It’s a testament to some very skilled marketers that all most people have to do is see a bright red bull’s eye and they automatically think, “Target.” Such is the power of the brand that the department store doesn’t even use its name in most of its TV commercials anymore.

Whether it’s a tweaking of your corporate image or a whole new name, rebranding requires care, starting with the timing. 

“Every situation is different,” advises Steve Smith of Stephen A. Smith & Associates, the advertising and public relations agency that guided The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce through its recent rebranding effort.

Basically, Smith says, a company should think about freshening its image “if the brand’s becoming a little tired, your analyses show you aren’t quite connecting with the consumer anymore, it’s in conjunction with a milestone anniversary or a new product launch—or you could just be repackaging the same product with a few upgrades—or you feel you just have to something to get some attention out there.”

If you’ve decided to make the leap, it’s important to do your research, say John Fain and Angela Massaro-Fain of Grapevine Communications, who led the recently renamed Asolo Repertory Theatre through its rebranding. “Know the demographic of your customer, know your own business, what is it that you want people to know about you and what is it about you that you want to convey to the public,” says John Fain.

 Analyze everywhere you have your logo, and factor in the cost involved to revamp everything from your business cards to your ads, says Asolo Rep marketing director Christine Manring, who lives with the rebranding every day.

When you’re ready to unveil the whole new you, “Don’t go out with a whimper,” says Smith. “Allocate a budget for the launch and do it with some impact: events, media relations, a big media push. That’s extremely important.”

The most critical thing to remember, says Smith, is that “your brand is a lot more than a name and a logo. It’s all about the experience you want the consumer to have with the product and the environment in which it’s delivered.”

Here are recent rebranding campaigns that caught our eye—including the rebranding of this very publication, which our staff rolled out in May.

The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce gets down to business.

THE CHALLENGE: “The chamber has a lot of moving parts; it’s a very diverse, active and dynamic organization” says Smith, with six councils that had been using its brand with striking inconsistency. “Their marketing committee found a lack of [public] perception; some people were not even aware the YPG was an arm of the chamber, for example,” Smith says.

OUT WITH THE OLD: The former logo—a large, stylized “Sarasota” with a setting sun representing the letter “o”—dated back to 1997. “It was really nice,” says Smith, “but it looked more like a tourism logo.”

AND IN WITH THE NEW: Smith and his senior art director, Scott Spear, developed the new logo around a bold sans serif typeface and a robust graphic image of the Ringling Causeway. “We wanted it to portray the strength of the chamber,” Smith says, and it relates directly to the organization’s positioning statement: to be “the bridge that links businesses, organizations and residents together with innovative programs that strengthen long-tern economic vitality, business success, job creation and quality of life.” Plus, “It had to have lots of different applications,” he explains. “It’s one thing to look wonderful on a billboard, but when you shrink it down, it’s got to stay strong.”

THE FOLLOW-UP: Developing an easy-to-follow branding system that myriad staff and volunteers can follow. Smith created a visual identity standards manual—specifying the proper use of taglines and the logo’s correct colors, font and type size, as well as templates for the chamber staff to work with in-house for newsletters, announcements and flyers—“all the things they do week in, week out,” he says. All six councils, by the way, now have the bridge logo on the left and the council name on the right, and the monthly print newsletter has been renamed The Bridge.

THE LAUNCH: The new look was unveiled at the chamber’s sold-out kickoff breakfast at the Hyatt in February, along with a documentary-style video that explains its rationale. (The video is also available on the chamber Web site, www.sarasotachamber.org).  “Buy-in was very important,” says Smith. “I wanted chamber members to understand this was not just about redesigning a logo.”

A new name, new energy for the Asolo.

THE TIMING: “A couple of things came together at once,” says marketing director Christine Manring. “The Historic Asolo Theater [on the grounds of the Ringling Museum] was to reopen, and Michael Edwards was coming onboard as our new producing director. It was a really good time to update our image with a different quality logo, a different energy.”