Brand Refresh and Rebranding

Only 1 in 3 rebrands actually work. Here’s Why: Markets never stop moving, and neither do consumers or competitors. That’s why brands must speak today’s language and stay relevant. But before you swap the logo or pick a new colour, pause. A rebrand isn’t decoration, it’s a business decision with real consequences. Done right, it transforms perception and growth. Done wrong, it wastes millions and confuses everyone. Here are 5 questions to ask before a rebrand. 1. Why now and what problem are we solving? - “It’s been a while” isn’t a strategy. - “Our competitors did it” isn’t a strategy. - “There’s a new CEO” isn’t a strategy. - "We want to be like Apple" isn’t a strategy. Rebrands often start from boredom, fear of stagnation, or a desire to replicate successful stories. According to Bynder, 74% of S&P 100 companies rebrand within seven years, yet most see no ROI because they can’t explain the “why.” Ask: → Has your market shifted? → Has your value evolved? → Are you out of sync with customers? Without a clear catalyst, you’re repainting walls while foundations crack. You can’t fix a weak strategy with better design. 2. Who is this rebrand really for? If your brand still speaks yesterday’s language to today’s buyer, you’ve already lost relevance. About 57% of rebrands aim to modernise identity, 41% target new audiences. Yet most fail because the new look reflects the CEO’s taste, not customer truth. Ask: → Who are we speaking to now? → What do they expect from brands like ours? → Is our story keeping up, or stuck in nostalgia? 3. What do we want to be known for, and will the new identity show it? A new logo won’t fix weak positioning. Branding is about perception, not presentation. People define your brand by what they think and feel, not what YOU say. Ask: → What single idea do we want to own? → Does our identity make that obvious? → Are all touchpoints building one perception? If the rebrand doesn’t make it easier to remember why you matter, it’s not branding, it’s painting. 4. Is our team ready to live the new brand? Rebrands fail more from the inside than the market. If employees don’t understand or believe the change, credibility collapses. Brand starts from the inside. Ask: → Can everyone explain what we stand for? → Are they proud to represent it? → Are we equipping them to deliver daily? If the brand isn’t understood inside, it won’t be believed outside. 5. How will we measure success? A rebrand without metrics is expensive theatre. The top performers report 10–50% ROI, with outliers hitting 150% but only if they measure. Set metrics before you start: Awareness: searches, mentions, recall Perception: preference, NPS Commercial: CAC, CLV, market share Treat your rebrand as a measurable transformation, not a marketing makeover. Rebranding isn’t about looks. It’s about what you mean and why you matter. The brands that win aren’t those that refresh most often they’re the ones that stay relevant and remembered.

Up to 60% of rebrands fail. The usual cause? Chasing a new look without a real plan. I’ve studied over 200+ rebrand case studies. The winners share four traits. The failures? They almost always prioritized aesthetics over strategy. 1. Strategy before beauty Three out of four consumers remember brands by their logo. That’s why most failed rebrands start there and end there. The successful ones invest months building a strategic foundation before touching design. 2. Voice that connects Brand voice isn’t just copy. It’s your personality across every channel. Nike doesn’t just sell shoes. Their voice is empowering, motivational, slightly rebellious, and it’s consistent everywhere. Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club both sell razors. Harry’s uses refined sophistication for premium buyers. Dollar Shave Club leans into irreverent humor for cost-conscious millennials. Same product category, opposite voices. Voice comes from knowing your audience, not guessing. 3. Visual identity with purpose Visuals work only after strategy and voice are clear. Tropicana learned this in 2009. They replaced recognizable packaging with a clean, minimal design. Customers didn’t recognize it. Sales fell 20% in six weeks. Royal Mail made the same mistake in 2001. They ditched 500 years of equity for a meaningless name: Consignia. The public mocked it. Within 15 months, they reverted, wasting millions. Visual identity should strengthen your strategy, not erase your history. 4. Live the change internally first If your team doesn’t believe in the rebrand, it will never take flight. Every employee must understand and live the new direction before the public sees it. McKinsey found that change programs with strong employee buy-in are 30% more likely to succeed. Internal alignment before external launch, always. Ignore this, and you won’t just waste money. You’ll destroy trust. LESSON: A rebrand isn’t about looking different. Kia proved it in 2021. They didn’t just tweak a logo. They redefined their purpose: “Movement that Inspires” and backed it with product innovation. Revenue jumped 18% to a record $60 billion. Kia invested in transformation, not cosmetics, and hit historic growth. In an example of what not to do, Gap launched a new logo on October 6, 2010. By October 12 - just 6 days later - they reversed it. Cost: $100 million down the drain. A new look only works if it’s built on a strong foundation. When you’re clear on why your brand exists and what it stands for, the visuals have power. They signal meaning people can feel. Get the meaning right, and the look will matter. Motto®

