In the ever-evolving business world, staying relevant with your audience is not just an option—it’s a necessity. As markets shift, technologies advance, and consumer preferences change, companies face the constant challenge of adapting to remain competitive. One of the most powerful tools in a business’s arsenal to meet this challenge head-on is rebranding. Rebranding is a strategic process that can rejuvenate a brand, realign it with its core values and mission, and reposition it in the minds of consumers. 

At the heart of this transformative journey are rebranding agencies whose expertise and vision guide businesses through the complex maze of redefining their identity. Let’s dive deeper into the crucial role of rebranding and rebranding agencies in helping businesses and how they’re instrumental in achieving growth and realignment in a dynamic marketplace.

Understanding Rebranding

What is Rebranding?

Rebranding is a business’s strategic process to change its corporate image, identity, or position in the market. It’s a comprehensive overhaul that can affect every company area, including its name, logo, visual identity, marketing strategy, and mission statement and values. 

This differs from simple branding adjustments, which may involve minor updates to a logo or slight shifts in messaging to stay current or relevant. Rebranding is a more profound, more fundamental change aimed at repositioning the brand in the minds of consumers, stakeholders, and the market at large.

What are the aspects of a rebrand?

A key aspect of rebranding is the update or complete redesign of the visual identity, which includes the logo, color palette, typography, and overall design aesthetic. This visual transformation reflects the brand’s new direction or values and is often the most noticeable change to the public. However, rebranding goes beyond just the visual elements. It also encompasses modifications to the brand’s mission statement and core values, signaling a shift in what the company stands for and its goals. This can be a response to market evolution, changes in consumer behavior, or a desire to tap into new markets.

Why do companies rebrand?

As a company grows and evolves, its vision and goals may change. If the current branding, brand name, and visual identity no longer align with the new vision, it’s time to rebrand. Doing so helps communicate the company’s new direction and values to customers and additional outside partners.

A rebrand is essential because it helps a company realign itself with its own values and the sentiments of its customers. If the company’s visual representation no longer aligns with how it wants to portray itself, then it may be time to invest in a rebrand.

While business owners might be tempted to handle the rebranding process in-house, hiring a rebranding agency can often be better.

Why hire a rebranding agency?

When an internal team takes on the responsibility of a rebrand, they risk being influenced by internal biases.

If everyone in the company is expected to know the mission and vision of the company while employed, trying to break those influences and coming up with something different can be difficult.

An organization can get a different perspective when it decides to outsource the branding project.

When we had the opportunity to rebrand Lead Dog Brewing, we talked to customers in the region to get their perspective on the logo and to find out what influenced their decisions when purchasing craft beer. We discovered that customers viewed the brand as playful and trustworthy and loved buying beer with labels that reflected their identity. 

Without this valuable outside perspective, Lead Dog Brewing would have had to rely on how the owners and employees viewed their brand. As internal stakeholders, perceptions might actually be different from those of customers.

We used this research to create a unique, playful brand identity that led with a dog holding his collar, which fit perfectly with colorful, surreal packaging designs for their beers.

Read more about that project here ->

Rebranding Examples

Sierra Pacific Credit Union

Nevada’s oldest credit union, Sierra Pacific Credit Union (SPCU) was in need of a brand refresh. As Nevada’s oldest credit union, their longtime customers had an affinity for the heritage brand but if they didn’t update their branding they risked losing out on customers of today.

The brand identity and materials of SPCU previously fell short in mirroring their rich history and culture. Despite being the pioneering credit union in Nevada, it lacked a compelling narrative and unified branding materials to back it up. It became crucial to highlight their commitment to the community and set them apart from their rivals through this branding overhaul.

Commence Studio understood the significance of integrating the brand identity across all aspects of SPCU. The transition from Sierra Pacific Federal Credit Union to Sierra Pacific Credit Union, along with a refined logo that emphasized the iconic “Sierra Pacific,” forged a strong and identifiable brand image. This not only clarified the brand but also made operations more efficient by eliminating a word from the name.

Beyond renaming, we reevaluated the color scheme used in the industry. In a market where others played it safe, we chose to take a bold step. By moving away from the conventional colors associated with credit unions, we selected a more daring palette that includes black, rust, and blue accents. This decision gave the brand a distinctive visual identity.

Our cooperative and insightful approach led to the rejuvenation of SPCU’s brand, blending tradition with a sense of adventure. This strategic rebranding effort has not only improved SPCU’s visual and communication assets but has also repositioned them as a progressive financial entity equipped to serve the present and future needs of their clientele.

Barnacle Foods

Barnacle Foods strives to keep the ecosystems they rely on for ingredients as healthy as they found them. They set out to share the flavors and stories of the Alaskan coast and do it in a way that is good for our oceans, communities, and future. 

The Commence designers created a new logo that gives Barnacle Foods an organically recognizable mark and a scalable design system that reflects their company culture (and namesake).

Their previous logo had barnacles that embellished certain letters in their name. The problem with this was that they weren’t scalable. As the logo got smaller, their logotype became unrecognizable. 

Commence Studio made the barnacle the brandmark and revamped the font used in the logo’s lettering to pay homage to the kelp they farmed.

Was it successful? The perception of the new brand received well-earning praise, such as, “The new brand identity is highly recognizable and sets Barnacle Foods up to scale with sustainability, exploration, and environmental consciousness at the forefront.”

What is the cost of a rebrand?

Depending on the size of your company, you should expect to spend anywhere from $7,500 to $50,000+ on a rebrand. 

The costs for a rebrand can include things like:

• Researching customer sentiments
• Researching competitors in the industry
• Qualitative research
• Design time
• Collaborative meetings 
• Brand guidelines
• And in some cases a Mission and Vision Statement

What’s the cost of Implementing your rebrand

The implementation of a rebrand isn’t as easy as putting the new logo on your website. It takes precision and planning in order to make it go off without a hitch. We wrote about the exact process you should follow in one of our past posts called building a brand launch strategy – it has a step-by-step process you can follow to make your rebrand a hit!

The expense associated with deploying a brand, known as brand implementation, involves a comprehensive evaluation and update of marketing materials and brand touchpoints. This process starts with an inventory assessment of existing collateral to determine what needs to be updated or replaced. 

Key brand touchpoints are meticulously analyzed, such as customer service interactions, digital presence, and physical branding. This initial phase focuses on aligning internal perceptions and operations with the new branding strategy before it is introduced to the public. The rollout of a brand, particularly when ensuring consistency across all platforms and touchpoints, can span several months. 

Financially, this extensive effort often requires an investment of tens of thousands of dollars to achieve the desired impact and cohesion across all brand representations.

Conclusion

Rebranding emerges as a pivotal strategy for businesses to navigate the rapidly evolving market dynamics and maintain their competitive edge. It’s not merely about revamping a logo or updating a website; rebranding represents a profound transformation that reflects a company’s growth, aligns with its evolving values, and resonates with existing and prospective customers. 

The expertise of rebranding agencies is invaluable in this journey, offering the insight, creativity, and strategic foresight needed to redefine a brand’s identity successfully. As the business landscape continues to shift, companies should view rebranding not just as an option but as a strategic imperative to foster growth, adapt to change, and secure a lasting legacy in the hearts and minds of their audience. Embracing the power of rebranding with the right partners can set the stage for a future of innovation, relevance, and sustained success.