flux branding

The Ultimate Guide to Rebranding a Company

Are you thinking about rebranding a company right now? If you are, it’s important to remember this isn’t the work of one person, one department, or one moment. To even consider a rebrand, you need to have eyes on the business as a whole.

Driven and animated woman energetically climbing the stairs, fueled by purpose, on a mission to achieve success in the ambitious task of rebranding the company

A successful rebrand requires an intimate understanding of what’s working, what’s not, and how your customers view you.

But a rebrand is more than changing the flow of daily operations or using a new CRM. It’s more than a logo or a typeface. Rebranding is about re-examining how you communicate who you are as a company, and learning how to rebrand a business successfully can take years to master.

Fortunately, there are a few steps that are consistent across every effort when rebranding a company. These steps make for a great jumping-off point as you embark on your rebranding journey.

While no article will be able to guide you through a successful rebrand start-to-finish, you can gather valuable information about what to consider and plan for. And the very first thing to know about company rebranding? How much it can change depending on your why.

How to rebrand a business and… 

Revolos Strategic Rebrand

Revolos Strategic Rebrand

Success in company rebranding starts by exploring why you want to rebrand in the first place. Your reason for rebranding will guide research into your customers, your competitors, and your company itself. It dictates which rebranding services you’ll need, what kind of timeline you’ll work with, and sometimes even how you measure success.

Rebranding a company is more than just visuals. Even visual rebranding isn’t focused on aesthetics alone. Learning how to rebrand a business is about navigating a whole host of unique dilemmas rooted in how you’re perceived by your customers, your employees, your competitors, and even yourself.

All that said, here are a few tips on the most common challenges you might be looking to combat with a rebrand, and how each one can impact the way you approach rebranding a company.

Take back your market share

Now, let’s be clear – rebranding a company isn’t how you make up a minor drop in sales this quarter. Developing and launching a brand with powerful brand equity takes time and intentionality.

But sometimes the drop is significant or lasting, and then you could have a problem.

Competitive attack, especially from newcomers, is a sign that your brand is not yet memorable and irreplaceable enough to win out in your industry. Uncovering what your brand is missing and repositioning it based on your unique advantages is an investment that will pay off well into the future.

To learn how to rebrand a business and take back your market share, you’ll want to lean into the “Ignite” phase of Flux’s IDEA Method – the tried and true framework that we bring to all of our projects. We will explain more on this later.

Attract and retain exceptional employees

Company rebranding team meeting

Creating company culture can sometimes feel out of your control. You may have an idea of the culture you want in your business, and maybe you’ve even taken some steps to get there. But now, you’re struggling to attract and retain the employees you want (and need).

That’s where internal company rebranding comes in.

Most of the time, companies view branding as external – the way you communicate with your customers. However, branding is just as crucial internally, and it can be especially liberating. It allows you to rediscover why you fell in love with (or even created) your company in the first place.

Rebranding a company to strengthen your internal brand will inform the way you communicate with your employees and the culture you create with them.

The “Energize” phase of the IDEA method dives more deeply into how you’ll solidify this internal brand and unify it across your entire organization.

Navigate a merger

Two business men shaking hands after a successful merger as a result of strategic rebranding

Diversifying your brand portfolio? A clear strategy for expanding your brand or rebranding your subsidiaries is critical. A good brand strategy will expand your reach, while a messy one can seriously damage your recognition.

Wondering how to rebrand a business during a merger, sale, or acquisition is completely normal. It’s a sticky situation, and there are countless factors to manage. Your external brand may undergo few changes, if any. On the other hand, you might need to create something totally new.

Rebranding a company due to a merger is one of the best times to bring in a rebranding agency. As someone without ties to any of the existing brands, a talented rebranding agency will be able to mediate conversations about the brand’s new direction.

During a merger, the “Distill” phase of the IDEA method becomes the cornerstone of the process. In this phase, you lay out your company’s core philosophy, audiences, and offerings. A merger is a crucial time to assess your company’s ethos and architecture to understand how multiple brands can live together successfully, uniting everyone under the same vision.

Distance yourself from controversy

Rebranding a company can be a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to a less-than-favorable reputation. But rebranding doesn’t wipe the slate completely clean. If the root of the problem stays put, your new brand won’t do anything to win back customers or employees.

Start your rebrand after – or at least alongside – changes in the company systems, structure, or leadership that caused the issue to begin with. That way, your company rebrand can mark a clear change in the kind of company you want to be.

The “Ignite” phase of the IDEA method is key when it comes to changing a reputation. In this part of the process, you dive deep into your company and your customers. Through guided workshops, stakeholder engagement, and customer interviews, you’ll figure out the root of challenges and propose solutions.

And, once you have your new brand in place, you’ll want to create a brand reputation strategy to protect it in the future.

Move into the future

You don’t always need to face a major change to consider rebranding a company. When most people think of brands, they think of brand identity – the visual branding elements that make a brand recognizable. But branding is more than just colors, typography, and logos.

Your brand is the essence of who you are as a company. This includes your mission and values, who you serve, how you’re different from your competitors, and why your company exists in the first place.

Rebranding a company completely will require reassessing those ideas, which can be difficult. The comforting familiarity of your brand is constantly running in the background, but some ideas no longer resonate. Rebranding allows you to check in and remove aspects of the brand that are holding you back.

If you feel your brand identity needs a change, but the other parts of your brand are still healthy, then you may need to consider a refresh rather than a complete rebrand.

A refresh can lean more heavily on the “Energize” and “Activate” phases of the IDEA method to help your brand move into the future while still preserving what makes it powerful. In these phases, we bring strategy to life, transforming how you look and where you show up to make your brand more effective with key audiences.

So what is the IDEA method exactly? Let’s dive into the details of each stage.