The Kellogg's Rebrand: Simplicity as a Strategy for Success Examining standout packaging redesigns is one of my greatest passions as a creative director at Ginger Storm. The recent Kellogg's transformation by Landor offers a masterclass in strategic simplicity that deserves our attention – particularly as the most significant update in the brand's century-plus history. Why the Rebrand? The trigger was strategic: Kellogg's needed to recapture its leadership position in an increasingly competitive cereal market. Consumer feedback revealed a desire for clearer, less cluttered packaging that communicated health benefits transparently. Rather than defensive positioning, Kellogg's saw an opportunity to strengthen brand recognition while addressing evolving consumer expectations. Design Change What strikes me most is how Landor elevated the Kellogg's logo to become the central design element – a trend I'm seeing numerous brands adopt with remarkable effectiveness. This strategic enlargement transforms the logo into a distinct brand asset, with colour and imagery taking supporting roles in a contemporary layout. The result is extremely clean, graphic, bold, and visually striking. Iconic characters like Tony the Tiger were thoughtfully refreshed while maintaining their beloved status. I'm particularly impressed by the vibrant, contemporary colour palette that brings excitement to store shelves and how the uncluttered product photography creates such visual impact. Most importantly, all brand extensions within the architecture follow identical structural principles, creating powerful brand continuity while still establishing unique category differentiation. Evolution, Not Revolution This rebrand exemplifies the power of thoughtful evolution. Unlike failed rebrands that discard established equity, Kellogg's retained core visual anchors while enhancing clarity and shelf presence. They recognized that successful transformation isn't about erasing the past but building upon it meaningfully. The Results The numbers validate this approach: nearly 70% of consumers reported easier product identification on shelves, purchase intent increased by approximately 50%, and sales rose by 6% following the redesign. The work has garnered over 30 industry awards in four years – a testament to its strategic excellence and creative execution. What fascinates me most is how this rebrand proves that sometimes the most powerful design strategy isn't adding complexity but thoughtfully subtracting it. By elevating the logo to hero status and embracing disciplined simplicity, Kellogg's has created a system that works brilliantly across physical and digital touchpoints while honouring its rich heritage. This is brand evolution at its finest.

Notes on a rebrand... Last week we launched the new Bain Capital Ventures brand. A few nuggets of guidance from this and other rebrands for those embarking on a similar journey: 1) More doesn't mean merrier. Venture firms and partnership structures have a uniquely high number of stakeholders, but even at a startup the number of people who want a say in the rebrand can expand to an unmanageable level. Use the RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) rubric or something simpler like the below to determine how you will get (but not necessarily incorporate) all the feedback from your organization. Example: - Owner: Marketer - Decider: CEO, Maybe cofounding team - Input: Leadership Team, Key Board Members, Key Customers Otherwise, you'll run into problem number two, in addition to a snail's pace timeline. 2) Learn from Frankenstein. Don't build a Monster. If you accept everyone's copy and design edits, you will end up with something nonsensical at worst and drab at best. Find a way to help people feel heard, but also help them understand that there needs to be a unified vision that flows through the entire project. It can't be a little of this, little of that. 3) Avoid messaging sprawl. It hurts to do this... I know. You should still have brand tenets, but above that there needs to be a SINGLE core brand idea. This will cause pain because you will have to get rid of the 6 good ideas in favor of one great idea. That idea should make your target audience feel something -- safety, inspiration, joy, etc. It can't be purely transactional. If you don't do this, you are living in a world of pure product marketing and brand can never be a moat. 4) What's the context? Your customer will often weigh your brand vs. other options. If you build your messaging without that input, you're missing a key part of the puzzle and building in a vacuum. What brands are formidable in your space? Build a grid of their positioning and make sure yours stands out. If you choose to go head to head on brand, make sure you can out-play them in both your words and your deeds. 5) Talk about it but also be about it. Lots of brands talk. Few brands DO. How will you bring the messaging you've worked on to life? How do you show up? What decisions will you make and what will you prioritize that aligns with your positioning? Without this, your brand is just an empty vessel. -- What's your best brand building advice?

