Re-evaluating your brand can feel like an enticing prospect. You may be drawn to providing a new look and feel to reinvigorate your customers and drive growth. On the other hand, you may have experienced negativity surrounding your brand and wish to move away from these reputational challenges. Brand evolution is always nuanced, but one thing is clear: you should always make sure your audience is at the centre of the equation.
At MTM, we’ve helped brands of all shapes and sizes determine their brand strategy, steering them in the right direction and providing full support when it comes to a brand refresh or a complete brand overhaul.
Our experience tells us that the lines are blurred, and there are many ways of updating your brand without a full overhaul. In many instances, a more subtle brand refresh is precisely what is needed to achieve the goals of a client partner, but it is important to bear in mind that a brand refresh or revitalisation should be less about your logo and colours and more about understanding perceptions and tackling the disconnect between your brand and its audience.
Distinguishing between a rebrand and a refresh
In reality it isn’t a binary choice, it’s more of a spectrum. Some refreshes involve meaningful shifts in positioning, experience and behaviour without changing the name. Some rebrands retain valuable visual or verbal equity. The decision is less about labels and more about the degree of strategic change required and how much existing equity can and should be preserved.
For example, Facebook’s rebrand to Meta in 2021 signalled that the company’s ambitions had moved far beyond social networking. The new name and identity for the parent company of separate entities Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp was designed to help draw a line under some of the reputational damage associated with Facebook. The extent to which this rebrand achieved real distance from its previous challenges, the Cambridge Analytica Scandal, for example, is up for debate, but it certainly was a big swing in a different direction.
A brand refresh, on the other hand, is more like a health check and update. It retains the equity you’ve already built while realigning your brand with changing markets, evolving customer expectations, or internal growth. Refreshing may include refining your visual identity, updating the tone of voice, or evolving your brand story so it better reflects where you are today and where you’re headed. Importantly, it builds on your heritage rather than replacing it.
An example of this is Starbucks’ well-known 2011 brand refresh. The company’s subtle logo change (removing the word ‘coffee’) was more than just about streamlining and modernising; it signalled a wider expansion in the company’s offering to food, teas, and lifestyle offerings, rather than just coffee. The change helped the brand lean on its heritage, whilst staying relevant in changing markets without alienating its loyal base.
Understanding the distinction between a rebrand and a refresh is critical because the wrong approach risks either alienating loyal customers or failing to address deeper strategic issues. Put simply: a rebrand changes who you are, a refresh ensures you stay relevant.
When is a full rebrand necessary?
Rebranding is ultimately a harsh undertaking. It’s akin to starting afresh and reintroducing a new company to the outside world. This is why it is done so rarely and has to be carefully considered, understanding the opportunity and the risks.
Generally, we would only recommend a rebrand for companies that have experienced a highly negative event, are undergoing a merger or acquisition, or have significantly changed their proposition so that the existing brand is no longer fit for purpose. When done well, it helps a business reinvent itself and redefine its purpose, voice, and offering - allowing for new growth and longevity.
In many circumstances, a brand refresh is the most appropriate and effective way forward. If you feel that your brand has evolved, or no longer aligns with your objectives or audience perceptions, now is likely the right time to start building a comprehensive strategy to add a new lease of life to assist with audience nurturing and market expansion.
Ultimately, the perception of a brand is the reality of it, and research into audience perceptions of your brand, and how closely this aligns with your objectives should be the starting point when choosing between a full rebrand or something less extreme.
Brand update strategies for boosting salience
Brand salience is the ease with which your brand comes to mind in buying situations. You build it by linking distinctive assets and messages to the category entry points your customers use to frame decisions; occasions, needs, contexts and triggers. Practically, that means consistent use of brand assets, broad-reach activity, and repeated cues that connect your brand to those entry points. Salience is different from awareness; it is awareness that’s useful at the moment of choice.
A brand refresh provides an opportunity to improve brand salience. By evolving your visual identity and tone of voice, clarifying your messaging, and aligning your story with current audience expectations, you can ensure that your brand resonates more strongly and is recalled more easily. It isn’t just about being more modern; it's about your brand meaning more in the eyes of your audience, so that it stands out in crowded markets and builds stronger emotional connections.
