When I started my business, my vision was to become a big agency. That was in 2014, the time when we were coming out of the 2008 financial fiasco, and things were perking up. A friend of mine and business guru told me that business was changing, and I shouldn’t look at business as a company but needed to be more personal. By then, I had built my brand as Pixel and Ink, and I thought it would be too much work to change. But at the end of 2019, I rebranded to become Narcis studio.
Why did I do it? Clients complained that they found it challenging to see my business. They never remembered if it was “pixel ink” or “ink and pix”. I also, by then realised that business was not going to be a big corporation because the world was changing before my eyes. I then became a flexible business. I freelance when I find a good gig, I am a one-man-band when the project requires budget control, and I build teams when working on a big project.
My point in this story is that I loved my brand, but it didn’t make sense, and it wasn’t relevant anymore. We have to assess our businesses, and that includes branding. If you have to change the nature of your business, most likely, the clients will also change, so you need to revisit it. It is painful but much needed.
I remember when I threw my cassette collection to recycle. I hadn’t listened to them for over 15 years. In fact, I didn’t own a cassette player for that long. But I just couldn’t bear throwing away my Oasis albums and the mixtapes. It’s called nostalgia, but also I made an effort to build that collection. It is the same with your brand, the logo has an emotional attachment to you, but really the emotional attachment has to be with your customers.
So how do you know if your brand is relevant?
- Detach yourself from emotions. Imagine that you are your potential client who doesn’t know your brand and ask yourself. Is this for me?
- Ask your customers, throw them a survey. Those who are already with you will be able to let you know if you need to change your brand.
- Ask an expert. If you want us to look at your brand, we can offer you a quick assessment for free, and if you like us, we can work together. If not, we will still be friends.