Ask Timpo: Should I rebrand my business? 

A: The Timpson name has been on the high street for 130 years and we are not going to change it now. We don’t advertise and don’t have a marketing department. Our brand is created by the people who work in our shops and the service they give our customers.

Fifteen years ago, consultants advised me on our shop design. After six weeks and £10,000, they told me to promote each of our services with a different colour – that was it, that was their big idea. The week after paying them off, I went to Bath and took a photo of every fascia I liked (all old fashioned and traditional). We stuck the pictures on a wall and ticked the one we liked best – that is what our shops still look like today.

Rebranding is expensive – consultants don’t stop at fascias. They stipulate your signs in reception and the look of your stationery.

Some rebranding exercises have been spectacularly successful. Like the change of Chelsea Girl to River Island and the conversion of Kendalls Rainwear to become the first Next shops. But rebranding can be a spectacular waste of money. What good has been done by changing the DTI to BERR and then to BIS (other than to the profits of their printers and sign suppliers)?

Is design your top priority or do you have more pressing problems? Think twice before betting your future on a corporate image – it might not be the magic wand you are hoping for.

Picture: source

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