As the economy and your market changes, your brand and package must stay current. Your brand is the public face of your business and productor service. Update your visual system to stay ahead of the rest and stand out from the crowd.

Consumers also look for what’s new and different. Just as fashions change, so do design styles. Your product or service  in its old package with old colors, fonts and style, may look retro now (that could be cool) or it could just look tired and out of date, (not cool). If sales have gone down, take a look at your brand and package against the competition. How do you measure up?

When a small business prospers and expands, a brand refreshment is often needed to reflect the change in audiences, geographic reach or scope. The packaging system and design that was fine when you started out is likely not a good fit when production ramps up.

You may also have learned more about who likes your products or services and why when you have wider distribution. Go beyond the visual and consider your message and story. That can add life to your brand and packaging. Update perceptions, focus on what people like most about your product, and prepare for further growth when it’s time to rebrand.

A brand refresh will help to streamline marketing around a central idea and look. Choosing how and where you connect with your audiences—beyond your packaging–will impact your brand system. How strong is your website? What about social presence? How and where do you connect with those who love your products? A strong brand will help you reach the right people more efficiently.

If you’re repositioning your product line for a new emphasis—organic, healthy, low-fat, natural, handmade, new flavors—to reach new audiences, a brand refresh is a path to determine how best to stand out in the new category.

Just as a company’s brand must reflect changes in size and market position, it must also reflect changes in expectations. Technology has shifted how your audiences find and choose you. How your brand is presented in new channels makes a big difference in response.

For example, for a food product, think about how people buy. People today want more information about where their food comes from, how it’s made, who created it, how it’s packaged, etc. They want authenticity and transparency. If you have a story—about the founder, about the flavors, about how the product was created—they want to know.