Rebranding

Rebranding is a word used to cover up very different things. Restyling (updated font and color) is not a rebranding. Changing the logo is almost not a rebranding. Real rebranding changes the answer to the question “who we are and for whom” - everything else is a consequence. When Philip Morris became Altria, it was a rebranding. When Facebook became Meta, too, although the audience mostly did not accept it.

Rebranding is justified in several scenarios: the company enters a new market with a different audience; the old brand carries toxic associations that cannot be gotten rid of otherwise; merging two brands into one; the business model has changed so much that the old name is misleading. In all other cases, it is an expensive way to solve the wrong problem.

The main mistake of rebranding is to think that changing the visual will solve the problem of perception. If the product is bad, a new logo won't help. If the team has not changed its behavior, the old associations will return in six months. I always ask clients: “What exactly will change in your work after changing the brand?” If the answer is “nothing, it will just be more beautiful” - this is not a rebranding, this is a design project.