Some of you Millennials might not remember, but, once upon a time, Old Spice was regarded as your grandfather’s deodorant. It was a dated brand with aging customers and, with body sprays like Axe cornering their target demographic, their appeal was fading fast. In order to regain their hold on the market and change the way people viewed their product, a rebranding was in order. By the end of 2010, Old Spice was cool again and synonymous with one of the best advertising campaigns in years, a perfect example of how to rebrand your business the right way.
A good rebranding can do a lot for a business, and Old Spice is just one of many examples. If your image and message are preventing you from reaching the right customers, it may be time to rebrand your business. Ask yourself these questions:
What Do You Stand For?
The first step when deciding whether it makes sense to rebrand your business is to consider your company goals.
- Who are the customers you’re trying to connect with?
- What about your brand is preventing you from reaching them?
- Is your brand still meaningful?
Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and take a good, hard, objective look at your overall strengths and weaknesses. After all, every brand has something that makes them unique. If you want to stand out, you need to focus on the things that make you different. You need to give customers a reason to care.
Whether it’s your image, your message, your product, or your services, understanding your company’s strengths and values will only make it easier to convey them to customers.
What’s Changed?
As times change, so does the competition, the market, and your customers. If you want to keep your brand from getting left behind and start connecting with new generations of consumers, you need to take stock of your surroundings and change accordingly.
- Is your website keeping up with the latest design trends?
- Is your logo showing its age?
- What kind of messages are people connecting with and are those the stories you’re telling?
The rapidly evolving nature of digital marketing has not only changed the game, but has made it faster than ever. If you’re having trouble keeping up, it could be time to redouble your efforts.
Is a Rebrand Worth It?
Good brands cater to the here and now. Great brands stand the test of time. If it’s the latter you’re after, be ready to invest. To completely rebrand your business takes time, money, and effort, so make sure you consider the risks and rewards before committing your brand to an overhaul.
- Is this the answer to all your problems?
- Have you considered all your options?
- Do you have the necessary resources?
The most important thing is that you continue to ask questions. From there, it’ll be that much clearer to see your brand for what it is and pinpoint the ways in which you can start improving it.
Making the decision to rebrand your business can give you an edge over the competition, stimulate growth, and increase profits by attracting new customers. If your marketing methods aren’t working like they used to and your message isn’t resonating like it once did, it might be time consider a new direction. If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of brand development, feel free to contact us today.
About Millennium Agency
Millennium Agency is a nationally recognized, top woman led B2B branding, positioning, and digital marketing firm who knows how to create value that emotionally influences your customer’s buying decision, giving you the competitive advantage. As your trusted partner in B2B software technology and manufacturing, we provide the branding and positioning framework that make an impact – so you can focus on what you do best – run your business successfully. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, and a worldwide presence, the professionals at Millennium Agency would like to learn more about your business. Visit www.mill.agency or book time here.
Way back when, a successful PR campaign revolved around print, radio, and television. Now these mediums are just the tip of the iceberg.
With the ways social media has changed public relations, it has gone from a one-way street to a full-blown Autobahn. It can make brands, it can break them, and it can grow your brand in ways that were once thought impossible. Regardless of whether or not you’re using it correctly, it can also be a full-time job.
With mobile devices overtaking desktops as the screens of choice for online users, the benefits of having a website designed to work on any device are many. While it’s been important for a while now to have a responsive web design for your business, it hasn’t been a requirement.
In two weeks’ time, Google is hoping to change all that. Come April 21, they’re going to start penalizing websites that aren’t optimized for mobile devices. Here’s what you need to know to be prepared.
Why is Google Updating Their Algorithm?
It’s all part of their ever-continuing effort to make it easier for users to find the most relevant and timely results, regardless of the device they’re searching from. While past updates to their search engine algorithm have made it easier for mobile users to find mobile-friendly websites, this latest step appears to be a far more drastic measure towards changing the shape of Google and improving their product to keep up with the times.
After the update goes into effect, Google will begin weeding out non-responsive websites and making them harder for mobile users to find in their results pages.
What Does This Mean for Your Website?
The good news is that, even if your site lacks responsive web design, this latest update will only affect your mobile search rankings. The bad news is that it’s definitely going to affect your mobile search rankings, which are just as important – if not more important – than your desktop search rankings.
While Google has yet to announce specifics in regards to how they’ll punish websites that aren’t optimized, they did state that the update “will have a significant impact on [their] search results.” Since Google doesn’t usually extend a warning like this in the lead-up to updating their algorithms, it’s safe to assume that the warning should be heeded unless you want to see a drop in your PageRank, customers, and conversions.
While companies in the past could still get by without implementing responsive web design, a non-responsive website will soon be a non-option. With roughly 30% of today’s web traffic coming from mobile users and an overwhelming majority of them clicking the first link on a results page, responsive web design will soon be a requirement.
How Can You Continue to Rank?
The first step is seeing if your website is mobile-friendly. Thanks to Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test, it’s as easy as inputting your URL. If it passes the test, you should be all set. If it fails, you’ll want to have your website analyzed as soon as possible to determine which design areas are posing the greatest detriment. From there, you can begin addressing them accordingly by having your site redesigned by a professional web developer.
In addition to avoiding a significant penalty from Google, a mobile-friendly website will prove invaluable towards attracting new customers and improving your site’s overall functionality. While it’s one thing to have a website, it’s another to have one that caters to your customers and won’t prevent you from reaching new ones.
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits and importance of having a responsive web design, check out our blog post on good UX and good UI.
About Millennium Agency
Millennium Agency is a nationally recognized, top woman led B2B branding, positioning, and digital marketing firm who knows how to create value that emotionally influences your customer’s buying decision, giving you the competitive advantage. As your trusted partner in B2B software technology and manufacturing, we provide the branding and positioning framework that make an impact – so you can focus on what you do best – run your business successfully. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, and a worldwide presence, the professionals at Millennium Agency would like to learn more about your business. Visit www.mill.agency or book time here.