Big Human’s Guide to Rebranding Your Company
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If your search history includes “how to rebrand your business,” you’ve come to the right place. Rebranding can seem daunting at first, but it isn’t something you have to do alone. We’ve guided so many clients across a spectrum of industries, from deep video learning to pet tech and erotic audio, through the rebranding process. We’ve even gone through it ourselves.
Big Human was founded in 2010 as a small New York City design studio. In the 10-plus years since, we’ve matured into something larger: a technology, design, and branding company. As we entered our teens, we knew the Big Human brand needed a big change, especially on our website (it just didn’t feel like us anymore). In 2023, we launched the new bighuman.com, debuting a revamped look and feel that gives past, current, and future clients a better idea of who we are and what we do. Companies go through a rebrand for multiple reasons — more on that later — but for Big Human, ours was steered by the growth we’ve seen in our team, audience, and services.
If you’re considering rebranding your company, we’ve got you covered. Here, we break down what rebranding really is, why some companies need a rebrand, and how to approach a rebranding strategy — with input from our director of design, Maria Surawska.
What is rebranding? How is it different from branding?
"It’s not just visuals; it’s also how you position yourself as a company."
- Maria Surawska, Big Human Director of Design
“Rebranding” has a simple dictionary definition: “[changing] the corporate image of a company or organization.” This one-liner doesn’t encapsulate what rebranding truly is, though. As Maria points out, “It’s not just visuals; it’s also how you position yourself as a company.” A brand encompasses everything about your business’s identity, from the visuals to the marketing strategy, so rebranding a company means giving it an entirely new way of influencing how it’s perceived.
Sometimes, companies, both big and small, only do a partial rebrand; they keep their overarching brand identity but make slight modifications to other elements to stay relevant or highlight a specific focal point. Similarly to how a fresh haircut can boost your self-esteem, these small adjustments have the potential to make a big difference. Other times, major business decisions call for a total rebrand where the whole brand identity is overhauled and reimagined — occasionally, with a new name and logo.
The difference between branding and rebranding comes down to the starting point. If you’re a new business, you need a branding strategy that defines who you are and how you stand out. If you’ve been in the game for a while, then your rebranding strategy will concentrate on repackaging your identity to represent growth or transformation. There’s a historical aspect to this; you’ll need to take a look at your brand’s past to evaluate where it should go in the future.
What is the purpose of rebranding?
“When you update products or add new ones, whether physical or digital, you’ll want to be intentional about branding and visual design.”
Fundamentally, a company’s brand is its personality, which evolves over time. Businesses and organizations of every size and industry usually reshape their identities once every seven to 10 years, analyzing what still works and what doesn’t. However, removing redundancies is just part of a rebranding strategy. Of course, you can alter whatever you don’t like at any time, but rebranding a company requires a focused lift, so your motives should align with the time and effort you’re willing to put in.
While change can be scary, it’s necessary to move forward as a company. Before you commit to a full or even partial makeover, take a few moments to determine why you need it. Our rebranding clients come to us for a variety of reasons, but here are some of the most common:
The brand identity feels outdated.
This is probably the answer we hear the most. Since design styles come and go, your visuals from 10 or even just a couple of years ago might look a little old-fashioned now. “Sometimes, rebrands are done to reflect the times,” Maria says. “If you’ve been around for a long time and the brand is starting to look dated, a rebrand can push a company into the modern era.” An outdated brand signals outdated ways of working, which tells your audience (and your competition) you’re behind the times. Rebranding your company is how you stay relevant, enabling you to adapt as consumers and industries do.
There’s a disconnect between internal values and external visuals.
Maybe your brand values don’t match the image you’re projecting, giving your audience a wrong impression of who you are, what you do, and what you stand for. This could even cause confusion among your own employees and stakeholders. A brand identity’s job is to accurately and effectively tell your story, so if it doesn’t actively serve that purpose, you’ll have to take a look a closer look at your rebranding strategy.