In the following section, we’ve included some key strategies for achieving this. There are practical ways that you can sharpen your brand’s presence, strengthen audience connections, and ensure it stays top of mind.
Building your strategy through research
The initial step: Uncover the current reality
Before embarking on a rebranding journey, it's essential to understand your current brand’s status, both internally and externally. A rebrand should never be a hasty decision; rather, it should be a well-informed choice based on thorough research and a comprehensive understanding of your operating environment. This includes an assessment of your competitors, current and future audiences, and current communications impact. This assessment allows you to gauge your strengths, weaknesses, your competitive landscape and the shifts that are required both inside and outside your organisation. This provides the opportunity to learn from how you do things now, and how you want to proceed. The insights you gain from this process are invaluable, as they will inform how your strategy evolves.
Understanding your audience and their perception of your brand
An audience’s perception of a brand is almost always more significant than what the brand intends to portray. This external perspective is critical to determining brand value. Put simply, perception is reality. To strengthen your brand, it's crucial to align how your audience sees you with your strategic objectives. After all, a brand's essence is shaped, not by what a brand says about itself, but by what the audience sees, feels, and believes.
To achieve success with a rebrand or refresh, delving into audience insight is necessary. It's not enough to rely on static personas; you need an ongoing rationale that explores the why behind your decisions. How will this change benefit, inform or influence your key audience and stakeholders, and how does it align with your organisation’s goals? Brand strength comes when audience perception and business objectives are in synergy, and this is when a rebrand or refresh delivers the most impact.
Leveraging data insights to support change
As previously mentioned, conducting the necessary research will serve you well throughout a strategic rebranding. Your design team working on the changes will benefit hugely from directive, data-driven insights that help to convey why your organisation is making these updates. Exploring alignment with the brand, competitors, and customer feedback, alongside how changes will work for the consumer, will all allow for strategic brand updates that have far more impact than simply ‘looking nice’.
Understanding the ‘why’
It is impossible to underestimate how the 'why' should underpin everything in the rebranding process. It's not just about changing a logo or design; it's about fundamentally understanding why your brand needs a refresh. While visual elements play a crucial role, they're only one part of the equation. Successful rebranding involves more than a logo swap; it's about articulating how the brand has evolved, what it stands for, and how it will serve its audience better. Without this narrative, changes seem superficial and are likely to fail to resonate with your audience.
A great first step in a rebrand or brand refresh is to establish a clear and compelling reason for your rebranding efforts. This 'why' will guide every decision you make and ensure that every change serves a meaningful purpose, rather than making changes for the sake of it.
Fully investing in change
Brand evolution in any form must be fully supported, both within your organisation and by your audience(s). By transparently communicating your decision-making, rationale and outcome effectively, you have the potential to build a huge amount of trust, making it easier to gain long-term buy-in when the changeover happens.
If you’re working towards a full rebrand and wish to change the existing brand perception, audience understanding, rationale, and demonstration are everything. Without researching and communicating these elements in detail and placing them as the backbone to your strategy, you risk spending a lot of time and resources to achieve very little.
It is also important to remember that internal teams are the frontline ambassadors for your brand, highlighting the critical need to engage and align your teams with the rebranding process. When employees understand the 'why' behind the changes, they become brand advocates who authentically communicate the brand's essence.
Transparent communication ensures that everyone is on the same page, aligned with your goals and more motivated to contribute to its success. So, involve your employees in the rebranding journey, and provide them with the 'why' behind the changes to foster alignment and authenticity in their interactions.
Trust and transparency: delivering on brand promises
Effectively conveying trust and transparency is key to successful brands, especially in the digital age. In fact, according to the 2024 Salesforce State of Marketing Report, 68% of customers say advances in AI make it more important for companies to be trustworthy. This applies to concerns around customer data use and integrity, but also applies to brands consistently delivering on their promises and sticking to any proclaimed values.
Your audience expects honesty, and building trust means consistently delivering on your brand promises. Whatever these promises are, they need to be established early in the brand update process, be realistic and sustainable, be effectively communicated, and align with audience expectations. Rebranding is an opportunity to showcase your values, authenticity, and commitment to customer needs.
