Rebranding Checklist: How to Get Your Rebrand Right

A rebranding checklist helps you get one of the most important changes you can make to your company right.

Rebranding is no easy task, especially if you’re undergoing a full rebrand (something we’re covering in further detail below) as companies have so many different channels and assets to consider.

It’s not just the obvious things such as your logo and your website that will need updating. You’ll likely have a range of print and digital assets from social media handles, to email footers, to business cards, some of which can easily slip under the radar.

It’s easy to forget how much needs updating when you rebrand, and leaving your old branding across any company materials can instantly weaken your new identity. You need to be consistent and cohesive across all touchpoints to make sure your rebranding is successful.

In this blog we’re taking you through the steps of rebranding along with a complete rebranding checklist, so you can tick things off as you go!

Why Is Branding Important?

Your branding encompasses every part of your company and extends to everything you do.

Whilst the obvious things that we mentioned in the intro such as your logo and your website form a big part of your branding, it’s much more than that. In a wider sense, your branding is a collection of emotions and perceptions that people feel about your company.

This influences their decision-making as it affects whether or not they trust you, whether or not they buy from you, or from an employee perspective, whether they choose to work for your company over somewhere else.

This means the importance of branding should never be reduced to a ‘nice to have’ as it’s a strategic tool that has a direct impact on success.

Because of its importance, many companies rebrand to steer them on the right track. Perhaps their branding was fitting at the time, but now their offering has expanded with new products/ services and the current branding is outdated.

There’s lots of reasons why companies rebrand which leads us onto our next section.

Reasons Why Companies Rebrand

We’ve touched on one of the reasons why companies rebrand, but there’s a whole range of reasons that can drive this transformation.

From reconnecting with customers, to cleaning up a bad reputation, we’re exploring some of these factors below:

• Outdated branding: Your company has probably changed since it first started. Whether that’s the products or services you sell, the markets you work in, or the types of customers you serve, a company rarely stays the same forever. This means branding can become outdated and no longer represents or communicates who you are today.
• New products or services: If you’ve added to your existing range of products/ services then your current branding might need updating. If it doesn’t communicate the full breadth of your offering, you’re doing your business an injustice as you want to showcase all of the reasons why customers should choose you over a competitor.
• Company restructure: A rebrand is common following a merger or acquisition as this is when two companies join together. As a result, they’ll have different existing brand identities which will need to be brought together to create one, unified brand.
• Changes in the market: Customer preferences, behaviours, and trends change all of the time, which can make your current branding feel a bit out of touch. For example, lots of companies now opt for flatter logos which work better across digital devices (where consumers spend a lot of time) in contrast to 3D logos which can be difficult to replicate. Think of Instagram’s logo for instance, aa this has adopted a much flatter, more minimalistic approach.
• Poor company reputation: If your company has a poor reputation, perhaps because of the products or the customer service, a rebrand can help reshape customer perception. It’s about reframing how customers see your brand by communicating clear messages around the value of your services to reinforce trust.

Regardless of your reason for rebranding, take this opportunity to evaluate where your brand is now, and where you want it to be in the future. This is your time to review what’s working and what’s not to shape your brand for the better moving forward.

Choose the Right Type of Rebrand

A full rebrand is not always necessary, or wise.

If your branding is mostly fine but just needs a little update, you might choose to undergo a brand refresh instead. This requires less money, time, and resources as you’re not overhauling the entire brand.

See this as more of a ‘brush up’ of what you already have, as it’s pointless changing your whole brand if it generally works. If you’re deciding between a brand refresh and a full rebrand, we’re outlining these two approaches below.

Brand refresh

As we’ve mentioned, a brand refresh is exactly what it says on the tin. You’re keeping the bulk of your current brand, but making little tweaks here and there to improve it. For example, you might refresh the colour palette, update your tagline, or in the case of Instagram, flatten your logo.

Another example of a brand who chose a brand refresh was Burger King. In 2021, they revealed a simplified version of their previous logo and identity, by taking inspiration from their original, flat logo seen in 1969. Unlike a complete overhaul, they retained lots of their existing elements which are familiar with customers, but updated to make it more fitting for the modern day.