The target audience is changing or unengaged.
Your brand identity facilitates relationships; every touchpoint — from your name to the language you use — is supposed to connect your business to your audience. When your brand doesn’t resonate with the people you’re trying to reach, you automatically forfeit any opportunities for growth. If you want to get the attention of a new demographic or reengage the one you already have, a thoughtful and deliberate rebrand should be your next move.
There’s been an update in products and services.
It’s normal for new offerings to reshape how your company presents itself; after all, releasing an updated product or service is an exciting time. To bring attention to your launch, you’ll have to adjust the way you speak about your offerings as a whole.“When you update products or add new ones, whether physical or digital, you’ll want to be intentional about branding and visual design,” Maria says. “If the new product doesn’t match the existing brand, there might need to be a rebrand to tie everything together.”
The company is growing and/or restructuring.
If your business or organization is tackling a structural transformation, like new leadership or geographical expansion, chances are you’re due for a redesign. In terms of mergers and acquisitions, you’ll have to consolidate two (or more) brands into one to commemorate the next chapter. For example, when SABMiller and Molson Coors banded together in 2007, they named their joint venture MillerCoors. In demergers, the smaller company will typically go through a rebrand to differentiate itself from the larger corporation.
There’s been a shift in the market — and the competition.
The market is fickle, so you need to be flexible enough to adapt to any shift, especially if the competition is closing in. An efficient, effective rebranding strategy sets you apart from everyone else and reinforces why your brand deserves to be on top. To get a leg up on its competitors, Apple released its “Get a Mac” campaign, a series of commercials from 2006 to 2009 that depicted the Mac as the hipper, more reliable alternative to PCs. The campaign reframed the public’s perception of Apple computers, increasing the tech giant’s Mac sales by 39% in 2006.
How to Rebrand a Company in 6 Steps
When clients reach out, they often ask us what a rebrand looks like. Though every client is unique and has different goals, there are a few essential steps for rebranding a company. Maria notes “There needs to be strategic thinking behind every rebrand,” so Big Human uses the Double Diamond, a design process where we go wide in our explorations in order to hone in on clear action items. It’s an interconnected approach where strategy and design are parallels, allowing us to create and iterate in an intentional, artfully balanced way.
Here’s how you can develop a strong rebranding strategy for your business:
1. Determine the scope of your rebrand.
Before you begin rebranding your company, you need to figure out why you need to in the first place. Have you outgrown your current brand or are you changing the services you offer? This is where you reestablish your business goals, whether it’s reaching a new audience or adapting to changes in your industry. If your reasons are compelling enough for an update, you’ll then have to determine how much you want to change. Are you reinventing the wheel or just pumping more air into the tire? Resolving these questions will help you work out how long your rebrand will take and how many resources you’ll need.
2. Research your brand's audience, competitors, and market.
The discovery phase gets your rebranding strategy off the ground; you can’t reach your end goal without knowing where you currently stand — as a business and in the eyes of your customers. To get to know our clients, their audience, and their competitors, we conduct brand audits, collaborative workshops, stakeholder interviews, and competitive analyses. Some of the most crucial insights we gather are about a company’s audience, which we distill in user personas. Your customers power your triumphs, so everything you do has to resonate with them.
3. Revisit your positioning and messaging.
Your mission, vision, and value proposition form a strategic framework for all business decisions and customer interactions. Updating these statements ensures relevance and clarity, demonstrating who you currently are as an organization rather than just why you started. Unified, consistent messaging also provides your team with detailed directives, helping them thoroughly communicate your strengths and manage your reputation.
At this stage, we typically ask our clients, “Does your brand have a clear narrative that everyone in the organization can effectively communicate to the audience?” If the answer is “yes” and our clients only need a few revamped visuals, we skip this part of the rebranding strategy and head straight into design. If it’s “no,” we review our clients’ business goals and their audience’s needs. For total rebrands, Big Human strategists and copywriters define tone of voice, brand personality, brand messaging, and even taglines and slogans.
