How to Rebrand Your Residential Construction Company
Does your construction company’s brand need a refresh? Today, we explain when a builder should consider rebranding and share actionable insights into the most efficient ways to complete a rebrand.
Assess your reasoning. Any effective rebranding strategy should begin with a clear understanding of the reasons behind the decision. Is it so you can compete with a larger competitor? Is it because your existing brand has gained an unfavorable reputation? If you don’t clearly understand the reasons driving the effort, you could waste a tremendous amount of resources.
Some of the most common reasons a construction company might want to alter its brand include:
- Existing brand no longer reflects who they are
- Must compete in a new market or at a higher level
- The business is a spin-off from an existing brand
- A compelling legal reason to make a change
- Simplify or hone their message
- Hired a new marketing team
- Shifting focus (luxury, commercial or senior living homes)
Research target clients. Once you know why you are rebranding, you need to conduct in-depth, independent research on your prospective clients. If you’re moving into a new market, you will want to gain an objective understanding of your competencies and current brand perception. Without thorough research, you will only be operating from an internal perspective. This can lead to blind spots and a distorted view of how customers perceive your brand. If you don’t do enough market research, you risk building your new brand on false assumptions.
Capture your brand strategy. As you develop your construction company’s fresh messaging architecture and market positioning, you will begin to uncover the essence of your rebranding strategy. Your market positioning is essentially a brief description of where your company fits into the construction market space. Are you a low-cost provider or leader in innovation? Since your market positioning will drive subsequent decisions, it needs to balance who you are now with what you hope to become. Your messaging architecture should then convey your image to your target audiences.
Build your identity. Here’s where you develop visual marketing elements that will communicate your brand. This includes your company name, colors, logo, stationary, tagline, website, business cards and letterhead. Your brand identity is like a visual shorthand for your brand, so keep it consistent on every marketing item.
Build your digital presence. A construction company’s website is its most important communication and business development asset. Be sure to invest in a compelling, user-friendly website that works together with your remaining online presence to create a full expression of your market positioning.
Generate marketing materials. At this stage of rebranding, you’re ready to create marketing collateral. This may include proposal templates, pitch decks, brochures, trade show booths and one-sheet fliers. Since these are the tools you will use to effectively communicate your message, they should be firmly and consistently anchored in your brand strategy.
Continue building. The final stage of a rebranding plan is to develop an ongoing strategy for promoting and strengthening your new brand. In addition to launching your brand externally, you will want to work hard to make sure your employees embrace the new brand. In addition to communicating your company’s name, the new brand should also convey your company’s reputation, expertise and market positioning. To ensure that it does all of this, avoid shortcuts and consider working with an experienced rebranding partner who can help you develop and execute a flawless rebranding strategy.
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