennials are now entering the workforce, and it’s assumed that this group who grew up with Facebook and log in everyday, know how to use it. The change encourages these users to do the same with LinkedIn.