4. Reconsider your name and logo.
If you’ve made significant changes to your positioning and messaging, then your company’s name and logo are also worth revisiting. As some of the most important customer touchpoints, they help set up your company for growth and success. However, this step should be carefully considered. When we partnered with Pavilion (formerly CoProcure), we knew a rename would help the government procurement platform broaden its scope. With TD Ameritrade, a company with international brand recognition, we understood a new name and logo were off the table.
5. Update the rest of your visual elements.
Colors, typography, photography, iconography, and illustrations — your visual elements are more than just your logo and signage. At Big Human, we often share compositions where clients can see how these designs can be consistently applied to their website, app, or social media channels. When rebranding a company, all of your brand’s graphic devices should accurately represent your new direction, so don’t worry if this step takes a little extra time. After you refine your visuals, be sure to include them in a comprehensive guidebook along with your positioning and messaging.
6. Prepare for a relaunch.
Any rebrand warrants recognition. This is where “how to rebrand a company” transforms into “how to announce a rebrand.” While (or before) implementing your new brand and design system, you should plan for a private and public rollout. It’s important for your internal team to understand your new direction and goals, so they can effectively represent your brand. For your audience, a formal announcement generates interest, maintains transparency, and highlights your company’s growth. Take IHOP’s 2018 rebrand to IHOB; it may have been temporary, but it successfully drew attention to the restaurant’s new line of hamburgers.
Things to Keep in Mind When Rebranding Your Company
You should keep a couple of things top of mind throughout your rebranding strategy. The following helps us give our clients a brand identity that’s original and unique to who they are:
Honor your history.
You don’t need to scrap everything just because your brand needs a little makeover; part of rebranding is taking a look back at your brand and honoring how far it’s come. You can keep what’s still valuable and refurbish it in a modern way.
Stay true to your values.
A brand is only as good as its story. Your brand pillars and values define who you are and how you present yourself to both your audience and employees. Letting your personality shine through every interaction and experience will create the most impact.
Know your audience.
If you’re speaking to the wrong audience, then your rebrand will be for naught. For your rebrand to hold weight, you have to understand who your demographic is and how to connect with them — visually and verbally.
Don’t chase trends.
In such a trend-driven society, it’s natural for your company to want to index fads in order to capture your audience’s attention, but there is such a thing as being too trendy. A consistent, dependable presence is better for brand recognition and credibility in the long run.
Examples of Successful Rebrands
LEGO
LEGO is one of the most well-known examples of how to rebrand your business. Losing out to high-tech toys like Nintendo’s Game Boy, LEGO famously faced bankruptcy in 2003. To transform into the “Apple of Toys,” LEGO scaled back its wide product line to develop new toys with direct input from children and their nostalgia-driven parents. Seen as one of the most impressive turnarounds in history, returning to its roots led LEGO to become the largest toy company in the world in 2014.
Dunkin’
In 2018, Dunkin’ officially dropped “Donuts” from its name. Since consumers had referred to the coffee brand by just two syllables for years, the modification felt natural. But, with updated signage and expanded offerings, the lifestyle rebrand helped Dunkin’ modernize its customer experience and cater to changing consumer tastes. Dunkin’ continues to maintain its relevancy and grow its audience through creative collaborations with TikTok and movie stars like Charli D’Amelio and Ben Affleck.
Burberry
Sometimes all it takes to change brand perceptions is a fresh face. At some point throughout its 150-plus years, Burberry lost its credibility as a luxury fashion house and was instead associated with unflattering football hooliganism. Enter Hollywood A-lister Emma Watson; in 2009, at the height of her Harry Potter fame, she became Burberry's ambassador, helping the brand reclaim its high-fashion persona.
Wondering how to rebrand your business? Send us a message, or view some of our rebranding work here.
