THE REBRAND QUESTION

THE SPECTRUM NOBODY TALKS ABOUT

Brand evolution is not binary. It exists on a spectrum, and understanding where you fall determines the right approach.

REFRESH (EVOLUTIONARY)

Same fundamental positioning. Updated visual execution. Refined messaging. The brand's core identity stays intact, but everything around it gets sharper.

Typical timeline: 2-4 months Typical investment: £20K-£60K

REBRAND (REVOLUTIONARY)

New strategic positioning. Complete visual system redesign. Reimagined narrative architecture. You are not updating the brand. You are replacing it with something fundamentally different.

Typical timeline: 4-8 months Typical investment: £60K-£200K+

Most companies default to "rebrand" when they actually need a refresh. The excitement of starting fresh is seductive. But it is also expensive and disruptive.

Conversely, some companies iterate endlessly when they need a clean break. They keep polishing a positioning that no longer serves them, perpetuating fundamental problems with increasingly beautiful execution.

FIVE SIGNALS YOU NEED A FULL REBRAND

These are not suggestions. If you recognise multiple signals here, you are likely looking at a fundamental repositioning, not a refresh.

ONE: YOUR MARKET POSITION HAS SHIFTED

Your product has evolved significantly since you last touched the brand. Maybe you started as a feature and became a platform. Maybe you moved upmarket from SMB to enterprise. Maybe you pivoted from one vertical to another entirely.

The brand that served your original position cannot stretch to cover where you are now. Trying to force it creates cognitive dissonance for everyone who encounters you.

TWO: MERGER OR ACQUISITION INTEGRATION

You have acquired or been acquired by another company. Now you need a brand that represents the combined entity without confusing existing customers or losing either company's hard-won equity.

This is almost always a rebrand situation. Halfway solutions, like cramming two logos together, signal indecision to the market.

THREE: EXISTENTIAL COMPETITIVE THREAT

A well-funded competitor has entered your space with a stronger brand. Playing catch-up on features is slow. Repositioning can be faster if the opportunity is right.

This requires honest assessment. Is your positioning genuinely vulnerable, or are you overreacting to noise?

FOUR: FUNDAMENTAL PERCEPTION PROBLEM

Your brand has become associated with something negative. An outage. A scandal. An outdated category. The existing name carries baggage that incremental improvements cannot overcome.

Sometimes the only path forward is a clean break. Not always. But sometimes.

FIVE: STRATEGIC MANDATE

New investors want a brand that reflects their vision for the company's trajectory. This should not be the only reason, but it can be the catalyst that makes necessary change happen.

FIVE SIGNALS A REFRESH WILL SUFFICE

These indicate execution problems, not positioning problems. The foundation is sound. The execution needs updating.

ONE: VISUAL FATIGUE

Your brand feels dated but your positioning is still accurate. The logo looks like it was designed in 2015 because it was. You need modernisation, not transformation.

TWO: INCONSISTENCY ACROSS TOUCHPOINTS

You have a decent brand foundation but execution varies wildly. Different teams using different fonts. Colours drifting between platforms. Messaging inconsistent across channels.

You need systematisation, not reinvention.

THREE: NEW MARKETING LEADERSHIP

A new CMO wants to put their stamp on things. This is natural. It does not automatically require starting from zero. Often, refining and extending the existing system serves better than revolution.

FOUR: EXPANSION REQUIREMENTS

You are entering new markets or launching new products that need to feel connected to the master brand. This usually requires brand architecture work, not wholesale rebrand.

FIVE: DESIGN SYSTEM GAPS

You lack the assets needed for modern marketing. No motion language. Limited illustration system. Insufficient colour variations for the campaigns you want to run.

Extending your brand system is different from replacing it.

THE COST OF GETTING IT WRONG

OVER-REBRANDING

When you rebrand but should have refreshed:

Wasted budget. You spent 3-5x more than necessary.

Lost brand equity. Customers no longer recognise you. The goodwill you built over years evaporates in weeks.

Internal confusion. Teams lose brand fluency. The design system they finally understood is now obsolete.

Market confusion. Prospects question your stability. "Why did they change everything? Are they struggling?"

SEO disruption. If you changed your name, domain changes and redirect complexity create months of headaches.

UNDER-REBRANDING

When you refresh but should have rebranded:

Perpetuated positioning problems. The fundamental issue remains, just with prettier colours.

Continued competitive vulnerability. Someone else claims the position you needed.

Frustrated teams. They know something is wrong but cannot articulate it.

Confused customers. They still misunderstand your value proposition.

Future debt. You will need the rebrand eventually. Delaying just increases the cost.

