Retailers who undergo a rebranding initiative have the opportunity to modernize their brand, connect with their target audience and encourage consumer loyalty. While altering a brand's story with a rebranding investment carries risk, it can also deliver significant rewards. Below are four common mistakes retailers can't afford to make when undergoing a rebrand:

1. Lack of an overarching comprehensive plan: Brand implementation is all about building one overarching strategic plan, setting clear objectives, developing a realistic schedule and getting the right people involved at the right time – all heading in the same direction. So there are many steps involved in a rebranding initiative, ranging from determining brand rollout strategy to launching a brand identity audit to measuring the overall program. Without one comprehensive plan in place, a rebranding effort can easily derail.

2. Not having one overall brand champion: On its own, a rebranding initiative can be extremely complex – and having too many cooks in the kitchen without one clear project manager is only going to add to that complexity. With one set of experts working on the design aspects of the brand and another managing the construction and implementation, it's critical that a single brand champion owns the overall initiative to ensure there's open and ongoing communication and the project is implemented consistently across every market. Most brand champions belong to the company's Marketing, Real Estate or Facilities groups.

3. Lack of a centralized process: An effective rebranding effort needs to be managed centrally to ensure consistencies and efficiencies across the board. When decentralized, there are too many variables that can't be controlled. For instance, if different markets produce new signage without a centralized process in place, the signage in one country may appear different from the signage in another country, which can dilute the brand.

4. Not having full support and buy-in from executive level: Securing buy-in from key executives is critical to a successful rebranding initiative. Without it, it's not only more difficult to get cooperation from the various business units, it's also harder to rally and engage employees around the new brand. A strong rebranding initiative has to be embraced by everyone in the company – from the CEO to the interns – in order for it to succeed.

On average, organizations refresh their corporate brands once every seven to 10 years. Since branding isn't a core competency for most companies, bringing in a team of rebranding experts who do this type of work every day can ensure the rebranding initiative is a success for both consumers and the bottom line.

Steve Pollard is Managing Director of JLL's Retail/Multi-Site Project & Development Services group. He has managed the delivery of project management services for numerous clients across the U.S., including Best Buy, Ford Motor Company, Motorola, National City Corporation, Starbucks, United Health Group and Walgreens. The opinions expressed here are his own.

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Avoid These Four Common Retail Rebranding Mistakes

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