The reason that is not a reason
The most common trigger for a rebrand is that someone senior has got bored.
That is understandable. You see your brand every day, hundreds of times. Your customers see it occasionally, half paying attention.
By the time you are sick of it, most of your market is only starting to recognise it. That is expensive timing.
The real reasons
- You changed. You sell something different, or to different people, than when the brand was made.
- It blocks you. You are moving upmarket, or into a new country, and the brand fights you.
- It never worked in practice. Fine in a deck, falls apart embroidered, printed small, or on a dark screen.
- A merger. Two companies, two brands, one story that has to be told once.
Every one of those is about the business changing. None of them are about taste.
The cheaper thing to try first
Often the brand is not the problem. The problem is that nobody can say what you do.
We have watched companies spend a lot on a rebrand when what they needed was a clear sentence and a better homepage.
Fix the message first. It costs a fraction, it is quick, and it tells you whether the brand was ever the issue.
What a rebrand costs beyond the invoice
The fee is not the whole cost.
- Recognition you already paid to build.
- Internal time, spread thinly across everyone.
- Printed material, signage and packaging you throw away.
- A stretch where you look like two companies at once.
All of that is manageable. It should be in the decision though, not discovered halfway through.
The middle path
It is rarely all or nothing. Most of what people call a rebrand is really a refresh.
Keep the mark, fix the type and colour, and rebuild the applications properly. You keep the recognition and lose the problems.
We suggest this more often than a full rebrand, and it is usually the right call.
How to decide
Write down what is going wrong in business terms, without using the words logo or brand.
If you cannot fill the page, you probably do not need a rebrand. If you can fill it easily, that page is also your brief.
Worth remembering
In four lines
- Boredom is not a reason. You see it far more than customers do.
- Real reasons are business changes, not taste.
- Try fixing the message first. It is cheaper and faster.
- A refresh is often enough. It keeps the recognition you paid for.
Questions we get asked
How often should a brand change?
Most hold up for five to ten years with small refreshes along the way. Changing every couple of years throws away recognition faster than you can build it.
Will we lose customers?
Existing customers mostly adjust if you explain the change and keep some visual thread. The bigger risk is confusing people mid-purchase, so avoid changing during your busiest season.
Can we do it in stages?
Yes, and it is usually cheaper. Change digital first, then print, then physical items as they come up for replacement anyway.
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