To rebrand or not to rebrand?

A dive into the impact rebranding could have on your business and your Amazon channel.

A Hot Topic

Following the news that Twitter will now be rebranding to X[i], there’s been a lot of discourse about how this will affect the business. Especially since its users have developed an attachment to the blue bird logo that has defined the app for the past decade. The iconic logo was introduced by Douglas Bowman and Phillip Pascuzzo in 2010 and has remained a permanent fixture of Twitter’s identity until now.

Rebranding at this stage, when Twitter currently has 92% brand awareness amongst social users[ii],  is a monumental move for the company and inevitably has triggered a lot of skepticism over whether this is an appropriate move for a business of this size to make.

In truth, a business of any size should carefully consider the impact that rebranding could have on its brand equity. From minor changes such as tweaking your brand colours to major changes such as a change in brand name, these can all affect how the customer perceives and associates with your business.

Why Rebranding Could Better Your Business

While there has been a lot of negative talk surrounding Twitter’s decision, it’s important to mention that rebranding, when done right, can be beneficial. Evolution for any young company is necessary and refreshing your brand look at a pivotal point in your growth could help take you to the next level.

The market is everchanging, and it’s swinging more and more in the direction of whatever Gen Z is posting about on TikTok that day. So, maintaining a fresh and trendy brand look is important, but it isn’t the only ingredient to success. For your rebrand to really pique someone’s interest it has to be coupled with a well-defined marketing strategy that will give your relaunch the wings it needs to fly and reach its intended goal of supercharging your growth.  

If you’ve reached the point of considering a rebrand then it’s safe to assume that you’ve already formed a customer base. And that pool of customers could act as an excellent sounding board. Connect with them, and find out why they’ve developed a loyalty to your business. Take those learnings and carve out how they can be used to breathe new life into your business and attract even more customers. A great way to do this is by reaching out directly to your newsletter subscribers and asking them to fill in a survey.

Why Rebranding Could Be Bad For Business

Finding the right time to rebrand is like capturing lightning in a bottle. Because if your brand awareness is smaller, then the amount of investment (time and money) it requires to carry out a quick and effective rebrand is significant, especially for FMCG brands. And for larger businesses, it can be hard to predict the effect it’ll have on its brand equity.

In particular, for brands on Amazon, rebranding can negatively influence your presence on the platform. Due to Amazon’s Brand Registry policies, the platform doesn’t support rebrands that involve a change in a brand’s name, the only accommodation they make is for brand titles that contain a typo, capitalisation, or legal abbreviation issue, and even that can be a headache to resolve.

This can also cause problems if you are yet to join the channel, because if resellers are already using your old brand name, then Amazon is unlikely to accept a different brand title for those catalogued products. For that reason, rebranding that goes beyond a visual refresh can cause confusion for consumers, so it’s important to consider this before moving ahead with a full brand transformation.

Final Thoughts

While rebranding can be a great opportunity for your business to better position itself within today’s market, it’s beneficial to also monitor what the risks could be such as damaging customer retention and brand equity.

Especially in the case of Amazon, it can be difficult to carry out a successful rebrand. However, a visual refresh could help your brand stand out better in-store and online and therefore increase your overall conversions and leave a lasting effect on the consumer. To make your brand refresh more worthwhile we’d recommend carrying out some market research so you can get better insights into what resonates with your customers.

And ultimately, if a rebrand is what will help bring your brand forward and further spread its purpose, then it’s the right decision for your business.

Do you need advice on how to better position your business on Amazon? We will be happy to answer any questions you have in an introductory call; you can arrange one with us here.

 [i] Elon Musk: Twitter rebrands as X and kills off blue bird logo - BBC News

[ii] https://www.bing.com/search?q=twitter+brand+awareness+today&cvid=0207a14cf5b44329b0eec912d23a9b6f&aqs=edge..69i57j0l8.7287j0j4&FORM=ANAB01&PC=HCTS