Launch a new identity

When your new brand identity is ready for the world to see, it's time to slow down. Don't roll out your new brand without first doing an internal launch. If your employees don't buy into your new brand identity, why should customers? You must educate your employees about your brand first!

You need to train all of your employees about what the new brand identity is, how it should be used, what it means, and why it matters. Don't just give employees pens, paperweights, or magnets with your new logo or tagline printed on them, and don't hand out laminated cards with the 10 new brand values or strategic imperatives. These are meaningless to employees unless you make them mean something. In other words, you need to turn your employees on to your brand. Make them believe in it, feel passionate about it, and become emotionally connected to it. For example, CSC created a comprehensive website, the CSC Styleguide, that offers all of the information internal and external audiences need in order to understand and use the CSC brand identity. The internal section of the website is available to employees only and requires employee login to access. CSC took the time to understand how important internal buy-in is to its brand success and invested time and money in providing easy-to-access information and educational tools so employees can get on board and stay on board with the brand. It's a great example of a well executed rebranding launch.

After your employees are comfortable with the new brand identity, it's time to roll it out to consumers and the audience at large. Depending on how different your new brand identity is and how consumers are likely to react to it based on your consumer research that you conducted during the rebranding process, the extent of your roll-out might include advertising, direct mail, email, websites, social media, and more.

Don't be afraid to get creative in an effort to spread the word about your rebranding and to raise awareness, recognition and acceptance of your new brand identity. In 2010, after becoming an independent company, Time Warner Cable launched a tweaked new logo. As part of the roll-out, Time Warner Cable senior vice-president of marketing communications Marrissa Freeman recorded a very informal YouTube video where she discussed the marketing team's thought process on why the rebranding was necessary and what it means to consumers.

Time Warner Cable wasn't the first company to create a video and publish it on YouTube to launch a new logo. When AOL split from Time Warner in 2009, the company launched a new logo along with a sneak peak preview video that debuted on the special AOL Brand Identity YouTube channel one month before the new brand identity officially rolled out. The video not only debuted the new logo but also made it clear that the new AOL image would be trendy, modern, and young.

The author is Susan Gunelius, contributing editor, AYTM.com blog. Re-printed with permission.

Link: http://aytm.com/blog/ research-junction/rebranding-essentials-brand-identity/