Reilly Newman | The legend of the philosopher’s stone has been a whisper throughout history that there is a substance that grants power for unlimited wealth by transforming basic materials into gold. It also rejuvenated life and brought youth to the individual lucky enough to have it. A transformative elixir on all fronts! Believe it or not, famous thinkers like Sir Isaac Newton spent a lot of time attempting to achieve this philosopher’s stone; the alchemy of being able to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Let’s first talk alchemy… the mythical process of alchemy is essentially breaking down a metal or material into its basic elements then reconfiguring them to transform into something different. From basic metal to gold!
In my mind, rebranding is very similar. A rebrand is alchemy. It’s the art of reducing a brand and company down to its most fundamental and distinct parts to transform it into something much more extraordinary.
Many founders are always on the hunt to improve their businesses. They look for ways to optimize, elevate, and transform them, but like with all things in life and business there are no silver bullets. However, if we allow ourselves to think like alchemists then we can see that the great transformative power of a philosopher’s stone and the closest thing to this mythical stone would be a brand transformation through rebranding.
The Alchemy of Rebranding
The promise of the philosopher’s stone may be health or wealth, but the process of the transfiguration of ordinary to extraordinary is truly the magic. This to me is the key power of this mythical substance; to be able to take that which is basic and make it amazing. This is exactly what great brands do. This is exactly what a proper rebrand should accomplish.
No I can’t say a rebrand promises unlimited wealth or health, that’s ridiculous. However I can promise that the process of a brand transformation will take the ordinary aspects of your business and make them extraordinary. The rebranding journey is a diagnostic approach to dismantling the company and its perception (brand) to see what elements it is truly made of. These elements are things like the value it delivers, the associations it has, the words it uses, offerings it sells, analytics, buyer behavior, or even how it makes someone feel. As these elements breakdown, we see which ones truly matter and can be reframed into that which is extraordinarily special to the ideal audience.
The alchemy of turning the brand into “gold” isn’t about a single defined state that is “golden” but subjective to that which your ideal audience finds the most valuable.
The philosopher’s stone of rebranding doesn’t transfigure your brand into gold, but transforms it into that which is the most valuable, desirable, and appealing to your ideal audience. Not literal gold, but golden indeed.
