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When we think about rebranding, we often think about major changes in the brand aesthetic.
A new logo
A fresh color scheme
A spiffy new website
A stellar new social media account
Rebranding is so much more than changes in the visual elements of a company or organization. The often overlooked part of brand identity is the audience’s perception of that brand.
While our logos and aesthetics create strong ties, it is our mission, story, and vision that our brand represents that creates true, long-lasting connections. The purpose of rebranding isn’t just to get a cooler logo printed on our merch; it is to solidify our mission in the mind of our target community!
There are a ton of different reasons why a company or organization decides to move forward with a rebrand. Here are a few reasons:
Whatever your reasoning behind doing a rebrand, you must be prepared to enter into an in-depth process of analyzing your current brand and taking steps to realize your ideal brand.
There are many different questions to ask and things to consider when rebranding your church, organization or non-profit. Keep reading to see a few!
1. Determine the pros and cons of a rebrand
Before actually going through the process of doing a full rebrand, it is worth exploring whether the pros outweigh the cons.
Your church’s size, age, and reputation will determine some of the pros and cons to actually going through with a rebrand. For example, if your church was established in 1889 and you’re still using the same logo, it may be time to consider a rebrand. The pro might be a fresh new look to an established brand. The con may be the loss of the original brand image.
Here you will find a general list of some of the pros and cons that apply to the rebrand of most companies and organizations:
Pros:
Cons:
There will always be a risk of losing people when you rebrand, but you must ask whether the possible gain is worth the loss. Take some time to analyze this list and even update it to suit your own company! This is an essential first step to the rebranding process.
2. Determine the pros and cons of a rebrand
An essential part of your brand is not just the images of your brand, but the identity behind it. You can have the coolest logo and freshest color palette, but if the brand itself has no purpose-driven identity behind it, it won’t make a noticeable difference.
A rebrand is a perfect opportunity to reestablish your vision, mission, and identity or resurrect the identity that may have been lost over the years. Maybe you actually do have a great vision and mission in your brand, but your assets (such as your website and social media presence) don’t accurately reflect it.
Laying out your vision and mission statements in plain language is a great starting point for rebranding. The verbiage in these statements should reflect your identity and yes, still be relatable to your target audiences.
The big question to ask: do these statements inspire people to want to utilize your services, donate to your cause, or visit you on a Sunday?
3. Find 3-5 adjectives that describe your brand, then choose a style that reflects those attributes
Rebranding often pushes your company or organization to go right back to the drawing board. An important question to ask is “what story do we want to be known for?” For churches, the story is obviously the Gospel of Jesus, but from this place comes the vision and story of your unique community.
The beauty of the local church is that each church community is a single part of the larger, global Church body. Each one is uniquely positioned to reach the exact people they reach in the manner in which they reach them. We are not all meant to operate in the exact same ways because we don’t all have the same anointing, spiritual gifts, or callings.
We each have unique purposes in the Kingdom of God, which means each church out there has different characteristics. We do a disservice to our communities when we try to act like a church that has a completely different story.
For example, a church of 40 people in the middle of nowhere probably shouldn’t try to be like an urban megachurch. There is nothing wrong with churches of thousands in huge cities. It is just that they have a completely different audience and identity than smaller churches. We shouldn’t try to copy church down the road because, odds are, their methods won’t work where we are.
Read more about the downfall of church comparison here
A great starting point for rebranding is to do a simple exercise. Read through your church or organization's vision & mission statements, story, and characteristics and choose 3-5 (or more!) adjectives to describe your brand.
Here are a few examples using some of our church clients at PMF Creative:
It can be difficult to be introspective when it comes down to identifying your brand adjectives. A great way to eliminate the bias is to ask those who are long-standing members, and even brand new members, to describe your church using a few words. This is a great way to get outside perspectives and give you a baseline for how people view your community.
4. Be prepared to share the vision of rebranding with your congregation, donors, and core audience
One of the most challenging and important parts of rebranding is getting your people on board with it. Before you can convince anyone about the rebrand, you first have to understand the purpose and vision behind it! If your only reasoning is, “well, we need a new logo,” it probably won’t fly well with your community.
The severity of the change you are planning to make will determine the level you will need to communicate the change well. For example, if you are doing a complete brand overhaul which includes a name change, you will need to put more effort into talking your community through it.
When it comes down to it, people hate chance. Whether it’s changing the stage configuration or restyling a website, people often have pushback with change. This is in part due to change happening with no foreseeable warning.
Rebranding requires a transitional period. You can’t just walk up on stage and say “hey Grace Church family, tomorrow we will be known as Faith Church! Have a nice Sunday!” Big changes like this can blindsight people, so there must be a well-thought-out manner in which we share the news.
Understanding the why (purpose) behind the what (rebranding) is essential to make a smooth transition into your brand identity. Casting the vision to your community, donors, etc. is vital. You don’t want to try to sell the rebrand to them, you want them to fully understand all of the many benefits in changing directions.
Rebranding involves so much more than just figuring out color schemes and cool logo designs. It requires weighing the pros and cons, solidifying your identity, discovering your core characteristics that set you apart, and inviting your audience on the journey.
Truly, it is in your best interest to simply follow the considerations on this list and then allow the pros to take it from there!
The rebranding process requires a lot of time and expertise, which is exactly where we can step in. Our team at PMF Creative is fully equipped to help you rebrand your church, organization, or non-profit. We’ll come alongside pastors and church teams to help them with this valuable moment in their church history.
We will work side-by-side with you to ensure your voice is heard through your graphics, website, social media channels, and more. Contact us today so we can help you take your online reach to the next level!
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