LUMIÈRE D'AILLEURS: THE STRATEGIC REFRESH

When Lumière d'Ailleurs came to us, they presented what seemed like a rebrand brief: "We need to look more premium."

But our discovery process revealed something more nuanced.

The brand's fundamental positioning was strong. French artisan jewellery with cosmic inspiration. Handcrafted pieces with meaning. Customers loved the story. The problem was visual execution that undersold the product quality and price point.

The work looked like an Etsy shop. The products deserved to sit alongside Cartier.

Our recommendation: strategic refresh, not full rebrand.

We kept the brand name. Lumière d'Ailleurs is beautiful and memorable. Why throw away something that works?

We kept the star symbol. Distinctive and meaningful. Connected to the cosmic narrative that customers already loved.

We evolved the typography from casual to refined. Same family of feelings, elevated expression.

We introduced a sophisticated colour palette. Warm but premium.

We created a monogram, LDA, for applications where the full name was unwieldy. It lives inside the full wordmark, creating flexible application options without fragmenting the identity.

The result: a brand that feels dramatically more elevated but maintains clear continuity. Existing customers recognise and appreciate the evolution. New customers perceive the luxury positioning the products deserve.

Total timeline: 3 months. Investment: 60% of what a full rebrand would have cost. Business impact: immediate credibility improvement in wholesale conversations, higher average order value online.

THE REBRAND READINESS ASSESSMENT

Before initiating any brand project, answer these questions honestly. Your answers will point you toward the right approach.

POSITIONING CLARITY

Can you articulate your differentiation in one sentence? Does your team consistently describe the company the same way? Do customers understand your value proposition accurately? Is your positioning defensible against competitors?

If "No" to any of these, you likely need positioning work. That might mean rebrand, or it might mean strategy work before any visual changes.

VISUAL EQUITY

Is your current logo technically well-executed? Does your visual system feel cohesive across touchpoints? Would modernising colours and typography solve the perceived problems? Do customers have positive associations with current visual elements?

If "No" to most of these but your positioning is sound, refresh is likely sufficient.

BUSINESS CONTEXT

Has your product or market fundamentally shifted? Are you entering significantly new customer segments? Is there a specific competitive threat demanding response? Have you received consistent feedback that your brand does not match your product?

Each "Yes" here increases the likelihood that rebrand is the right path.

WHEN REBRAND IS RIGHT: WHAT TO EXPECT

If assessment indicates full rebrand, here is what a quality process looks like:

PHASE 1: STRATEGIC FOUNDATION (4-6 weeks)

Stakeholder interviews. Competitive analysis. Customer research. Positioning development.

This is where most of the value is created. Skip this phase and you will have a beautiful brand built on unstable ground. I have seen it happen. It is painful to watch.

PHASE 2: CREATIVE EXPLORATION (4-6 weeks)

Multiple creative directions exploring different ways to express the strategy visually. This is not about taste. It is about finding the execution that best serves the strategy.

The best creative direction is not always the one you like most. It is the one that works hardest for the strategy.

PHASE 3: SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT (4-6 weeks)

Chosen direction expanded into complete brand system: logo variations, typography, colour, illustration, photography, motion, voice guidelines, templates.

This is where the brand becomes usable by your entire organisation, not just the people who created it.

PHASE 4: ROLLOUT PLANNING (2-4 weeks)

Launch strategy. Internal communication. Asset creation priorities. SEO migration plan if name is changing. Customer communication templates.

Total timeline: 4-6 months for quality work.

Anyone promising comprehensive rebrand in less is cutting corners you will pay for later.

MANAGING THE PEOPLE SIDE

The rebrand decision is rarely made by one person. Managing internal dynamics often determines whether the project succeeds.

FOUNDER ATTACHMENT

Founders often have emotional connection to original brand elements, even when those elements are holding the company back. The logo they sketched on a napkin. The name they argued about for weeks.

Honour this attachment while redirecting focus to business outcomes. The question is not "Do you like the new brand?" It is "Does this brand serve where we are going?"

SALES TEAM ANXIETY

Salespeople worry rebrands will confuse existing customers and disrupt deals in progress. These concerns are legitimate. Address them with clear transition timelines and customer communication support.

ENGINEERING SCEPTICISM

Technical teams may view branding as "fluff" compared to product work. Connect brand investment to metrics they care about: conversion rates, reduced sales cycle length, premium pricing ability.

BOARD PRESSURE

Investors often push for rebrand as a sign of progress. Make sure they understand the strategic rationale, not just the visual outcome. "We need to look more professional" is a weak reason. "We need to own the premium positioning as we move upmarket" is a strategy.

The most successful rebrands have executive sponsorship, cross-functional buy-in, and clear success metrics defined before creative work begins.