Rebrand vs. Brand refresh? Which one do you need?
Have you rebranded before? Are you just thinking about rebranding for the first time? Do you feel your brand is just a little flat and needs updating, or is it out of alignment, and you need a complete do-over? There is a big difference between the two. One can create excitement, increase brand awareness and brand loyalty. The other can create distrust if you do it too frequently. Brand refresh vs. rebrand. What's the difference? And which one do you need right now?
Let me explain it to you with two scenarios.
Let's say you are into healthy living. Your diet is clean, and you frequently go to the gym or do other physical activity. However, you just got incredibly busy and have not been in worked out for a couple of weeks now. You look the same, but you know your muscles look a bit flat, and you need to get back to your normal schedule to feel like yourself again.
Brand refresh is similar to that. When you are doing brand refresh, you are not changing your core values. You are just doing a little update in appearance. Exactly like in our scenario, you always believed in having a healthy diet and doing physical exercise. You are excited to go and workout again because it is not a change from what you were doing before. You are just getting back to your normal fresh self.
Brand refresh
Personality of the brand stays the same, only doing cosmetic changes happen
Shifting look of logo but keeping main characteristics
Updating/creating logo other lockups (logo versions ex. vertical, horizontal, icon)
Updating/expanding color palette
Updating fonts but not too noticeably changing them
Adjusting messaging
Updating/expanding design systems
Updating/adding marketing materials (website, social platforms, printed and digital documents, business cards, letterheads, etc.)
You need it if...
You are outdated. You feel the image of your brand is holding you back from growth instead of propelling you forward.
You changed minor things: You evolved to to stay relevant, but never had the time to update your brand. Now you want your brand to reflect it so you can increase your brand awareness.
You became inconsistent: You are ashamed of your current branding because you don’t have set guidelines to follow, so you started experimenting with new fonts and colors, to bring more life into your brand but you feel you are just confusing your audience with it.
Your audience has shifted: You are not reaching your ideal clients because the group of people you are trying to target is different since you first started.
You are growing: You are growing, and you want to be proactive so you do not underwhelm your new prospects and referral clients.
On the other hand, rebranding is more like the time you realize you gained 50+ pounds. Now you need to drastically change the way you are living to become healthy and fit again. At the very end of this transformation, you are a different person.
When you are rebranding, you are going through a conscious change that takes time and effort to do every day. You are not the same anymore because your values have shifted so significantly that your appearance needs to align with these changes.
Naturally, if you do it too frequently, people will lose trust in you. You will seem like the person who goes through a yoyo effect with weight and doesn't seem to have a working structure in her life to keep everything in balance.
Rebranding
The personality and core values of the brand changed, and you need to create something from scratch.
Brand new logos
New and different color palette
New fonts
New messaging
New design systems
New values
You need it if...
You are pivoting your business: You are offering brand new services than before, and your current branding isn't aligned with it.
You changed your name: You had some changes in your business or personal life that lead you to change your business name.
Your values changed: You no longer stand for the same core purpose as before because of this you keep falling into the question of who you want to be portrayed as vs. who you actually are.
Your message changed: You changed your marketing message and need your brand to reflect this.
You created your logo in Clip Art/Paint/Powerpoint/etc.: You were trying to do it on your own with basic software on your computer, and it looks amateurish, but you need something more professional.
Your focus audience narrowed down: You were very broad starting out but now you narrowed your focus down, and you need to find alignment to attract your ideal audience.
You gained experience: When you first started out you wanted to save money to figure out your business structure, and started DIY-ing your branding. You may have copied someone else's brand from or outside of your industry but now you want to create something unique and stands out.
All in all, it's OK to do rebranding as long as you don't go overboard and do one every half a year. So if you want to make your brand look more up to date, go with brand refresh instead. This way you avoid major changes and risking of losing your clients’ trust.
Brand refresh or rebrand? Which one does your brand need right now?
Leave your answers in the comments below!
