5 Ways to Reposition Your Brand - And Why You Should

Business Growth

Jul 26

Your brand is what people say about your business. It’s what customers think and feel when they see your logo, products, or messaging. To control this perception, you need to consistently check on customer perspectives and reposition your brand anytime it is no longer aligned with who your organization is, and what it represents and who you serve.

What Does It Mean to Reposition Your Brand?

To understand what it means to reposition your brand, let’s first look at what brand positioning is.

Brand positioning is how your brand is perceived in the minds of customers. It is what customers think about your brand based on what they believe makes you unique and different from your competitors.

Brand repositioning is the act of intentionally switching the way your brand is perceived by customers. If customers already have an opinion about your brand, brand repositioning is how you adjust perceptions so they better reflect your brand’s true mission, style, promise, and purpose.

Why Reposition Your Brand?

Branding is something that organizations usually focus on at the inception of their business. Logo, icons, imagery, taglines, and messaging are all priorities at the launch of a business, and then they are often deprioritized as time goes on. But, branding should remain an ongoing task.

Here are a few reasons why an organization might need to rethink their branding strategy and reposition their brand.

Take control of your brand.

If you don’t define your brand positioning, the market will. The end result might be brand impressions that don’t match what your organization stands for or offers. Brand repositioning gives you control over your reputation and the way that customers think about your brand.

Update and level up your branding.

Branding, like most other marketing strategies, needs to be regularly updated and modernized. Trends, aesthetics, and attitudes change, and your brand needs to continue to level up to keep up with changing times. It might be time to reposition your brand if it has become dated, cluttered, or confusing.

Align your sales and product team.

If your brand position has become weak, blurred, or confusing, it can affect your team. Sales and product departments may have different ideas about what your brand means and represents. Repositioning your brand can help your team get on the same page by reinforcing who you are targeting and how your products and services help them.

Match market demand, and serve new segments.

All organizations evolve. That evolution might lead you to serve new markets. As your business and its offerings and audience change, so should your branding. Brand repositioning ensures that your brand messaging aligns with your current offering, differentiators, and place in the market.

5 Ways to Reposition Your Brand

Now that you know why brand positioning is important and why you should periodically update it, let’s look at how you can evolve, improve, and reposition your brand.

1. Survey employees and customers.

Don’t jump into repositioning your brand based on a hunch. Take time to talk to stakeholders who have a close read on your business. Survey employees and customers to get an idea of where they think your brand is and where it should be. Ask questions such as:

What do they think when they see your brand?
What’s the first thing that comes to mind?
What’s missing?

2. Conduct competitor research.

Brand positioning is about your brand -- and your competitors. Consider your competitors’ brand positioning. Identify ways that you can differentiate your brand from theirs. How are your main competitors positioning themselves in the market? Where is the biggest opportunity to stand out?

3. Evaluate your logo and brand marks.

Branding is what your organization stands for as well as how it looks. As you update and reposition your brand, consider how you may need to modernize your logos and brand assets. Are they professional and aligned with the market/industry you are in? What needs to change, and how can you change it to make it more aligned with your new positioning?

4. Revisit your homepage content and navigation.

Once you have new positioning for your brand, go through your existing marketing assets to ensure that everything is in alignment. Start with your website as it is the foundation of your marketing efforts.

Does it speak to your core customer?
Does it help answer any questions potential customers have when researching?
Does it take them down a path that makes sense for their needs?
Does it reflect your new brand style, mission, and purpose?

5. Revamp your advertising.

Once you update your website, move on to revamp your advertising efforts. Adjust sales pages, ad copy, and keyword and audience targets to align with your new messaging and brand assets. Audit your assets to ensure that you are speaking to the right target audience and addressing the specific and unique ways that your offerings help them in ways that competitors can’t.

Do You Need to Reposition Your Brand?

Customers are always forming ideas about your brand. If you don’t work to shape that perception, it will form on its own -- and it may not align with your brand purpose, promise, or mission.

It’s important that you take control over the perception of your brand. That doesn’t mean positioning your brand once and then forgetting about it. You need to regularly check in with your brand, consider what it is saying to customers, and decide if you need to work on repositioning it to better align with the current state of your business.

If you need help with repositioning your brand, SpotOn is here to help. Contact us to find out how we can use research, strategy, and design to improve and realign the perception of your brand. Contact SpotOn today.

Amanda Sanz