The Reality of Rebranding: Rants and Recommendations
WE'VE BEEN AROUND THE BRANDING BLOCK A TIME OR TEN AND WANT TO HELP YOU MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR PROJECT THROUGH LESSONS-LEARNED.
- Rebranding is a massive undertaking that requires careful consideration and reasoning.
- You're never going to please everyone with a large-scale brand update, but that's not always a bad thing.
- You can drastically minimize your rebrand headaches by doing some thoughtful pre-work and sticking to a process.
How Much Do You Hate Yourself?
You have to be a bit of a masochist to work in corporate branding. Like, “really enjoy taking a passionate ass beating and asking for another” kinda masochist. Large scale rebrands are one of my favorite projects to work on — and also one of the most maddening; certainly contributing to the rapid deterioration of my liver. There are very few things more satisfying than leaving your mark on a brand and bringing a story to life, even if it brings you to the brink of insanity along the way (I suppose “parenting” is an apt comparison?).
I f*cking love it.
I hate that I love it. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to execute multiple rebrands — from massive to small, from individual contributor to key designer / decision-maker, from “brand refresh” to entirely new identity, from going off the rails to becoming user-beloved. They’re all unique and they all hold a special place in my cold, dark, withered creative heart… and they all share one thing in common: they’re a pain in the ass, for everyone.
Why Rebranding is a Pain in the Ass
Do anything long enough and you’ll start to identify trends. While I eagerly await our next opportunity to shape and [re]build our next brand (your own, perhaps?), there’s a few things I’m always ready for now. If you’re in the midst of a rebrand, or considering if you should go down such a path, here’s a few things to expect…
- PEOPLE REALLY… REALLY… HATE CHANGE.
Yeah, it’s cliche — but there’s a reason things become cliches. Taking something comfortable and familiar like an established brand, and turning that on its head, can be upsetting and unsettling for many people. A good brand has a personality, and people form emotional attachments with personalities. Any drastic change in how that personality is presented can be jarring and has a tendency to cultivate defensiveness. The people who love your company the most are often the most vocal critics of a rebrand, if only temporarily (and it’s typically your own employees). Time heals all wounds, and time also gives critics the ability to digest a rebrand and form a new emotional attachment with the brand. - YOU’RE INVOLVING WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE.
Seriously. I’m sympathetic to this one, because I whole-heartedly understand the motivation — but being all-inclusive is often hurting your outcome. Our recommended process is to introduce and interview as many stakeholders as humanly possible (founders, functional leads, product owners, field reps, customers, prospects, the garbage man, etc.) But for the love of everything holy, maintain a minimal review/approval chain! Ideally this is limited to a founder and the top brand/marketing executive. These are the individuals who will be beholden to the outcome and deserve the ownership of approval. Everyone deserves input, but only a few require directional influence. Conflicting opinions with no central approver can wreck a project. Avoid design-by-committee at all costs. - YOU REALLY NEED TO “KNOW YOUR WHY”.
To be successful, a rebrand must be whole-assed and come from a place of need. One of the first questions I ask when presented with a rebrand project is “why?” — what’s driving this change of direction and could it potentially do more harm than good? I’ve seen solid brands throw away tremendous brand equity and recognition in the name of “change”, usually driven by a new marketing executive looking to make a mark. Make no mistake, there are plenty of valid reasons to rebrand, notably if the product/solution has evolved or opened up the company to new markets, or if there’s a critical need to diversify from copy-cat competition — but only go down this path if it makes sense for the betterment of the business. - IT’S A LOT MORE WORK THAN YOU THOUGHT.
Rebranding is more than a trendy new logo and website. Beyond those two items, there’s the product/solution itself, collateral, presentations, event landscapes, swag, advertisements, videos, business cards, social accounts, physical / office branding, the list goes on… and the more established the original brand, the more issues there will be. Getting your sales team to adopt a new presentation they’ve been successfully using for years can be a major fight. Before going into a rebrand, we recommend making a cross-department inventory of everything that will need to be graced with the new brand, and stack-rank them based on importance. This list will be your best friend after the heavy-lift items are done.
The “perfect” rebrand is a myth. They’re always at least a little messy and someone is going to question the outcome no matter what. But if you “know your why”, have conviction in what needs to be communicated, inventory everything that needs updated, and limit your approval chain to key stakeholders (seriously, please), you can give new life to an old brand while swearing you’ll never go through that again… until next time.
