The rebrand. It's not a term for the faint of heart, and it's certainly something you can't just walk into willy-nilly. Not if you want good results, anyway. When you're staring down a rebrand, there's a lot to consider. Whether you're just excited to get going or unsure where to start, it's easy to jump the gun in your process and skip some essential steps. Before you begin, you've got to hit the pause button and ask the important question—are you prepared?

Preparing for Your Rebrand

Preparing for your rebrand may not seem like one of the most exciting steps in the process, but it is undoubtedly one of the most important. Before you begin, there are a myriad of items and areas you need to look at to make sure you are setting yourself up for success. Without this sort of preparation, you could end up feeling lost halfway through the process, or worse, unsatisfied with your final results, whether you or an outsourced individual completes them. Let's take an in-depth look at each of the items you need to have ready and waiting when it comes to your rebrand.

Gettting The Necessary Buy-In

First things first, you've got to make sure you've got buy-in. Your brand is not only important to the public, but it is also essential for your internal client, the people who support you in your business. Maybe you haven't really considered a rebrand and may not see a need for it yet. Or perhaps you are the higher up, and you see the need for a rebrand, but you want to make sure your internal team is on the same page. The rebrand won't work if the people responsible for carrying it out, financially or on the ground, don't support it. In order to do this successfully, make sure you have a clear explanation of why you believe a rebrand is important, what it will achieve, and the best way to go about it.

Do Your Branding Homework

Once you've agreed internally that a rebrand is vital for your company's development, it's time to find a professional to help you carry it out. Be sure that your own company values and priorities line up with your own when you search for this expert. This will help ensure that you stay on the right page, work well together, and have an overall result that you are excited about because the person you have hired to execute it has understood your mission.

This professional will likely send you what's commonly referred to as homework. This often comes in the form of an extensive workbook aimed at uncovering your company's deep and complex aspects that make up your brand, whether they currently exist or are waiting to be unearthed. It's incredibly important to not only do this part but do it exceptionally well.

The more effort you put into your homework, the more material your professional has to work with, and the more successful your project will be in the end. Try to avoid one-word answers to questions that don't give your professional a whole lot of insight into your company. These kind of vague responses are unhelpful and can lead to a limited process — the more detail you can give them, the better.

Gather Your Assets

You'll also want to gather your assets so that the professional who is redesigning your brand knows where they are starting. Things like your original logo, current brand colors, current typography, or any brand values you've already established are all assets that your professional will need to get started. You'll likely discuss what you like about these assets, what you don't like, and how you would like to see them change. That may sound complex, but a good branding professional will know exactly what to ask you to guide you in the right direction. If you feel like you don't know, rest assured, they do. Working with you to establish what you don't like within your own brand and what you do and don't like about other brand examples they will show you will all steer your rebranding project in the right direction for a great final result.

Are you considering a rebrand and haven't pulled the trigger yet? Let us know what's holding you back in the comments below.