Wondering whether your brand needs a facelift, a full-blown makeover, or it’s fine as is? Maybe your brand guidelines have gone AWOL, taking a detour through design chaos. Or perhaps your visual identity isn’t quite hitting the mark with your audience.
The dilemma is real. And often, many in marketing and advertising think they need a complete rebrand when a refresh could do the trick, and vice versa. Here are some tips to help you figure out if a rebrand or a refresh will best suit your needs.
What’s a rebrand?
A rebrand isn’t just a facelift for your logo; it’s a drastic change to your brand’s identity. Think of it like renovating your house — instead of just doing a few coats of paint to freshen up an outdated feel, you’re ripping up the carpets and starting from scratch.
In most cases, a rebrand is a complete overhaul of:
- Visual identity: Includes logos, colours, fonts, images, icons, and brand mascots.
- Brand voice and messaging: Includes taglines, your tone of voice, and mission and vision statements.
- Internal branding: Includes style guidelines for consistency across the company.
- Marketing materials: Includes business cards, brochures, and flyers.
- Physical presence: Includes signs, packaging, and employee attire.
- Digital presence: Includes websites, social media, email templates, and mobile apps.
- Product or service offerings: Includes adjustments to align with the new brand identity.
Depending on how big the rebrand is, it can take anywhere from several months to over a year to finish. Brands usually rebrand to reposition themselves in the market, stand out from competitors, and ensure consistency across all touchpoints and communication channels (because nobody likes mixed messages).
While bold changes carry risks like attracting negative attention (ahem, X), effective rebranding with careful planning, a clear direction, and creative execution can be incredibly rewarding.
When done right, streamlining your brand’s message and giving it a fresh look helps you stand out in the market. This pulls in new customers who vibe with your updated identity and strengthens connections with those already on board. And it’s not just about aesthetics — even though you might think that’s the best part. It can boost your brand’s recognition and reputation, and even bump up sales.
If you’re not quite ready to go all-in with a rebrand, a brand refresh might be what you’re after.
What’s a refresh?
Maybe your brand doesn’t need a whole new identity, but just a little pick-me-up (like that irresistible croissant calling your name at 3pm). That’s where a brand refresh comes handy.
Instead of a full-scale renovation like a rebrand, it’s more like redecorating your house. You keep the key pieces but you add a fresh coat of paint, rearrange the furniture, and throw in a trendy candle holder. It’s perfect for brands looking to enhance their brand identity without completely starting over.
When considering a brand refresh, adjustments might involve:
- Visual identity: Includes potential updates to modernise your logos, colours, fonts, images, icons, and possibly brand mascots.
- Brand voice and messaging: Includes taglines, your tone of voice, or mission and vision statements.
- Brand positioning: Includes strategic adjustments (ever so slightly) to maintain relevance ahead of industry trends.
The great part of a brand refresh is that you can implement it gradually over time, minimising disruption and cost compared to a full rebrand. Plus, since you’re keeping the core elements intact, there’s less risk of confusing your loyal customers. You can address specific challenges or improve areas where your brand might be falling short without losing its essence.
When done right, a brand refresh can amp up how your audience sees you, making you look more modern, relevant, and unique in your industry. It can attract both existing and new customers and boost engagement across your social media channels, website, and interactions.
What’s the main difference between a rebrand and a brand refresh?
The main difference between rebranding and refreshing boils down to how much change you’re looking to make to your brand. Do you want to start from scratch and completely build a new brand identity, or do you want to enhance what’s already working?
When rebranding everything gets a fresh start: new logo, new colours, new messaging — sometimes even a new name and target audience. It’s a big move usually made when a brand wants to make a bold statement or completely change how people see them.
A brand refresh is about enhancing what already works and making it more appealing to current tastes and trends. A brand refresh is perfect when you want to stay relevant and strengthen your brand without what customers already recognise.
Both approaches have their time and place depending on your brand’s goals and the current market environment of your industry.
What’s the main difference between a rebrand and a brand refresh?
The main difference between rebranding and refreshing boils down to how much change you’re looking to make to your brand. Do you want to start from scratch and completely build a new brand identity, or do you want to enhance what’s already working?
When rebranding everything gets a fresh start: new logo, new colours, new messaging — sometimes even a new name and target audience. It’s a big move usually made when a brand wants to make a bold statement or completely change how people see them.
A brand refresh is about enhancing what already works and making it more appealing to current tastes and trends. A brand refresh is perfect when you want to stay relevant and strengthen your brand without what customers already recognise.
Both approaches have their time and place depending on your brand’s goals and the current market environment of your industry.
When should you rebrand?
Are your brand’s values not quite clicking with your audience anymore? Maybe your branding feels a bit stuck in the past, like you’re playing a So Fresh 2000s CD while everyone else is vibing out to Sabrina Carpenter. Perhaps your market’s getting crowded, and you’re struggling to stand out. Or, could it be that your offerings have evolved, and your current brand just doesn’t capture the new, improved you?
If any of this hits home, a rebrand could be a strategic move to refresh your brand’s image, reconnect with your audience, and position yourself effectively in a competitive market.
When should you refresh?
If your visual identity feels a bit behind the times — maybe your logo is rocking Comic Sans or your colour scheme screams ’90s sitcom — it might be a sign that a refresh is in order. This is not to say you have to jump on every design trend, but updating elements like your logo, colours, fonts, and overall visual style can give your brand a much-needed modern twist.
Maybe your brand’s tone of voice isn’t quite hitting the mark or feels a bit outdated. A refresh can fine-tune your messaging to resonate better with your audience, making your brand’s voice more compelling and engaging.
And if your business is expanding — including offering new products or services — your brand identity should evolve to reflect these changes. Tweaking your brand’s identity can better align it with the current direction.
And hey, if you’ve been thinking about rebranding but it seems like too much, a refresh offers a more balanced approach. It allows you to make targeted improvements without completely starting from scratch, keeping your brand fresh and relevant.
Ready to refresh or rebrand?
If you’re unsure how to approach your rebrand or refresh, we’ve got a team of branding experts here to help with your branding project. Reach out to us to get started.
