How do I know if my brand needs repositioning?

Repositioning a brand means changing what you say, to whom, and why you are different. It is not changing the logo or the colours (that is visual identity), though it often brings those changes with it. It is done when the company is no longer what the brand says it is, or when the market has changed around it.

Signs that usually mean it is time

• The customers you attract are no longer the ones you want. Requests arrive for things you no longer do, or from people who do not have the right profile.
• You have to explain a lot. In every conversation, you spend time correcting the idea the person had of the company.
• The company changed and the communication stayed. You started doing something else, or serving a different kind of customer, and the website and proposals still talk about the company of five years ago.
• You are competing only on price. Customers compare you with other companies as if they were identical, because they do not see the difference.
• The team describes the company in different ways. Each person says something else, and nobody is sure what the "official sentence" is.
• The market changed. A technology, a rule or a new habit arrived, and what was a difference became a requirement.

Signs that mislead

• Being tired of the logo. Whoever lives in the brand every day tires of it long before customers do. Tiredness is not a sign.
• Seeing a competitor change. They may have reasons that are not yours.
• A bad month. A drop can have ten causes. Check it is not just one of them before changing everything.
• Wanting "something more modern". It is a legitimate taste, but not a strategic reason.

How to confirm before changing anything

1. Listen to customers. Ask five long-standing customers and two recent ones why they chose you and how they describe the company. The answers tend to surprise.
2. Compare with what you say. Put side by side what you say and what they say. If they match, the brand is right. If not, there is work.
3. See what changed. List what the company does today and what it did when the brand was defined.
4. Decide what to change, in order. First the message; then the tone; only at the end, if needed, the design.

Repositioning is not starting over

A well-done repositioning keeps what customers already recognise and changes what is holding things back. Often it is enough to adjust the message and leave the design as it is. If you want to see what starting from the beginning involves, there is the branding guide for SMEs, and the Brand Strategy work describes how it is done.

What stays

Before deciding what to change, list what is good about the brand and recognised by customers: the name, a way of treating people, a product they talk about. That is what is protected. Repositioning is fine-tuning the direction, not throwing away what works. When you start from what stays, the change is smaller, safer and easier to explain to the team. Write that list and put it next to what you want to change: if anything on it is at risk, rethink.

In short

• Right signs: wrong customers, lots of explaining, a company that changed, competing only on price, a misaligned team, a different market.
• Misleading signs: tiredness of the logo, copying a competitor, a bad month.
• Confirm by listening to customers before changing anything.

Quick questions

How long does a repositioning take?

It depends on the size of the company and on what changes. The deciding part is quick if there is information; applying it (website, materials, team) is what takes longest.

Will I lose customers if I change the brand?

If you keep what they recognise and explain the change, the risk is small. More is lost with a brand that no longer says what the company is.

Can I reposition gradually?

You can, and it is often the most prudent: start with the message on the website and in proposals and leave the design for later.