The first rule in rebranding an event or company is to understand that you’re marketing a brand. Deciding to refresh the face of your current event or company means that you are going to need a whole new story and message to go along with it.
Why do events and organizations rebrand? Over time things become stale, you want to stay fresh with your business and event. Maybe you had a name that you wanted to shake or maybe you wanted to attract a new audience. Whatever the case, rebranding is a massive task that takes time and a team of people to work closely together to get the result that you are hoping for.
With a new look, message, and mission, many corporate event planners and organizations can develop a fresh start with new clients and attendees, while also still finding ways to maintain their current ones.
Most of the time a rebranding comes because you feel like you are falling behind with your target audience. Their needs and interests are growing and evolving, and you need to with them as well. It's important to really understand your audience if you are going to move forward with a rebrand because you want to make sure you are not missing out on key messaging that is going to grab their interest and attention.
Many corporate event planners attend trade shows and expos to collect fresh new event concepts and learn about the latest trends that are impressing a variety of target audiences. But in an effort to steer you in the right direction (for now), we’ve listed 3 rebranding event approaches that will help you produce a successful launch of your rebranded event or organization.
Rebranding Involves Telling Your Story
A brand story is one of the key elements that will put your rebranding on the right path, similar to how March of Dimes did in their brand relaunch. The first thing you need to realize is that yes, your event is a brand. It has its own following, logo, messaging, audience, etc. Deciding to change your current event means that you are going to need a whole new story and message to go with it. To start on this path, you need to take a journey of discovery to find out what you are missing from your event and that you want to get.
Look at Companies You Admire
At March of Dimes, they kicked this off their rebranding with experiential activation for their 80th anniversary. That involved key team members designing a platform that would engage a new and younger audience as well as its prominent supporters—all under one imaginative arched roof. The reason they did that was because they knew that in a sea of non-profit organizations they needed to stand out from their competitors and offer something new and attention-grabbing to their audience.
For an event, you don’t need to simply look at other events and see what yours is missing. You should be stepping outside of the industry and learning from brands that you admire. What are they offering their clients or what feeling do they give their clients that you want your attendees to have when they visit your event? Once you have that figured out you can start to develop your brand promise. The one thing that you want to make sure your story conveys.
Hire an Event Marketing Expert to Share Your Story
With a large rebranding, it is advised to bring in someone who knows how to drive interest from media and the public. Working with a event marketing professional will help you better tell your story of change, but still keeping that brand equity that your current audience knows today. More than just creating a press release, they can give you tips on what extra things you can be doing to make sure you hit your audience in every place where they live online.
When they work to get interviews for your head of the rebrand or executive, they are helping to get your new brand story out there. That then drives views back to your event website, which gains new interest and hopefully attendees. Additionally, they can work with select media on an embargoed release so that you will get an article out on a big website simultaneously when you go live with the news.
In Conclusion
Rebranding your event is not going to be easy. It will take a lot of work and involve a lot of people to get it right. However, if in the end you achieved your goal of refreshing your brand while attracting a new audience then you have succeeded. Just remember how to tell your story, don’t lose what makes your event special, make sure you are targeting the right audience, and when all is said and done promote the heck out of your newly branded event!
Looking for more event planning tips that will help you rebrand your event or company? Make sure to read more on our blog!