Recognition Error. Two Words Brands Ignore. Logo refreshes may grab attention and new taglines talked about, but packaging is where rebrands have to work. It's the first thing people notice, the cue they recognise on shelf, the object they reach for out of habit or walk straight past. By the time anyone reads a press release explaining what changed, the pack has already delivered its verdict. When brands reset, everything gets questioned. Logos, colours, names, tone. Packaging is where those decisions stop being theoretical and start meeting real behaviour. It has to signal change without breaking the instinctive familiarity people rely on, and that's where the tension begins. Change too little and nothing shifts. Change too much and recognition disappears. Packaging sits in the middle, holding continuity while absorbing movement, and that balance is harder to manage than most teams admit. Bold redesign can signal progress, but when changes break recognition, alienate loyal customers or make packs harder to navigate, even well‑intentioned rebrands fall apart fast. Tropicana learned this the hard way. In 2009, the orange and straw disappeared, replaced by something cleaner and more contemporary. Nothing about the product or price changed, except the cue shoppers relied on. They hesitated, sales dropped, and the redesign was reversed. Other brands have handled that tension with more care. Old Spice managed one of the clearest pivots in recent memory. It went from your dad's deodorant to loud, self‑aware and deliberately ridiculous. The humour wasn't just in the ads. Packaging carried it too, with bolder graphics, clearer hierarchy and exaggerated cues. The shelf read changed completely, yet the brand stayed instantly recognisable. You could still spot it at twenty paces. Haeckels took a slower route. After stepping away from its original name, the business spent over a year trading as "Formerly Known As Haeckels" while distancing itself from its namesake. During that time, packaging carried the weight. Compostable materials, open surfaces and restrained graphics provided continuity while the naming stayed unresolved. The company has since adopted a new name, Dulcie, without forcing a full packaging reset. The object stayed familiar while the story evolved, which is exactly how transition should work. You see similar restraint in Tesco's move from Value to Everyday Value. The redesign removed stigma without pretending the product changed. Expectations shifted and shoppers followed. Across all of these, packaging works when it aligns with how people actually shop. What they scan for, what reassures them, what can shift without forcing relearning. The brands that get this right treat packaging as the bridge between strategy and behaviour, not the afterthought. Handled well, packaging carries a rebrand through transition and back into habit. Handled badly, it turns a strategy exercise into a very expensive cautionary tale. 📷Dulcie

Rebranding is one of the most misunderstood moves in business. Too many companies treat it as a shortcut to reset perception - a colour change hoping to undo years of inconsistent delivery, poor service, or unresolved customer pain. But a rebrand doesn’t rewrite your story. It only repaints the cover. A new logo can’t cancel a bad experience. A fresh colour palette can’t undo slow service. A modern typeface can’t compensate for outdated processes. Rebranding without repairing the underlying issues is like repainting a house with leaking pipes. It looks better temporarily, but the damage still lives underneath, and eventually resurfaces, often more visibly than before. Customers don’t judge brands by how they look. They judge them by how they behave. When people think of your brand, they don’t recall your new shade of blue. They remember the delay in delivery, the unresolved complaint, the indifferent employee, the broken promise, the inconsistency across touchpoints. That’s your real brand. - Not your logo. - Not your typography. - Not your launch film. Rebranding works only when the organisation has genuinely evolved. - When product improvements are real. - When service journeys have transformed. - When the culture has shifted. - When teams are aligned on what the brand must now stand for and stand up to. In that scenario, a rebrand doesn’t mask the truth, it reveals it. The identity becomes evidence of internal change, not a glossy cover-up.

Walmart recently unveiled its first logo refresh in nearly two decades, aiming to modernize its brand while preserving its heritage. The updated design features a bolder, blockier font and deeper hues of blue and yellow. The iconic yellow "spark" now features broader stems. This rebranding effort is part of Walmart's strategy to position itself as a significant player in both traditional retail and the expanding e-commerce market. While some social media critics are questioning the rebrand's cost, arguing that the changes are "too small" or not groundbreaking enough, I see it as a perfect example of why thoughtful branding matters. As the CEO of Ptex Group, a leading branding agency, we often work with clients who wrestle with the same dilemma: Should we go for a total overhaul or evolve what we already have? The answer isn’t always flashy or dramatic—it’s about strategy. Here’s why Walmart’s approach makes sense: Walmart’s iconic “spark” and color palette are deeply ingrained in consumer minds, making a complete reinvention potentially risky as it could dilute decades of brand recognition. Additionally, replacing the logo across physical stores, packaging, signage, and digital platforms would come at an astronomical cost. In contrast, a refresh offers a cost-effective solution that maintains consistency without unnecessary waste. By incorporating bolder fonts and refined elements, the updated design also future-proofs the brand, ensuring it remains competitive and relevant in today’s increasingly digital-first market. Walmart's decision to refine rather than replace speaks volumes about its understanding of its audience, legacy, and goals. As branding experts, we know that behind those subtle changes are countless hours of research, strategy, and design iteration. What’s your take?

