AS WE approach New Year it’s tempting to think about giving your organisation a new image, but is a company facelift really what consumers want? Or are they happy with existing brand?

Rebranding can offer great publicity and new interest from customers, but if unsuccessful it can be a brand’s reputation that suffers.

Keeping the consumer informed of any change before it arrives is key – customers don’t like to be rocked by huge changes to brands they love. Remember the uproar when Marathon bars and Opal Fruits became Snickers and Starburst for no apparent reason other than the manufacturers wanting new names?

However, a rebrand can breathe new life into tired associations and help to clarify new strategic directions. It shouldn’t be undertaken purely for aesthetic reasons but should redefine the brand, its values and its ethos to consolidate who the company is.

If a new direction is needed, it’s a good idea to keep some aspects of the original branding, such as the same colours or font, to retain some recognition for consumers and the positive associations with the brand’s heritage.

The mediums of how the rebrand is communicated need to be part of the strategic plan, too. By discussing the re-design on social media platforms, brands are able to gain constant interaction and transparency to gain immediate and invaluable feedback.

The fundamental thing is that people don’t like change. Take the world’s most famous brand, Coca-Cola, which tried to launch a winter campaign to support the WWF’s polar bear conservation programme by turning the iconic red can to white.

Instantly consumers complained, voicing their disapproval online and going as far as to say that the new can signalled a change in the recipe.

In order to breathe new life into the brand, Coca-Cola had to refresh and reinforce its 125-year old identity without changing too much.

Remember that a re-brand is for life, not just for Christmas. Spend a long time looking in the mirror before deciding to put your brand under the knife.

INTERNET entrepreneur Ben Hatton is founder and managing director of digital agency Rippleffect. Follow Rippleffect on Twitter @rippleffected