Sands Costner

Let’s get a big concession out of the way: yes, it’s inarguably self-serving of us to claim that you need to work with an agency when rebranding. Still … we do make that claim, and we’re not wrong.

There are two reasons we’ve seen business owners choose to undertake their rebrand entirely in-house: the most prevalent is to save money. The other (less common) reason is to give work to a friend or relative who is a designer.

Now, IF your friend or relative is a professional graphic designer with experience in corporate brands, then great! You’ve got one piece of your rebranding campaign taken care of. But are they also skilled at copywriting for brand voice? At consumer research? At web design? Or brand awareness and advertising? Social media and content marketing? At tying your rebrand to your growth strategy? If so, then look no further!

Most of the time, rebranding involves more than a new logo and color palette. Yet many business owners seeking out help with their rebrand equate it with just that.

Rebranding certainly can save money in the long run. It’s a mistake to cut costs, however, by deciding that all you need for your rebrand is a fresh logo. Those who understand the complexity of rebranding tend to seek out agency help from the get-go. Think of rebranding as a recalibration of your entire business. Like a car, it needs periodic realignment. A paint job alone doesn’t do the trick.

THE FIX: Hire an agency that’s experienced in rebranding and staffed by people you want to work with. Use your in-house marketing team to help communicate your corporate identity to the agency, and to help execute strategies you and your agency devise.

We’ll be blunt: more often than not, corporate values suck. If a company lists their values at all, they tend to be vague and overreaching. More often than not, employees aren’t aware of them, or if they are, then they’re not sure how to manifest them in their work.

Similarly, a company’s statement of purpose is often bland and uninspiring. This is true even when a founder is charismatic and/or embodies excellent leadership qualities. Why? Because crafting an inspiring statement of purpose is a different skill from leading a company. It’s the skill of aligning the specific motivations shared by all your stakeholders into a single catalyzing statement, without making it feel overstuffed and flabby.

Then there are mission statements, the institutional fiber of the business world: they’re healthy, natural, and keep things moving in one direction. Many mission statements are crafted as window dressing, or as placeholders, a necessary checklist item for business owners. Most can’t pass the replacement test, however; statements so generic that one could swap item x for item y and not change anything. They completely miss the opportunity to create structure or the obligation implied by “mission.” Often lost in discussion of mission statements is their link to the notion of assignment. Missions are operations dictated by a higher power and evoke a sense of calling and duty. They are an authentic vocation born of specific people’s values and personality.

A successful rebrand depends on a healthy core brand foundation. If you undertake a rebrand without examining these elements, you’re likely just putting lipstick on a pig.

THE FIX: When hiring an agency, ask how they define values, purpose, and mission. Ask what role they feel this foundation plays in your overall growth strategy, and ask about the process they use to develop and tighten this core brand foundation. And make sure they have a sense of how they’ll get stakeholder buy-in.

Your rebranding strategy can be rock-solid, but if it isn’t aligned with an equally solid growth strategy, then it’s hard to see it actually helping your business in the long term.

Rebranding isn’t just a single marketing campaign; it’s about realigning the corporate identity you project in order to optimize and sustain your market share year after year. If your company doesn’t have a plan in place addressing how it will grow, then the extra market share will prove temporary, and could actually damage an unprepared business (for example, by not fulfilling promises; providing a lackluster customer service experience; or developing an inhospitable work environment, among other dangers.)

You should already be thinking about growth strategies along with any rebrand, and have a clear idea about the most likely strategy for long-term growth.

We can’t emphasize enough the fact that rebranding isn’t just about a single visual design element or new tagline; it’s a structural realignment of your entire corporate identity. Your rebrand won’t just spur growth; it will shape and contain it.

THE FIX: Even before you’ve signed a contract, share with your agency any growth plans you have, whether formalized or not. Not sure what to include or what to ask? Download our checklist of relevant growth planning questions here!