Why customers can drift away
Customers rarely leave because a logo changes. They drift when the change breaks the cues they use to recognise the business, or when it is unclear whether the business itself has changed. The well-known example is Tropicana, which replaced its familiar orange juice packaging in 2009. Unit sales fell 20 per cent in the weeks that followed, and the company returned to its original design. Shoppers could no longer find the product they knew.
A service business faces a similar risk on a smaller scale. A long-standing client who receives a proposal that looks unfamiliar, or searches for the business and finds a name they do not recognise, may pause before they call.
Keep what customers recognise
The first decision is what to keep. The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute’s research on distinctive brand assets suggests sorting elements by how well known they are and how unique they are to the business. Elements that are both, such as a familiar colour, symbol or name, should usually be kept and refined rather than replaced.
It is common for a business planning a rebrand to want to change everything at once, because the old identity has become tiresome to the people who see it every day. Customers see it far less often, and value its familiarity more.
Tell customers before they notice
Existing customers should hear about the change directly from the business. A short message on or before the day of the change, explaining what has changed, why, and what has not, such as the people, the service and the contact details, keeps trust intact. It also gives the business a reason to be in touch.
Sequence the rollout
Change the channels customers use most on the same day: the website, email signatures, proposals, quotes and invoices. Then replace signage, vehicles and uniforms on a planned schedule. Old and new versions side by side for a long period suggest disorganisation, which is the opposite of what a rebrand is meant to signal.
Large brands have reversed changes that customers rejected, as Gap did when it returned to its original logo within about a week in 2010. Planning what stays and testing the change with a few trusted clients before launch is far easier than reversing it afterwards.
The Zelexis approach
Zelexis starts every brand project by deciding what to keep, sharpen or replace, so the recognition a business has earned is carried into the new presentation. The rollout is planned with the client before any design is finalised.
A useful next step
Something to try this week.
Write the short message you would send existing clients on the day the new brand goes live, in three sentences, covering what has changed, why, and what has not changed. If those three sentences are hard to write, the reasons for the change need more work before the rollout begins.