Part 1: Your Brand Backbone
Building a strong backbone — your refined brand strategy and brand story — will keep you connected to what (and who) matters throughout your rebrand. As you begin your rebrand, seek to understand the attachments and relationships your customers have formed with the brand you have already created. We call this brand equity.
How do you do this?
- Center who you serve, and know how you want your audiences to feel.
- Remember why you do what you do.
- Examine whether you are meaningfully different from your competitors.
- Articulate your story.
- And make your audience (not yourself) the hero of that story.
Your brand strategy and story usually includes your:
- Vision and Mission Core Values
- Manifesto
- Competitive Position
- Audience Profiles
- Company or Product Narrative
- Key Messages
What to expect: self-reflection, in-depth research
What to prepare: your vision and strategic plan, access to your leadership team, access to your audiences
Part 2: Your Brand Identity
Your identity is a distillation of your brand into a memorable and distinct little nugget – a symbolic shortcut. If I ask you to think of a well-known brand, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a name, logo, or signature color. In other words, you can recall aspects of a brand’s identity.
- Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes = Tony the Tiger
- UPS = Pullman Brown
- Netflix = Tudum
A rebrand presents an opportunity to objectively evaluate, refine, and expand your brand identity. This can include your:
- Brand Voice
- Company, Product, or Service Name(s)
- Static Logo
- Animated Logo
- Secondary Logos
- Signature Color or Palette
- Typography
- Audio Signature
What to expect: visual exploration, conceptual conversations, visual identity and voice options
What to prepare: examples of brands you admire (and why), access to your leadership and communications teams
Part 3: Your Brand Asset Library
As an established brand, you already have a library of assets dating back months, years, or even decades. Product photos. Explainer videos. Leadership headshots from 1993. Your branding partner can evaluate your brand library with an initial audit, and help you decide what to retain, purge, and build. A robust brand library will support your brand presence and marketing efforts. Plan to consider the following:
- Photography
- Videos
- Illustrations
- AnimationsCompany Overview (About, Boilerplate)
- Team Bios
- Case Studies
- Testimonials
What to expect: conceptual presentations, shot list reviews, storyboards, reviews of copy, photo selects
What to prepare: access to your current library, a list of must-haves and nice-to-haves, access (to your team, products, or locations) for photo shoots or filming.
Part 4: Your Brand Applications
With the pieces in place — your brand strategy, story, identity, and library of assets — it’s time to start building applications and experiences for your audiences. This is where things get exciting, layered, and rewarding during your rebranding process. Be sure to appoint internal “owners” of these projects to keep things moving. Each of the following pieces requires strategic thinking, detailed planning, strong execution, and (in some cases) management of third-party production partners:
- Website
- Packaging
- Environmental Graphics (Office, Wayfinding, Vehicles)
- Displays (Booths, In-store Displays)
- Templates (Presentations, Proposals, Emails, Business Cards)
- Business Development Materials (Media Kits, Collateral)
- Branded Swag
What to expect: design and copy reviews, production considerations, company-wide updates of internal materials and templates
What to prepare: your best current examples of each item, a list of must-haves and nice-to-haves, access to or demonstrations of each item in context (e.g., a site tour to prepare for wayfinding design)
Part 5: Your Brand Outreach
Similar to your brand presence, your brand outreach will utilize all components of your new brand, but there’s one big difference: while your branded applications will remain somewhat fixed, your brand outreach campaigns are dynamic. They are an opportunity to extend and iterate upon your new brand while remaining recognizable and true to your spirit.
Maintain your new point of view, use your voice, and stay focused on your customer as you build your brand through integrated campaigns and experiences.
What to expect: campaign concepting, development, and production
What to prepare: your best current examples of each item, thorough involvement of internal owners/leads and external partners who are responsible for advertising, public relations, or social media management
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A rebrand is more than a logo. Much more. We can help you anticipate the full scope and scale, and allocate proper budgets, personnel and time to the rebranding process.