Find. Build. Sell.

CHAPTER 12Sell your brand

No man is free who is not master of himself.

Epictetus

Rebranding, renovating and revaluing our pubs are the key elements to how we grow our business. It's expensive, time consuming, energy intensive and, in the short term, unlikely to create extra sales. The ROI (return on investment) on a rebrand is notoriously low for any business, but if you don't do it, you can run the risk of losing relevance with your target audience. By the time you've realised it, your target market has moved on to another venue and you face the impossible task of bringing them back. I liken bringing back a disengaged audience to turning around the Titanic. It can be done, but it's time consuming, hard and will have zero impact on the final outcome.

What is a rebrand?

A rebrand is when we take the pub we already have in a different direction. It could mean we reposition the pub to attract a new demographic or revive an existing pub to retain its existing customer base (and attract new people too). There are two parts to any rebrand. There's the concept development, and there's the execution. I strongly recommend you bring in outside help to conduct your rebrand. You're almost certainly too close to the business to get a bird's eye view of how others see it and getting a third party to assist you with this can be a great way to get perspective.

There are many branding ‘experts' out there who will happily take your money to provide you with a mood board and a few screenshots ...