How a Rebrand Saved A Community

If you are like me, you likely partake in the occasional cigar and a social cigarette here and there and by way of justification, I remind myself of the quote from Abraham Lincoln, “It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.” That being said, I’m sure we can agree that the use of tobacco products isn’t widely affirmed by those in the medical field and it’s probably not that great for our bodies but it sure feels good going down. So how did a city, known for tobacco production just 60-70 years ago, become known as the City of Medicine? Also, what’s this got to do with rebranding? Well, it wasn’t very long ago that Durham, NC was a “thriving site of tobacco manufacturing facilities…for nearly a century…until medical findings about the health hazards connected to smoking played a part in the weakening of Durham's tobacco industry”. Now, Durham is often referred to as the City of Medicine and is known for the medical research that is done there and in the rest of the research triangle. Even buildings that were once factories for producing tobacco products are now being used as medical research facilities.

It began with consciousness. What I mean by this is, those who were overseeing the area were aware of their current perception and what the timeline looked like for their impending demise. Leading up to and through the 1950’s, Durham's economy, that was uniquely tied to tobacco, was struggling. Around this time, Governor Luther Hodges developed plans for what is now known as the Research Triangle. The research triangle was the needed shift in the communities brand from a city known for tobacco to a city known for medical and other technology research. The consciousness of Governor Hodges to see that the city needed to be known for something else is the very consciousness that businesses and organizations need to have to perceive their need for a rebrand to save them from their potential demise.

2 Reasons to Rebrand

If you are finding that what your business is known for isn’t going to lead your brand into a thriving future, it might be time for a rebrand. Sure the writing on the wall might be a bit more nuanced than it was for Durham, North Carolina, but perhaps when you look at who your brand was when you started and who your brand is now they might seem like two different brands. Perhaps your current branding is actually fighting against what you want to do as a business.

For example, let's say you started a window washing business and over time you added different services that your clients have asked for like snow removal and gutter cleaning. Then one day you look up and realize that you do more gutter cleaning than window washing and that’s where the money is anyway, but the name of your company is “Joe's Window Washing.” It might be time for a rebrand as who and what you do have evolved over the years and are no longer aligned with each other.

1. Because You’re Missing Your Audience

Don’t just do it because you are tired of how your packaging looks. Don’t just do it because you are tired of your website…Do it for a clear reason. This is why I’ve mentioned consciousness so many times in this blog. You need to have a pulse on your brand…i.e. Who’s listening? Who’s it connecting to? Who’s it repelling? Most of all, does your brand speak to your target audience? If your brand isn’t connecting to the folks you’d like to connect to, it might be a good time for a rebrand.

What’s best for the audience will be best for your brand. What I’m getting at here is that your rebrand needs to come from the heart. I mean it! You have to believe in why you are changing / rebranding as much as you believe in the work you are doing and the reason has to be to help your audience. It can’t come from a place of just trying to be cool. Nope! Not good enough! It has to come from a place of belief in what you are doing and it has to be because it's what’s best for the brand. Remember, what’s best for your audience will be best for your brand.

2. Because Your Brand has Evolved

Finally, remember that reinvention of your brand isn’t lying or a stretching of the truth. A rebrand can be more of your brand becoming who it’s been all along. It can actually be a realignment of your brand rather than just pulling some ingredients off the shelf to make something new. A good rebrand can be a truth serum exposing who and what your brand already is to your audience.

I’ll leave you with a story from a few years ago. I was working at a coffee roaster and the business had just gone through a rebrand that took a few years. Now that the rebrand had been completed, they wanted to rebrand once again. When I asked the owner of this company why they were interested in going through another rebrand, they said, “it just doesn’t feel right.” This is actually a pretty normal feeling for folks who are creators. They are the kind of folks that bring new things into the world but aren’t always sure how to go from the starting line to the finish line but know when they’ve missed the mark. I followed up with these questions, “did the folks you worked with to rebrand ask you what your purpose was? Did they ask you why you exist in the first place? Did they ask you what future you are building?” The answer to those questions was a resounding…NO!

Unfortunately, that is an all too common case for folks who go through rebrands because they don’t begin from a place of understanding who the brand they working with is from the beginning. If you don’t start from a place of understanding who the brand is that you are rebranding, you’ll miss the mark no matter where you end up.

A good rebrand is more than just slapping a new coat of paint over a sun dried, chipped, dirty facade. Doing it right requires prep work. You have to use sandpaper to get down past the old finish to get to the essence of who and what this rebrand needs to accomplish for the brand. This is what Durham did well. They knew who they were and who they needed to become to be able to head into the future well.

If you are thinking about a rebrand, we’d love to walk with you on that journey. It’s what we love to do and it's why we exist. You can reach us at thelevco@gmail.com or you can find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @thelevco.

Resources & Citation:

 https://www.ncpedia.org/durham

https://durhamcountylibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/NCC-The-Bull-City%E2%80%94A-Short-History-of-Durham.pdf