Doing something different can open a business up to new people. It can also leave the people who already believe in it wondering whether they still belong.
The BBC’s report on ticket sales for the NFL’s London games is a useful example. Some fixtures have been slower to sell, prices have been reduced and former season-ticket holders describe feeling overlooked after the discounted packages were removed. Yet the Eagles–Jaguars game sold out quickly despite being the most expensive.
That is not enough to conclude that the UK has fallen out of love with American football. It points to a more complicated relationship between the offer, the price and what existing fans feel they are getting.
As a design agency owner, I think there is a lesson here for businesses considering a rebrand, a new audience or a different way of selling. Growth may require change. But you need to understand what your customers think that change says about them.
Customers notice what a change takes away.
Inside a business, a decision often has a practical explanation. A new pricing structure might make a service more sustainable. Removing a package might simplify operations or give more people access. A repositioning might help win larger projects.
Outside the business, people experience the result. Something they valued has disappeared, become more expensive or become harder to access.
The former season-ticket holders in the BBC report recognise that opening access to new fans has benefits. They can understand that logic and still feel disappointed by the loss of something familiar.
That distinction matters. Explaining the business reason is useful, but it does not automatically resolve the customer’s concern. You need to understand what the old offer represented: value, convenience, recognition or simply a reliable way to remain involved.
A rebrand changes expectations, not just appearances.
Imagine an established local business adopting a more premium identity to attract larger clients. The typography becomes more restrained, the photography more ambitious and the language more formal. That might be exactly the right direction.
But if every visible example now features a large corporate project, a longstanding small-business customer may assume their work is no longer welcome. Nothing in the service has necessarily changed. The design has changed their reading of it.
This is a hypothetical example, but it explains why I would want the positioning agreed before the visual work begins. Are we adding a new audience, prioritising one audience or deliberately moving away from another? Those are different briefs.
You cannot make every customer feel equally represented in every piece of marketing. You can make sure the choices are intentional, rather than discovering after launch that the brand now implies a change you never meant to make.
Keeping everyone happy is not a growth strategy.
I would be cautious about drawing the opposite conclusion: that upsetting existing customers means you should never change.
Some businesses need to raise prices, retire services or stop presenting themselves as the cheapest option. Others need a stronger identity because their current one understates the quality of their work. Protecting familiarity at all costs can leave a business unable to improve.
The balance is between a credible opportunity and an understood risk. Who could the change attract? What are they likely to value? Which customers might leave, and why? What would happen if the new demand arrived more slowly than expected?
The NFL example also cautions against a simple price explanation. The most expensive London fixture sold out quickly. That does not prove price is irrelevant; it shows that the perceived value of the particular offer deserves attention too.
Your website needs to explain the transition.
When a business changes direction, the website is often where customers go to work out what it means for them. A new look should be supported by clear information about the offer, the process and the next step.
If you are expanding into larger projects while retaining smaller clients, show both in a considered way. If a package is ending, explain the alternatives before customers reach an enquiry form. If prices are changing, make the scope easy to compare.
For a website rebuild, familiar tasks deserve particular care. Returning customers may know how to find a service, reorder something or contact a particular person. Improving the layout should not make those tasks needlessly difficult.
Design and development can help make change understandable. They can also amplify confusion if the message, navigation and actual service have not been thought through together.
How can an SME balance the risk and reward of change?
Before a rebrand, repositioning or significant change to the offer, I would put five questions into the brief:
- What problem are we solving? Define the business reason for the change. Looking different is an outcome, not a sufficient reason on its own.
- What do existing customers value? Find out which benefits, experiences and signals matter to them before removing or altering them.
- Who are we trying to attract? Be specific about the new audience and the evidence that the revised offer will appeal to them.
- What can we test before committing? Review concepts with relevant customers or trial a new offer where practical. Ask what people think has changed, not just whether they like the design.
- How will we judge the result? Agree measures such as repeat business, enquiry quality and conversion, alongside feedback. Decide when to review them and what would warrant an adjustment.
A noisy launch is not automatically a failed launch. Equally, attention does not prove that a change is commercially useful. I would want to look at what customers actually do as well as what they say.
Move forward with a reason you can explain.
Through Treefrog, I can help connect the strategic decision with the branding, messaging and website needed to deliver it. That includes being clear about what should change and what is worth keeping.
The aim is not to remove every risk. It is to make a considered choice, give customers a fair understanding of it and know what to look for afterwards.
Sometimes moving forward means accepting that your business will no longer suit everyone. Sometimes it means bringing new people in without making existing customers feel pushed out. Knowing which of those you intend is a good place to start.
If you are considering a rebrand or a change of direction, see how I can help or get in touch.