5 Steps to Successfully Rebrand Your Restaurant

There’s no pressure quite like trying to keep up with ever-changing trends as a business, and it’s a battle that most restaurateurs will be familiar with. The needs of the customer are constantly evolving, and so are desirable interior styles.

Pair this with new restaurants entering the market and it becomes a tough game for even the most established restaurant brands.

As a restaurateur, a successful restaurant rebranding can help to inject some new life into your business and encourage new customers to walk through the door.

At the same time, you can adjust to new trends and update your brand as a whole. To do so successfully, consider the following points on how to rebrand a restaurant:

1. Research Customers and Competitors

A successful restaurant rebranding should focus on the interests, needs and wants of the customer. It’s important not to lose sight of your target market and to instead keep them at the core of your rebrand.

Research your customer, see what they’re posting about on social media, and also compare yourself to competitors to see if they’re offering anything unique.

Research will help you to identify current and future restaurant trends to aid your restaurant rebranding, as well as allow you to compare your restaurant with its competitors.

2. Assess the Business as it Currently Stands

In addition to assessing the competition, one of the most important steps to successfully rebranding a restaurant is to evaluate your restaurant as it currently stands. What’s working? What isn’t? Don’t remove things that are thriving – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Instead, identify the features not proving to be popular and think of ways to change them. Whilst doing so, identify the reasons why you are considering a rebrand as this will help you to identify the aspects you might like to change. Consider your logo, menu items, menu appearance, restaurant interior, staff uniform, and more!

To get the most out of this process, consider asking your staff for their opinion on what they like and what they think could be improved.

Additionally, offering a feedback survey for customers can provide you with valuable insights into what your customer base really wants from you.

3. Update Your Interior in Line with the Rebrand

Rebranding a restaurant goes far beyond an updated logo and new menu items. A restaurant rebrand should consider all aspects of a business, but particularly the customer-facing features that shape the overall experience, such as the interior that customers will be spending time in.

Redesigning your restaurant’s interior is extremely important when it comes to the long-lasting success of your restaurant and a rebrand is the perfect excuse to do it properly.

Knowledgeable interior designers can help you to get the most out of your restaurant’s refurbishment, and they’re also clued up on all of the current and future design trends that will get new customers walking through your door.

First and foremost, decide on the overall style of your space, whether you want it to stay true to your current look or have a complete overhaul, and your designer will then come up with a creative and functional design.

Refurbishing a restaurant’s interior shouldn’t be done haphazardly, so it’s important that you invest in the right assistance.

4. Communicate Your Rebrand on Social Media

To get the most out of your restaurant’s rebrand, build some hype around it on social media. There’s no point in having a rebrand if no one knows it’s happening, after all!

Offer sneak peaks, ask questions that allow customers to have a say in the changes, and advertise new restaurant features to engage customers in the rebrand.

Once the restaurant is ready, your social media channels and posts should run in line with your brand story to reflect your updated look.

Your online voice should reflect your offline voice and you can use online channels to promote offers and events that will attract people to your restaurant.

5. Throw an Event to Unveil Your Rebrand

When it comes to a restaurant rebrand, the bigger the hype, the bigger the success. People love an event (hint: particularly if free drinks and nibbles are on offer!), and an event is the perfect way of unveiling your new and improved restaurant!

For maximum impact, inviting local influencers along and asking them to cover the event on their social channels is a great way of shouting about your rebrand and attracting new customers to your restaurant.

It’s also beneficial to get feedback on your rebrand directly from both your loyal and new customers, as it might inform you of tweaks or future changes that could benefit your restaurant.

There are some fantastic benefits of rebranding a restaurant and being open to change can be what makes a business continuously stand a cut above the rest.

Our specialist team of creative interior designers are experts in creating an interior that reflects a brand and works for its customers.

To discuss your project with us, get in touch! And for more information on how we can help your restaurant, visit our bar and restaurant interiors page.