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People change… and so does the world. If your company is sending out the same message year after year, you’re probably being ignored. Which means it’s time to re-brand.

Your brand is your statement to the world. And to an individual customer. Not every rebranding effort requires a top-to-bottom adjustment. In fact, changing just your “elevator pitch” may be enough to re-connect with clients.

Market changes demand major rebranding

Market stagnation demands minor

Don’t take my word for it. Some of the most profitable companies in the world are constantly rebranding themselves. Over the past 50 years, Pepsi has altered its slogan 37 times, often building—and sometimes repeating themselves to re-energize their customers. Changing their message roughly every year-and-a-half. Coke has been a little slower—just 20 slogans during that time. McDonald’s has proffered 43 slogans, sometimes tailored to specific menu items. And if you think re-branding is only for those targeting the “non-essential” items, American Airlines has had 15 slogans.

Obviously, there are times when your company needs to rebrand: when the market has changed, your brand no longer reflects your vision, or it doesn’t elevate you above the crowd. But proactive re-branding can be effective even when there aren’t problems. It can prevent market stagnation.

Companies are often reluctant to re-brand because they think it means changing everything. A nightmare of meetings, Mission Statements, Logos, and website redesigns clog the imagination. I don’t recommend re-working your vision statement, or logo, or color scheme unless you’re redefining your target demographics (in other words, deciding that it’s not Millennials who should buy your product but Seniors). Re-branding can be most effective when you re-focus just your key message—your slogan, tagline, and welcome page—to re-engage your clients and customers. These statements are a boiled down version of your elevator pitch. Re-branding your key message is an opportunity to re-examine what your customer wants and precisely how you fill that need. Apple computer buyers didn’t want a reliable computer so much as a creative tool. Think Different was born. Re-branding is an opportunity to say, “hey, look at me. Again.”

I counsel business owners to revisit their seminal marketing questions every year. Specifically, What do my customers want? And, What is unique about my offering? The answer to these two questions will tell you if it’s time for a minor rebranding. If it’s been a couple of years, take a harder look.