For many organisations, this extends to environmental, social responsibility (ESG), where audiences are quick to call our brand, which overstates their efforts, aka they engage in ‘greenwashing’. You can read more about this in our article on Credible ESG Marketing and Greenwashing.
Using AI in your brand strategy: the risks and the rewards
Artificial intelligence is increasingly finding its place in brand strategy, offering both exciting opportunities and new challenges.
On the rewards side, AI enables brands to harness data at scale, uncovering insights about audience behaviour, sentiment, and preferences that were once hidden. This intelligence can inform sharper positioning, more personalised customer experiences, and faster decision-making. In creative execution, AI can also support ideation, content generation, and predictive modelling, helping brands stay agile in fast-moving markets.
The risks are equally compelling. Leaning too heavily on AI can dilute authenticity, especially if content begins to feel formulaic or disconnected from the brand’s human voice. The backlash against recent AI-generated fashion campaigns from brands like Guess, most notably featured in Vogue, shows how quickly trust can erode when technology is misused- both for Guess and for Vogue, which merely housed the advert.
Ethical considerations around data privacy, bias in algorithms, and transparency also overshadow the issue. Any missteps around customer data handling or a lack of transparency will erode trust, which is the foundation of strong brands. While AI is powerful, it cannot replace strategic thinking, creativity or emotional resonance, which remain uniquely human strengths.
The key lies in balance, but using AI as an enabler, not a replacement. When combined with human insight and creativity, it can elevate your brand strategy. Left unchecked, heavy use of AI risks reducing your brand to background noise, rather than providing genuine value.
In conclusion
The 'why' is the cornerstone of successful branding projects. It's not just about changing a logo or design; it's about understanding the essence of your brand and why change is required. By taking the insights you uncover to heart, you'll be equipped to embark on a branding journey that resonates with your audience, fosters trust, and aligns your internal teams. Remember, it's not just about change; it's about change with purpose.
We are a rebranding agency
At The MTM Agency, we know that brand change is about insight, strategy and execution, which creates meaningful impact. Whether you need a full rebrand to reposition your organisation, or a brand refresh to stay relevant and nurture your existing audience, our team has the experience to guide you through every step.
We’ve helped businesses of all sizes in defining their ‘why’ through our brand strategy and positioning, aligned with their audiences using research and insights, and building brand identities that last through creative development.
Let us help you on your journey. Get in contact with our brand strategists today, or take a look at our recent brand projects.
FAQs
When should a business rebrand?
A strong rebrand should only be considered when there are strong strategic reasons to start afresh. These reasons may include reputational damage, a merger or acquisition, or when long-term negative perceptions are holding your business back. It's also relevant if your business purpose has fundamentally changed and your current identity no longer represents who you are. In short, rebranding is about drawing a line in the sand and signalling a new beginning, so it should only be considered when a refresh isn't adequate for realigning your brand with your audience and objectives.
How long does a rebrand usually take?
There is no set timeframe for a rebrand. The timeline depends on the scale of change required and how much research, strategy, and internal alignment are needed before any creative work begins. A rebrand is a complete reset, and therefore, it is not a quick process. Uncovering the current reality, aligning with audiences, building a strategy, and communicating the change all take time. Even on a smaller scale, meaningful brand change requires commitment and thorough preparation.
What does it cost to rebrand a business?
The cost to rebrand a business widely depends on the scope. A simple update to the logo or messaging, which could take weeks, is not the same as a full identity change supported by audience research, internal engagement and rollout across every touchpoint, which may be many months of work.
If you are looking for a truly successful rebrand, expect it to take time, as a good rebrand is never just a ‘new logo’. To have a real impact, investment and time is needed in strategy, research, design and communications to ensure the overall purpose is met.
Why is rebranding not always successful?
Rebrands fail if they are rushed, cosmetic or lack a clear ‘why’. If changes are made for the sake of it, rather than to address a genuine audience or market need, the result often falls flat. A new logo or strapline alone won't shift perceptions. Without research, audience understanding, and transparent communication, a rebrand risks wasting time and resources. Success depends on clarity of purpose, strong insight, and ensuring both internal teams and external stakeholders understand and support the change.