🔑 𝗟𝗼𝗴𝗼𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀. When companies say “rebrand,” most people picture new colors, logos, or fonts. The real upgrade goes deeper. A brand is a promise you make to customers. The test is whether you keep it. I’ve seen the difference first‑hand. A rebrand that only changes the logo risks confusing or alienating loyal customers. When the refreshed identity is tied to real cultural alignment and a renewed customer promise, it unlocks growth. And it doesn’t stop at look and feel. Successful rebrands extend into product strategy. Introduce new offerings that open growth, while protecting the core products that built the business. Customers want progress, and they also need reassurance that the foundation remains solid. The brands that succeed see every rebrand as a chance to strengthen trust by keeping promises to today’s customers and extending them to new markets where those promises matter. That requires: • 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 between the story you tell and the culture inside your walls • 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 so every touchpoint reinforces the message • 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 in delivering what customers actually value • 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 so innovation grows without abandoning the core Rebranding isn’t about looking different. It’s about being different in ways that matter to customers. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻, 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁? 𝘈𝘴 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘭𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴. #BrandStrategy #ExecutiveLeadership #MarketingStrategy #BrandManagement #CustomerExperience #BrandTrust #CMO

A rebrand can unlock growth. A botched migration will kill it. Just got off a strategy call with a tour operator who made the right call - expanding from a niche, keyword-stuffed domain to a broader brand that could support their growing product mix. The rebrand? Smart move. The execution? Disaster. Here's what went wrong: - Migration treated as a "web dev task" instead of a growth-critical project - Redirects misconfigured by someone without deep SEO knowledge - Attribution broken for weeks during peak planning season - Organic traffic tanked immediately The result: months of unreliable data when they needed it most, plus an SEO recovery that'll take significant budget and time. This happens because companies think domain migrations are technical projects. They're not. They're business-critical growth initiatives that require: Pre-migration: - Complete redirect mapping (every single URL) - Attribution testing across all channels - Backup tracking implementation During migration: - Staged rollout, not big-bang launch - Real-time monitoring of rankings and traffic - Attribution validation across multiple tools Post-migration: - Daily performance monitoring for 30+ days - Quick fixes for any broken redirects - Systematic link reclamation outreach The strategic rebrand was absolutely correct - they needed flexibility to grow beyond their niche. But treating the migration like updating a brochure instead of protecting years of SEO investment? That's expensive. If you're considering a rebrand, budget for migration like you would any major growth project. Because that's exactly what it is. ----- Propellic is the leading full-service travel marketing agency, leveraging AI across brand, creative, search engine and LLM optimization, paid media, analytics, and performance marketing to grow travel brands worldwide. Join 1,500+ travel marketers who read NavLog - Propellic’s bi-weekly insights on what’s new and next in travel marketing. Subscribe at Propellic[dot]com/navlog.

Ok, enough. I’ve had two calls this past week with potential clients that said “they went through an expensive rebrand and sales stayed flat or declined. Their trust in agencies is low.” I get it. There’s a misunderstanding of what a REBRAND is and agencies are partly to blame. Most agencies were started by creatives who can create trendy designs or tell good stories but they don’t have a strong understanding of business and marketing strategy. A rebrand is NOT an aesthetic update to be more trendy, eye catching, or tell a better story. That exercise is called a BRAND REFRESH OR BRAND EVOLUTION. This work involves maintaining the current position and strategy with a goal to increase or maintain connection with your audience. Walmart recently undertook a brand refresh with their logo update and people who don’t understand strategy ridiculed it for being a bad rebrand. Walmart wasn’t rebranding. A REBRAND is a REPOSITION in the market or category. It’s undertaken when the positive perceived value of a brand is not optimal, sales/margins are flat or declining, there is new innovation, competitors, or product updates that warrant a new price point, and/or a new target audience to focus on. It’s a deeper change in the business strategy and focus for an organization and the new design aesthetics and story telling reflect this change. When done right, a rebrand is a transition that absolutely creates results. But if you or your agency get the fundamental strategy wrong at the outset it will cost you a lot of money, time and even reputation. Even our big clients with good marketers in-house need a second opinion and advice to ensure they get it right. If you feel you might need a refresh, rebrand or you’re unsure exactly, please talk to a professional marketing consultant or agency that has deep strategic knowledge of your industry. We’re here to help. You’ll be glad you did. #marketing #branding #advice Crew Marketing Partners