Full rebrand

In contrast, a full rebrand is a total overhaul of your current branding so this approach needs to be more considered. As you’re changing so many elements that will already exist in the minds of your customers, you need to do it carefully.

You don’t want to run the risk of losing brand equity (the value you’ve already built up) so this transition from your current to your new brand needs to be thought through. With a complete rebrand, you’re hoping to make a real impact as you’ve put so much time and effort into rethinking and reworking your entire brand.

The Rebranding Checklist

Now that we’ve discussed the importance of your brand and outlined the two different approaches, we’ve come to the exciting part – your complete rebranding checklist.

Make sure you follow these steps when it comes to your own rebrand to ensure you’ve not forgotten about anything in the process!

Your Brand Identity

Your brand identity defines how your business is perceived by your audience and differentiates you from competitors. A strong brand identity helps you communicate your values, purpose, and promise . Make sure to refine these elements when you rebrand:

• New name
• Taglines and messaging
• Target customer profile
• Brand positioning
• Brand mission
• Brand values
• Brand personality

The Legalities

After defining your brand’s new identity, make sure all legal aspects are covered. Your marketing and legal teams should carry out in-depth research to avoid potential issues down the line. Consider the following when protecting your new brand:

• Do your competitors have a similar name?
• Can you find the right domain?
• Are there existing trademarks and copyrights?
• Are there any potential legal conflicts in international markets?

Brand Guidelines

Your brand guidelines serve as the single source of truth for how your brand should be represented. This ensures consistency across all marketing materials and communications, whether created by an in-house team or external partners. Make sure they include your:

• Colour palette
• Imagery
• Logo usage
• Typography
• Tone of voice
• Spacing and layout
• Patterns and textures

Digital assets

Update any resources that your company is still using as you don’t want customers seeing your old brand as this weakens your new image. Conduct an audit before you update your resources to make sure you’re only spending time on those that are valuable.

• eBooks/ guides/ templates
• Business cards
• Invoices
• Letterheads
• Email footers

Your website

Every rebrand requires updates to your website as your online presence needs to be consistent with the rest of your branding. Follow these steps to ensure your site reflects your new brand:

• Update typography, iconography, and imagery to align with your new brand identity
• Revise your website’s messaging to match new taglines and positioning
• Update logos across all web pages
• Set up 301 redirects from old URLs to new pages if you’re changing your domain
• Review and update all active landing pages to reflect the new brand
• Check that your navigation and internal links lead to rebranded content
• Ensure consistency across all visible design elements and language to avoid confusing your audience

Marketing and Advertising Channels

From paid ads to social media profiles, it’s important to refresh your marketing channels to reflect your new identity and maintain a cohesive brand presence.

• Paid advertising creative (Google, social media, etc)
• Social media profile images, banners, and bios
• Listings in business directories or review platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, etc

SEO and Analytics

You need to be sure that your rebrand doesn’t harm your online visibility and SEO as search engines may take time to recognise the new brand elements. The below checklist ensures you rebrand successfully and maintain good SEO:

• Update SEO keywords to reflect your new brand messaging
• Set up tracking for brand search terms in Google Analytics
• Update metadata (titles, descriptions) for web pages and images

Internal updates

Internal updates are often deprioritised but the way you communicate the brand internally affects the way people communicate the brand externally. This means all internal assets need to be updated when you launch your new brand, including:

• Email signatures
• Intranet communities
• Employee training and onboarding materials
• Internal forms, guides, and slide decks

Rebranding Checklist: How to Get Your Rebrand Right

Following a rebranding checklist is key to the success of your rebrand. Whilst you might have a clear understanding of why you’re rebranding and what you’re hoping to achieve, it’s easy for things to get missed along the way.

All businesses are multi-channel meaning they utilise a range of online and print assets to reach their audience wherever they may be. This volume and variation of channels makes it even easier to forget about certain things when you’re undergoing a rebrand.

However by following the steps in this blog and by downloading our free rebranding checklist, you can refer back to these whenever you need to. If you need help with your rebranding, get in touch with our team. We’ve partnered with clients across multiple sectors, helping them redefine their branding to connect with their audience.