Lately I have written a lot about rebranding. It is not something any organisation should do lightly but if it’s the right thing to do than I urge you to take the leap. It is an area we are working more and more in everyday and today I wanted to share an example of one of our most recent rebrands.

The Irish Hospitality Institute approached us 18 months ago about their brand and their upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations. A milestone they really wanted to mark. It became evident this was a perfect time to review the brand and to look at its position in the marketplace.

The brand audit we conducted resulted in the decision to re-position the IHI brand to truly represent their values, their services and their members. A decision was made to retain the brand name but to change the brand identity. Through the brand strategy journey, we worked with the IHI board to cement their core brand values and their brand promise. Our focus was always to balance the history of the IHI with the current promise and their future objectives. The result – the IHI have re-positioned and they now have a new brand strategy and a new brand identity that accurately reflects who they are: a professional and progressive organisation that simply has their members at the centre of everything they do.

Rebranding can be a difficult project to undertake. Not only do people in general find change hard, they may be confused as to why this change is happening. The key to rebranding is to only embark on this journey with a clear goal as to why you are making changes. Knowing why you are making crucial and most likely necessary changes will make the whole process smoother and more impactful.

The next important thing is communicate this change internally to the team, get your brand advocates on board, even better get them involved. Then you need to tell your clients, members, customers about all the exciting things that are happening. Let them have an insight into your brand for what it truly is.

Live your brand,

Gillian