The 12 steps to brand refresh success

Private Equity looks at a brand refresh as an opportunity to create value.

The challenge is that doing it successfully is far from easy.

Among many other positive outcomes, a revitalized brand will create awareness, preference and loyalty. In turn, these factors will help grow revenue, maximize profits and lower costs. This is why Private Equity firms leverage brand refreshes so often. PE firms look for opportunities for value creation, and they know that branding can unlock substantial incremental value for their portfolio companies. However, it’s also common knowledge that pulling off this type of initiative successfully can be difficult. Not only that, but launching a refreshed brand that does not resonate with your audiences can create way more harm than good.

At Solid Branding we’ve managed many brand revitalization programs, an in the process we've learned a thing or two about what it takes to do it right. In this article we've outlined the 12 most important steps that have helped us minimize the risk of negative consequences while optimizing the chances of success.

PE firms don't invest unless they've done a thorough analysis.

PE firms don't invest in new portfolio companies without doing their homework. Here's a quick summary overview of some of the key activities:

VALUATION

To start, PE firms will conduct a critical analysis of the market conditions, the target company’s financials, and synergies with other M&A targets, in order to determine current valuation and the potential opportunity for value creation.

DUE DILIGENCE

As part of the due diligence process, PE firms will engage with key stakeholders and carefully study the target company’s operations, including auditing their legal, financial and ops documents.

FUNDING

Additionally, they will evaluate the best funding structure, which may involve raising debt or equity capital.

INTEGRATION

Another important consideration is the integration process, which can involve restructuring divisions or departments – all in an effort to lower costs, eliminate redundancies, accelerate growth, and increase profitability.

EXIT STRATEGY

Lastly, private equity firms will also invest time evaluating the most effective exit strategy with the goal to generate the best return on their investment as fast as possible. This may involve selling the company to another buyer, taking it public, or conducting a management buyout.

Why is 'branding' not included in the list?

You may notice that "branding" was not included as a discreet topic in the list above. That is because, all too often, a potential brand revitalization program will be considered part of the "integration" process – especially if the plan includes merging the new acquisition with one or more companies. Unfortunately, we have found that due to the sheer complexity of M&A transactions, branding does not always get the attention it deserves. We believe that this can be a dangerous practice because a rebrand that is not planned or executed well can damage established relationships and negatively impact performance.

A revitalized brand can certainly create value, but not without a solid plan.

Before we share the steps that we use to optimize the success of a brand revitalization initiative, we wanted to clarify the difference between a Brand Refresh and a Rebrand, since this appears to be confusing for some.

Brand Refresh

In simplified terms, this is when we update the brand to be more relevant to its audiences without changing the existing brand strategy. Often this type of initiative is mostly focused on the external manifestations of the brand, such as the brand identity (logo and visual style) in an effort to re-energize audiences such as customers, partners and employees while being careful to communicate that the essential values of the brand have not changed.

Comprehensive Rebrand

This is when a brand undergoes a full scale reimagining of the brand strategy (including positioning and messaging) and a complete new brand identity (which often includes a new name). Often this is triggered by a shift in business strategy which may include M&A activity, or a re-thinking of the company's fundamental offering.

As a note, PE firms are less likely to engage in a full scale rebrand because of the time, cost and risk involved with this type of initiative, so this article is focused on brand refresh initiatives.

The 12 steps we recommend for a successful brand refresh

When a brand refresh is not delivered well it can alienate or confuse your audiences and affect the company's reputation and performance. In the case of customers it may create a negative impact on sales; in terms of employees it may damage culture, and in turn productivity or talent retention; also, investors could lose confidence in the company's ability to reach its goals. These are serious business challenges that are best avoided - which is why it is so important to set up a brand refresh for success.

Over time we have identified a number of steps that are important to consider in order to minimize the risk of failure and maximize the chances of a well-received brand refresh. Here they are:

About Solid Branding

We are a next generation brand agency.

We work with Private Equity firms to optimize the value of their portfolio companies. And we do it faster, better and at a lower cost than traditional agencies because we combine the innovative approaches we learned in Silicon Valley with amazing creative resources from across the globe

A team with serious expertise and plenty of talent.

Our pool of resources includes world-class strategists and creatives who are well versed in working collaboratively, and have delivered many successful branding initiatives for large and small companies in a variety of industries.

Solid Branding was founded and is lead by Alfredo Muccino , an award-winning creative director and strategist who built his career in Silicon Valley

Our client experience speaks for itself.

You can count on us to deliver results.

Our branding services will help companies generate more awareness, change perceptions, create differentiation, stimulate sales, launch products, etc. Ultimately, the goal is always to build more value for the business, as fast as possible.

Our core services are:

• Brand Strategy
• Brand Design
• Brand Marketing

Our years in Silicon Valley have taught us to put innovation to work.

Starting from our collaborative business model to how we use AI to accelerate research, analysis and creative processes, we’ve learned to make innovation a priority – because we believe in faster and better.

Let's talk.

If you want to explore a brand refresh to create value for your portfolio companies, please contact us and let’s discuss your objectives and parameters. We’d be happy to provide you with insights about our approach, timing and the costs associated with the project.

Send us a note:

alfredo@solidbranding.com

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Solid Branding