When and How to Update Your Business Brand

Today more than ever, keeping up with the times in the restaurant and retail business is a job in itself. Tastes change from one year to another, generational divides make it harder to appeal to a vague audience, and neighboring businesses are always up to something new that keeps you on your toes. In this business environment, it is important to know when to update your business brand.

While a total rebranding of your business is neither possible nor advisable every time you feel you are left behind, a periodic refresh of your brand is absolutely necessary in order to survive the competition. We found that a business refreh every 5 years is a good rule to follow if you want to remain actual and continue to appeal to your customers.

Updating your brand and interior is even more important when your business model changes, when you are trying to reach a new audience or when your feel that what used to make your business unique fails to impress today’s customers. When your interior becomes tired and uninspiring, when your logo has the vibe of another decade, or when the overall style of your business is outdated and inefficient, you need to give your business a facelift and bring it back into the present.

So how exactly do you do that if you are in the restaurant, bar or dessert business? What should you update, and where should you start? Here is the bare minimum that we advise our clients to consider. 

Logo design for Besties Cool Treats ice-cream shop by Mindful Design Consulting

Logo and Graphics

When well-established commercial giants such as Coca-Cola make a constant effort to keep their logo fresh, you know that there is value in doing it. Logos get old and outdated, and so does your image if not refreshed every few years. Especially today, it is easy to spot a logo created years ago: overcomplicated, using convoluted fonts, outdated graphics and out-of-style designs.

Today’s customers are visually cultivated and can quickly make the distinction between what is trendy and what belongs to a another time. They prefer simplicity to visual overload. The same goes with the graphics you use in your logo or your interior design, whose strength often comes from a restricted color palette, whether neutral or bright.

Here is an example of how one Kung Fu Tea franchise changed the look of their bubble tea cups with newly created branding graphics. Of course, the Kung Fu Tea logo representing a stylized dragon can very well take on this task.

Old Kung Fu Tea bubble tea cups

However, the owners of the new franchise preferred an update. The new cups use the new graphics and allow the store to be different.

New Kung Fu Tea bubble tea cups

When working on an image refresh at a new Kung Fu Tea location, we incorporated new graphics into the design of the store.

New Kung Fu Tea graphics

Since both logo and graphics play a big role on how customers perceive and remember you, they are the first thing to consider when you update your business brand.

Photo via Pinterest

Signage

As your face to the world, your storefront is as important as your interior. Make sure that your signage has the oomph necessary to attract customers. If you are looking for trendy signage options, the choices are beyond generous. Lights, metal mesh, metal cages, neon signs, greenery – everything goes. Work with a designer to create the signage that tells the story of who you are and that gives passers-by a reason to enter your store.

Sherman Williams Commercial Continuum Palette

Wall Paint

There is probably nothing that can drastically change the look of your space the way your wall paint does. When you count the fact that paint is also the cheapest way to do it, there is no reason why you should not grab a brush and get to work. 

More expensive wall treatments such as tile, wood or wall paper can turn your place into a spectacular venue and go a long way in your effort to update your business brand. However, if your budget is limited, paint can do the same. Just make sure that you choose your wall paint after considering it from all angles: makeup, finish and overall effect. 

Industrial-style bar stools with red metal frame from grandrapidschair.com

Chairs

Because of the sheer number of chairs, benches, stools or other seating options in restaurants or bars, their look, style and condition have a great impact on your interior. When you add to that the comfort of your customers, it’s not hard to understand why we see chairs as an important thing to reevaluate when updating your business. 

There are many places where you can find affordable chairs, such as online furniture stores or even Etsy. If your budget is more accommodating, you can buy from stores specialized in restaurant furniture, or even connect with a commission salesperson that can do the work for you. 

In our designs, we love to use trendy chairs that are colorful, offer something unique and have their decisive say in the way the interior looks. We never look at chairs as only functional furniture pieces. Instead, we treat them as an important part of the overall decor concept and expect them to make an impact. 

Photo: Grand Rapids Chair

If you are thinking to open a new business or are in the process of rebranding and remodeling your existing business, contact us to get a free consultation from Mindful Design Consulting. Click HERE to price your project design.

Also, take a look at “Branding By Interior” e-book, the only book written on this subject at this time. It brings insight on how you can turn your business into a market-dominating competitor by using human cognitive responses.