You know the phrase, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”? Well, in the context of branding, it goes like this: your brand is in the mind of the beholder.
In other words, your brand is whatever your audience believes it to be.
Now, if you’re a wise business, you’ll do everything you can to control that narrative and perception surrounding your brand. You’ll make thoughtful and strategic moves to ensure the brand you are and the brand they perceive you to be are in alignment.
And if they aren’t in alignment, well, you may be experiencing a brand identity crisis.
CONTENTS
WHAT CAUSES A BRAND IDENTITY CRISIS?
The way I see it, a brand identity crisis can be about two different things:
You don’t know how you want to show up and can’t commit to any visual or brand message long enough for it to support your business growth.
The business you know you are and the brand your audience thinks you are are out of sync.
The best way to avoid a brand identity crisis is to have brand self-awareness. This simply means having clarity about your brand personality and the thing you want your brand to be known for.
Now it only made sense in writing this to go see what the actual definition of a traditional identity crisis is. Here’s what the Oxford Dictionary gave me:
“a period of uncertainty and confusion in which a person’s sense of identity becomes insecure; typically due to a change in their expected aims or role in society.”
Swap out the word ‘person’ for ‘brand’, and it’s by and large the very same thing. Which made me realize a there’s a third type of brand identity crisis to factor into the equation.
Your business has evolved but your brand hasn’t.
The fact of the matter is that our businesses are always evolving. I’m willing to bet the business you are today is different than the one you first started with. For some, this evolution means:
adding to or refining your offer suite
niching down to serve a particular type of client
pivoting to a speciality
growing your team and scaling your business
So maybe for you, your brand identity crisis stems from your brand and your business being out of sync.
HOW TO KNOW IF YOU’RE HAVING A BRAND IDENTITY CRISIS
Let’s do a quick health check. Is your small business suffering from any of these symptoms?
Signs You May Be Having a Brand Identity Crisis
you’re always changing your brand colours and fonts
you’ve rewritten your website copy more times than you care to admit
you keep attracting the wrong type of clients (or not enough clients)
you’re always borrowing ideas from other brands you like
you get requests for services you don’t actually offer
you waste time reinventing your brand aesthetic with every new offer you have
The emotional ripple effect of these symptoms, when untreated, can be detrimental to your business growth. I know because I, too, went through a bit of a brand identity crisis in 2023. But that’s a story for another day.
It’s time to take a hard look at your brand identity and see what it’s really communicating to your audience. Does it say you’re a reliable service provider worth paying a premium for? Or does it suggest they might be better off shopping around for someone more qualified.
Your brand is a business tool for growth. So if your brand is failing to contribute to your growth as a business and the direction you aspire to go in, you may be going through a brand identity crisis.
THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT YOUR BRAND IDENTITY CRISIS HAS ON YOUR BUSINESS
According to Better Up, people that are experiencing a traditional identity crisis often:
have low self-esteem
question their worth
feel lost or aimless
lose their sense of purpose
feel emotionally scattered
have increased feelings of insecurity
To be honest, my clients have described similar feelings on intro calls. Maybe you’ve been feeling some of these things too. Here’s how they show up in your business when you’re having a brand identity crisis:
Low Self-Esteem
When you aren’t proud of the brand you have, you’re embarrassed to send people to your website. You send people there with an accompanying apology that “it’s in need of a major upgrade.”
When your brand doesn’t reflect your true caliber, your self-esteem takes a hit. It affects how you show up as a brand and that self-doubt creates a lot of uncertainty in the mind of your audience.
Questioning Your Worth
Even you end up letting the sub-par quality of your brand dictate the value you assume others have of you. In the end, you underprice your services.
Remember, your Canva logo isn’t you—it’s just the first draft.
Feeling Lost or Aimless
You’re never fully confident in which actions to take next. You do what the “pros” preach online or sign up for the latest masterclass, but nothing seems to work. You’ve lost touch with your true sense of direction.
Lose Your Sense of Purpose
When you’re not experiencing the level of growth you expected in your business, you start questioning if this is really what you’re meant to be doing. (FYI, it is!) Without a clear purpose guiding you and your business, it’s easy to lose momentum.
Part of being a noteworthy brand is understanding your purpose. This keeps you aligned and shows you how to adapt as your business and the world around you evolves. It will also attract more aligned clients to your virtual doorstep.
Feel Emotionally Scattered
You lack clarity and live in a constant state of uncertainty with your brand. You’re never really sure what will make the biggest difference: changing your visuals, your offers, your messaging, or your marketing.
Increased Feelings of Insecurity
You’re wondering how much longer you can keep doing things the way you have. Nothing seems to be moving the needle in your business. If nothing changes, nothing changes. That tension you feel is a sure sign it’s time to step outside your comfort zone.
HOW TO SURVIVE A BRAND IDENTITY CRISIS
Whether you’re lacking clarity around the brand you want to be or the brand you are trying to be and the audience you seem to be attracting are a skew, the solve is the same.
It’s time for a major brand clarity audit. Ask yourself:
who am I aspiring to be?
what am I striving to achieve?
how has my business evolved since I started it?
what have I outgrown?
how can I lean into the parts that truly light me up?
When things in business get thrown off and you lose momentum or direction, it’s always about going back to basics and checking in with the core of who you are as a brand.
So yes, the Canva logo template you launched your business with all those years ago isn’t communicating the level of expertise you have to offer your clients today.
And yes, your DIY brand messaging isn’t really striking a chord with your audience so that they feel confident in hiring you.
To overcome your brand identity crisis, you’ve got to retire the DIY brand experience and start shaping your reputation as a trusted service provider. But before you embark on rebranding your business, make sure you take the time to get super clear on the foundation of your brand going forward. That's something I help you do through brand strategy.
Let this rebrand be the one that counts, won't you? Join me for an intro call and tell me about the brand identity crisis you're experiencing so we can make a plan to rebrand your business in a way that will evolve as your business does.
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Jenny Henderson Studio develops memorable brand experiences and strategic brand foundations to improve recognition and revenue for service-based small businesses.
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