Before we get started, I have to ask you a question... Do you really need a rebrand? 

I'm asking because this is the first question you need to ask yourself. Rebrands are long, expensive projects that will impact every aspect of your business so you need to be sure that this is the right path forward.

A big part of that question will be the why. Make sure you're doing it for the right reasons.

In my experience, most rebrands occur for the wrong reasons. It's a tough fight but the CEO or CMO not liking a brand IS NOT a reason a to rebrand. I wouldn't recommend rebranding because marketing is down (find the real problem instead). Don't do it just because your competitors did it. And definitely don't do it because of our new love of AI.

The right reasons to rebrand

The right reasons to rebrand are a pretty short list. You don't have to hit on all five of these but if you're at 1 or 2, you should probably consider a brand refresh to begin with.

1. New POV - has your point of view about your business, industry, or product changed at all? An updated POV will impact your positioning, messaging, and possibly your visual identity so I'd start here.
2. New ICP - no, not the clowns! Have there been any changes in your Ideal Customer Profile? This often happens with businesses moving upmarket or internationally. You want to make sure you're showing up in a way that will resonate with them.
3. Major product evolution - has your product or service offering changed drastically? Sometimes the push from point solution to suite (or platform) requires bigger thinking and more ways to appeal to your audience. If your product is growing, your brand should be too.
4. Your current brand won't scale - Sometimes brands do go out of date. Maybe the voice and tone don't work anymore. Maybe the visual identity followed a trend that's long gone. Maybe it's just boring. Whatever the issues might be, you need to understand what they are so you don't fall into the same traps.
5. The business is expanding globally - just because something works in one market doesn't mean it's going to work in all markets. If you're expanding globally you need to think about messaging, imagery, even colors in some cases. Market maturity is for real too.

Assuming you've hit on 3-5 of these, let's do this thing! 

Create an internal SOW

Oh yeah, you read that correctly an INTERNAL scope of work!

Before you can assemble your team, before you jump into all the fun brainstorms, and before you debut your fancy new brand, you better get on the same page with your team.

Rebrand is one of those funny words that means something different to anyone who hears it. That means every stakeholder has a different expectation for the project and if you don't fix that now you're in for a lot of pain later.

So what do you need to know? (I guess it's a list day ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

1. Why are we doing this? We covered that above!
2. What are we changing? Is it the colors? Is it the voice? Is the logo up for grabs? The working team will make recommendations but if you have things that are deal breakers, it's better to get ahead of those now.
3. Can we start from scratch? Are there any legacy considerations or non-starters? Is this truly a rebrand or is it a bigger refresh? Sometimes it's best to burn it down and start over. Is that cool?
4. What is our budget? This is potentially more important than anything else because it'll dictate who you can hire and the scope of the actual project.
5. Who is our team? You can't (and shouldn't) involve everyone in this project. Build your DACI, communicate it, and make sure everyone is aligned here. You should also nail down when it's appropriate to share more broadly what's happening.
6. Who is the decision maker? Remember, there can only be one!

Getting everyone on the same page is huge but the added benefit of creating an internal SOW is that it will usually get you 90% of the way through building your creative brief too.

Rebrand team assemble!

Now we know WHY we’re rebranding and we've agreed internally on WHAT we’re doing. Now the question is WHO is going to do the work?

There are a few considerations here:

1. Do you have budget? It’s always easier with money!
2. Do you have an internal team? Can you move that team off of existing projects? Does your team have all of the skills needed for this kind of project? This will help clarify any external needs.
3. What is your timeline? It’s the classic “Good, fast, or cheap? Pick two.”

Once you have the answers to these questions you can finish up the creative brief and make some decisions/hires. So what are your options?

Internal Team

If you have an internal team that’s fully capable of doing this work, trust them to do it. They know your company, customers, and stakeholders better than anyone else. They're also on staff so you don't have to go out of pocket for the work to get done.

There are a few potential downsides to this one. The first is that if they're working on the rebrand then they're likely not working on the day-to-day projects. This would be a great time to think about self-service or outsourcing.

The second is that they may be less aware of what’s going on in the broader industry. This is less of a concern for me because I don't want to build a trendy brand. I want to build a brand that sets trends. That said, one of the key goals here should be scale and it's important to understand where the industry is headed so that you're not caught off guard.

The last downside is that they're super close to the current brand which could slow things down especially if you're trying to make a dramatic change.

All this said, no matter what you choose, at least a few of your internal Creative leaders need to be involved in the project so that they can maintain the integrity of the brand, think about the transition, and keep the rest of the team informed (no big reveals!).

Internal Team + Trusted Vendors

If you have an internal team that’s good at certain parts of the work but lacking in some of the skillsets required then you’ll need to fill the gaps. You can do this with consultants, niche agencies, contractors, or freelancers. It's not just design you'll be thinking about but also copywriting, web development, and video to start.

This is a great way to get some help with existing projects or with execution around the rebrand. Ultimately this hybrid approach is a great way to keep full control in-house but add some resources to help you cross to the finish line.

Hire an agency

If you don't have an internal team or can’t pull them off of existing projects then it’s time to find some help. You can either hire a full-service agency that will do all of the work or you can hire multiple specialists/agencies that can take on different parts of the rebrand (think strategy vs design vs web development).

I'd go back to the SOW and understand your needs before making this decision. The right agency can set you up for success for years but they can also cost an arm and a leg so you'll want to make sure you're specific in your requirements.

You'll need to run a Request for Proposal (RFP) process which is basically putting out the bat signal for agencies.

