Rebranding example
When innovation consultant Alex Yurek acquired Canadian brand Detour Coffee Roasters, the company was already a decade old. “We bought Detour Coffee because I’ve been a huge, huge, huge fan of the product, but there was a lot of potential to rebrand,” Alex said on the Shopify Masters podcast.
One of the things that many people don't do enough of is get their prototypes out into the world to understand what works and what doesn't.
—Alex Yurek, Detour Coffee Roasters
Detour’s rebranding involved two main phases: revamping the website and redesigning the packaging. Alex’s team started with ecommerce. “Doing a light redesign of the site and relaunching it to see traction and people’s feedback allowed us to test where we were wrong,” Alex explained. “I’d rather make mistakes with web design, as we can easily edit, change and adjust, than fail on packaging design and be left with 100,000 bags.”
After revamping the online store , it was time to update the packaging. “The previous version of Detour packaging was kraft paper with metal clasps, a front and back label,” Alex said. “Kraft paper and metal clasps don’t necessarily communicate to the customer that this is a premium product.” The goal was to elevate the perception of the packaging without losing the loyalty of customers who already loved the brand.
The Yurek team hired a freelance designer and tested hundreds of packaging designs before landing on the right one. Showing the result to loyal customers was a crucial part of the decision-making process. “One of the things that a lot of people don’t do enough of is getting their prototypes out into the world to understand what works and what doesn’t,” Alex said.
The rebranding paid off. “E-commerce accounts for about 20% of our total sales now, double what it was when we bought the company,” Alex said. “We’re not done yet. Now that these designs are in the market, canadian cell phone numbers we’ve learned things that will make our next iteration of packaging even more effective.”
Set goals
Identify your audience
Write a brand positioning
Create your new identity
Test and adjust
Apply your rebranding
Listen and adapt
Developing a rebranding strategy takes time, effort and money. Even so, a successful rebranding creates a strong brand with loyal customers and an identity that stands out from the competition.
Use these seven steps to plan your company's rebranding:
1. Set goals
Start by defining what you want to achieve with your rebranding. You might want to capture a new market by changing the tone of your brand, or maybe you want to distance your company from the past. Be specific about the objectives of your rebranding strategy and set realistic goals.
2. Identify your audience
You may already have a good idea of your company's target audience, but a rebrand could attract new customers with different interests. Get clear on who you hope to reach with your new strategy, whether they're current or potential customers, and clearly define who they are and what would attract them to your products or services. In this step, also consider your competition and why their audience should choose your brand over others.
3. Write a brand positioning
Rebranding will affect many areas of your business and will require collaboration across multiple teams. That’s why it’s important to start the process with a strategic statement that serves as a guide to ensure everyone is working in the same direction. This brand positioning will guide your team in developing the rebranding for your business.
For example, your current focus might be: “Provide joyful and positive service to our customers.” This tone and direction will be the foundation for your team to develop your brand’s visual identity and processes.