In the wake of Google's high profile rebrand this year, you might have been wondering whether or not it's time for your company to dust off some lingering cobwebs and spruce up its appearance. After all, with the age of crowdsourcing in full swing, getting high-quality designs has never been easier or more affordable, so what's there to stop you?

That said, a rebrand should be a decision that's carefully considered – being a bit bored with your look is not a valid reason in itself. You've likely invested considerable time and money building your current brand, so changing it has to be done deliberately and carefully so as to not backfire catastrophically.

So if you're not sure if you need to take the plunge, here are three key points to gauge whether a rebrand might be just what's needed.

1) Your branding no longer reflects what you do

It happens so easily. You start with a killer concept and have some success. A close partnership with another company develops, or a new product is born. You figure out the market need is actually stronger in a slightly different niche. Your success grows, and your small, boutique website now has huge volumes of traffic. Before you know it, your killer concept has developed into a successful business that has barely anything to do with those early visions.

But because it all happened so organically, you never thought to stop and think if your initial branding still reflects your company accurately.

If you recently expanded or changed your offerings, began targeting a different market segment, or significantly changed anything about what you do or how you do it, a rebrand might be just what's needed to make sure you're still sending out the right message.

2) Public perception of your brand or industry has changed

This is always a tricky situation and can be very difficult to overcome, as a sharp turn in public perception almost certainly means either your company specifically, or your industry as a whole, is in a lot of trouble.

Even giant multi-national brands struggle with this: Subway recently announced a rebranding scheduled for 2016, after steadily dwindling sales and the conviction of former "Subway Guy" Jared Fogle. Fast food giants such as McDonalds and Coca-Cola are constandly fighting an uphill battle against an increasingly health-conscious public.

If you or your industry have been under fire, a rebrand can be a helpful way to start fresh. But beware – this situation calls for more than just a pretty new logo.

In order to stay relevant and make up for past mistakes, genuine change behind the scenes has to go along with it, or your customers will quickly catch on. Take BP – the oil giant spent in excess of $200 million to rebrand itself as the green "Beyond Petroleum", only to remain the second largest oil producer in the world and eventually cause the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Their costly rebranding efforts were not supported by their actions, which could be seen to have compromised their position.

3) You lose business to the competition for no apparent reason

Time for some tough questions that need truly honest answers: Is your company fulfilling a genuine market need? Is your pricing competitive and fair? Do you reliably deliver what you promise? Is your online presence and marketing up to scratch? If you can answer all of these with a resounding yes, but are still losing customers to your competitors, it might be your branding that's doing you harm.

Targeting the right audience can be a delicate balance between being similar enough to your competitors to be recognized as one of them, and unique enough to draw attention to yourself. Go too far in either direction and you might have a problem drawing the crowds.

To evaluate where you stand, take some time to really study your key competitors – what do they all have in common? How do they differentiate themselves? Once you've got a clear sense of the market, you can identify your unique value proposition and refocus your brand to get that message out there loud and clear, whether that be through a new logo, website, or advertisement.

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Written by Jane Murray on Thursday, November 26, 2015

Jane Murray is a freelance copywriter based in Sydney. Apart from writing up a storm for the DesignCrowd blog on anything from logo design to Michael Jackson's shoes, she enjoys reading literary science fiction and hanging out with most animals except wasps. Get in touch via LinkedIn.