To do this effectively (and maybe this is a newsletter topic itself, let me know), you'll want to put together your brief which will include your requirements, budget, timeline, and any other considerations or gotchas.

In addition to the project requirements, you'll also want to build out a project plan for the RFP process itself. That will include:

1. Outreach - when you'll be reaching out to agencies. This should be done over 1-2 days max.
2. Required agency response dates - the deadline for agencies to respond to the RFP. This should be a single day 2-3 weeks from outreach.
3. Acceptance or rejection dates - the date you'll let the agencies know if you'd like to see them pitch or reject them. This is 1 day.
4. Pitch window - this should be a week or two set aside for the agencies you've selected to pitch you. You should be scheduling these ASAP and hold some dates/times internally for the whole group. Pitches should be top priority.
5. Follow-up window - this should be a week after the pitches to do any decision making or hold follow up conversations.
6. Selection date - this is the date you'll hire an agency.

You'll email agencies you want to work with—ask me or your peers if you're unsure who—and you'll share the brief along with the RFP dates. Use this moment to shoot your shot. Think you can’t work with that one agency because you can’t afford them? Maybe they can shorten the review cycles or reduce the number of assets to make your budget work. Be honest and transparent, most external partners will be too.

Choosing the right partner is incredibly important so make sure you look at previous work and check references. Don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions too. You’re about to go down a long, expensive path. Make sure you feel comfortable.

Once you've picked your winner it's time to get to work! I'm actually going to skip that part here because every team and agency will run a different process depending on the requirements. All I can say is please hold yourself and your stakeholders as accountable as you will the working team. Most deadlines get blown not because of the makers but the decision makers who don't provide feedback on time. This causes work to get rushed. You don't want that here.

Let's take it live

Once the work is complete, you'll usually end up with something called a Brand Book. Think of it as your Brand's Bible. It'll include some combination of your brand story, your point of view, mission, vision, value props, voice, tone, messaging, and visual identity.

It's cool and all but it's also just a PDF that doesn't mean anything if you can't bring it to life. This is the final and most important step for me because the rest of it doesn't matter if you can't execute.

Build a required assets list

A rebrand will require you to create all sorts of new assets. Everything from brand guidelines to deck templates to logo updates to business cards to updating your website and everything in between. If you hired an agency, in some cases they'll help you with these things. If they don't or you're doing the work internally, it's on you to get it done.

I like to tier these out from 0 to 3:

Tier 0 items are foundational elements like colors, type, logos, and guidelines. These are the prerequisites for everything to come. While some of these will be net new (vendor guidelines, or a photo shoot), many will be a part of your Brand Book but you'll still need to export your logo in svg, png, ai, and other formats. This is what I mean by execution.

Tier 1 are the most business critical needs, maybe these are your email templates or display ads. They'll likely be your website redesign, video assets, social media templates, additional guidelines, and any other assets you'll be thinking about for launch specifically.

Tier 2 are still important but secondary. This might be booth designs, swag, headshots. These should be a fast follow when it comes to your launch. You have some room but I wouldn't go longer than a few weeks with these.

Tier 3 are the things you update as they come up meaning put them on the list but don't do them yet. If there's time knock them out otherwise focus on them when it's time.

Now if there's one thing we're learning from this newsletter, it's that I love a good list. But a list without a plan is useless so make sure you put dates and names down for all of these things. You may need help here (and that's totally fine). The good news is that you’re generally in production mode. And for items that still need exploration, I’d let the internal team drive.

Avoid the big reveal

Hopefully you’ve been keeping your stakeholders and colleagues in the loop because a new brand likely means changes to your product UI, sales materials, culture docs, and of course your marketing. This is going to take time and you’re going to need everyone’s help especially with things outside of your direct oversight.

You don't want to keep the rest of the company in the dark either so for everyone else, set up time a few weeks in advance to run them through the changes, the timelines, and most importantly the rationale. They’re going to be your first line of defense so you want to make sure they’re prepared. They may also have feedback. You’re likely not going to need to react to most of it but you want to give yourself a little buffer in case they see something you don’t.

Enable your teammates (Help them, help you)

This is the most important step in my opinion. Beyond informing everyone you also need to get them on board.The easiest way to do this is by giving your team the tools they need to succeed.

1. Put together training decks and videos.
2. Build out web, design and video templates—and create training materials for these too.
3. Make it as easy as possible for every member of your team to engage with the new brand and bring it out into the world.

Then make sure all of these live in your Brand HQ so there's an easy to find location for all of your brand information.

It's time to launch

This was a long one so launch the thing! Don’t overthink the presentation, just launch it because things will likely get messed up and you’ll want to address them before making any big announcements.

When you’re ready for the extra attention, I’d write a blog post, record a video, and share a Linkedin post. The most important part of any announcement like this for me is the 'why.' Focus on the story, the reasons for the change, how those affected your decisions, and how it’ll impact your business.

With rebrands we tend to focus on the visual but when done right they affect your entire business. The rebrand will show up in your product, your customer support, even your hiring process. You’re likely going to surprise some customers with this so you’ll want to use this moment to reassure them that this is only going to make your work better.

The key thing about rebrands is that they’re a promise for the future so rather than celebrating too much (although you should definitely celebrate at least a little bit) you should use this as a time to reinforce that your business is awesome and that your customers are smart for giving you their money!

Congrats you just launched an awesome rebrand!

I know I'm always out here talking processes, automation, and all sorts of Creative Ops goodness but I do love a good brand strategy project.

If you're considering a refresh or rebrand in 2025, hit me up. I only take on one brand strategy project per quarter and I'd love to work on yours.