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As the proverb goes, “First impressions are the most lasting.”
The need for storytelling is perhaps no more evident than when an organization rebrands and has an entirely new corporate promise to share with stakeholders. Rebranding your business, organization or service should be considered a growth accelerator, to create a more forward-facing organization able to grasp new opportunities. The strategy entails creating a new brand essence, name, visual identity and a new story for an established brand to better differentiate itself in the minds of stakeholders.
In my opinion, video is the primary and most engaging tool for communicating a brand today. According to HubSpot, video represents 80% of all online content and is the best vehicle for managing a message across multiple audiences. The rebrand video — that initial reveal of the new brand with purpose and energy — is your first new impression that will forever define viewers’ perceptions of the new brand. This “meet us again” story shapes whether they believe it and whether they’ll support it, or if the new brand leaves them confused or unimpressed. Therefore, the rebrand reveal video carries a lot of weight on its shoulders.
There are seven important, must-include tips for this first impression video:
Make it inspiring. You have one chance to make a good impression, so the presentation of your new brand needs to be uplifting and engaging, as well as convey contagious excitement. The voiceover, pace of visual edits and selection of music are key tools in inspiring your audience.
Set the tone of your new brand. Poet Maya Angelou wrote: “…people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” How you want your brand to “feel” should be reflected in the tone of your video. Celebrate your stakeholders by including images of your own employees, leadership and customers to make the story authentic and engage the viewer in the future. Avoid too much stock video — rather, keep it real and meaningful. Talk directly to your audience, not about yourself.
Highlight what’s different. Explain “why” the rebrand. The video needs to help move viewers from the current state to the future state of your brand. It needs to highlight what’s new and the advantages of this new brand to them. Differences must be made clear and memorable. Consumers are facing rebrand fatigue and are willing to accept you updating your promise and name but will want to know why it is better for them.
Keep it short and clear. Keep the video under 60 seconds max. People’s attention spans are short, and they regularly view well-produced videos and advertisements that creatively convey a message in a short timeframe. Push yourself to get to the point and convey your message succinctly. There is always the opportunity to produce longer-form videos for select audiences that will require more detail.
Bring clarity to the new name. Why this new brand name? What is its origin? What does it mean to me? How is it pronounced? This is especially important as new brand names are often simplified or modified words (think: Takl, Lyft and Quip).
Visually illustrate the change to engage understanding. Diagrams and visual aids help convey concepts more quickly, which is important — especially in a short-form video. They can also help simplify complex changes.
Show limitless opportunity with the rebrand. Your new brand should be forward-facing and enable a better customer experience. The video should convey this potential. It should also provide examples of how customers will see this new brand represented in the future, be it packaging, websites, signage, uniforms or literature.
But don’t stop there! Rebranding requires a tremendous energy and investment to be executed properly. Behind-the-scenes views of the rebranding process have become increasingly popular for marketers to produce for internal audiences as well to display the strategy, the comprehensiveness of the effort, and all the team members involved.
Audiences for a rebrand reveal video are numerous. It should first be shared with internal stakeholders — played at launch events and provided to all employees via email or intranet. It’s a terrific tool then to announce your transformation to external audiences, including customers, suppliers, business partners, investors, analysts, industry influencers and the general public. It should be posted to public channels such as company websites, YouTube and Vimeo.
Will Rogers is credited with the infamous quote, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” In today’s highly visual and entertainment-driven culture, that starts with the rebrand reveal video.