The IDEA method

The IDEA method consists of four phases: Ignite, Distill, Energize, and Activate.

Ignite

Jump Out Moodboard

Jump Out Moodboard

When you’re rebranding a company, there are countless details to balance and things to consider. The Ignite phase is all about setting yourself up for success. During this phase of company rebranding, you’ll methodically consider every strength and weakness of your current brand.

Making a thorough rebranding checklist is one part of the Ignite phase. But be careful when you make this checklist – getting overwhelmed is all too easy, especially if you’re trying to DIY your rebrand.

Our advice? Use a separate checklist for each phase of the IDEA method. The Ignite phase has completely different needs and goals compared to the Energize phase, for example.

Spend plenty of time planning and information-gathering, especially during the early stages of your rebrand. When you do, you’ll be amazed at how naturally everything else will flow from there.

Stop, look, and listen

Researching is at the heart of a successful rebrand. When you’re rebranding a company, you’ll quickly notice just how many places your brand shows up. And in each place your brand appears, there’s something to learn about how people interact with it.

Any experienced rebranding agency will tell you that quietly watching and listening to how people interact with your brand is a must for any successful rebrand.

When you’re rebranding a company, you need a 360° view of your company identity. Before announcing it to the world, it’s time to get deeply familiar with who your company is – and who it wants to be.

Get curious

“Why” is the most important question you can ask when rebranding a company.

Why are you rebranding? Why are you choosing this logo mock-up over that one? Why will one choice or another resonate with your customers? Why does it resonate with you?

Asking why helps you get to the bottom of any choice, keeping your most central values at the heart of your efforts. A crucial part of learning how to rebrand a company is learning how to question everything.

What’s important will hold up to questioning, and what isn’t will quickly burn away. Curiosity is indispensable when you’re rebranding a company, so get curious early in the process and stay there!

It’s (not) all about the customers

Understanding customers is essential to rebranding a company, of course. Without consumer research, the rebranding operates on the preferences of the board, not the buyer. Don’t guess at what your customers want. Ask them, then listen. Your company rebranding efforts will be all the better for it.

But you can’t stop there. Internal branding boasts often-overlooked gems – like higher retention rates, seamless mergers and acquisitions, and a mental and emotional boost to your employees.

Your brand communicates who you are as a company. Your customers care about that, absolutely. And so do your employees. They want to know who they’re working for, and they want to know what it means to work for and with your company.

Rebranding a company successfully requires an all-inclusive understanding of who you are as a company – to your customers, employees, shareholders, and yourself.

Distill

Rakuten Super Logistics Rebranding

Rakuten Super Logistics Rebranding

So you’ve gotten a 360° view of your brand, your competitor, and your audiences, as well as dug into what your employees want from your brand – now what? How does this mountain of data become a brand? The Distill phase helps you refine that data into key touchpoints that will develop into your brand.

And before you move forward in rebranding a company, it might be helpful to know more about brands as a whole. Brand archetypes can be powerful tools to determine what kind of brand you want to be. Rather than trying to rebrand from scratch, starting from a brand archetype allows you to draw inspiration from successful brands and align yourself with specific ideals.

Drawing in archetypes alongside your data gives the Distill phase a sense of direction and purpose. What archetype do you want to embody? What do your customers see you as?

Zoom out

The Distill phase of rebranding a company is about the big picture. Don’t get too stuck in the details just yet. Look at what your data is telling you as a whole. What themes or ideas come up over and over when people are talking about your brand?

Rebranding a company is never just about the company. You’re rebranding for your customers just as much as for yourself – if not more so. Don’t be afraid to hang on to parts of your brand if the customers love them. And don’t hesitate to throw out your favorite ideas or features if the customers don’t agree.

Take an honest look at what’s working and not working. The more real and honest you can be, the more authentic your direction will become. And when you’re transitioning from the Ignite phase into the Distill phase, finding a clear, authentic direction builds a strong foundation for your brand moving forward.

Uncover your identity

Shimahara Visual brand identity designed by Flux Company

Shimahara Visual Brand Identity

The ultimate goal of the Distill phase is creating your brand positioning, which you can then use to craft your brand identity. So you might wonder, what is brand positioning?

Rebranding a company is more than visual rebranding. Think of your brand’s presentation and reputation as though it were a person. Your reputation isn’t exclusively based on what you wear and look like. Your identity includes a whole host of intangible things, as well – your family, your education, your taste, your values, and your beliefs.

The intangible qualities that set your brand apart are your brand positioning. This dictates how your brand will show up, and what values you need to keep in mind every time your brand is included.

Take Disney, for example. They didn’t end up with a sterling reputation as family-focused, magical dreamers by accident. They’ve deliberately positioned their brand to reflect those ideas – with great success.

Solve the puzzle

By this stage, you’ll have a good sense of what your customers are looking for and how you might want to show up for them. Now, it’s time to solve the puzzle.

How do you put together the data from your market research with the needs your employees express and the passion you have for your company… all while keeping shareholder buy-in?

This is one of the hardest parts of rebranding a company, so if you get stuck here, you’re not alone. Keep learning, and don’t be afraid to reach out for help if you need it. The result of this phase should be an internal document that acts as a north star for all future brand expression. It lays out your reason to believe, core concepts and values, unique differentiators, brand voice, and the early stages of your visual tone. It’s one of the most critical parts of a rebranding effort, ensuring everyone who works with you understands exactly what your brand is all about.

Energize

Smart Cups Brand Positioning

Smart Cups Brand Positioning

By this phase, you should have a strong, data-backed brand positioning document laying out the core concepts of your brand. This internal document is the beating heart of your brand, and it’s indispensable for the Energize phase and the life of your brand moving forward.

The Energize phase is where we really dig into your brand identity. How (and where) do you want your brand to show up? What is brand identity? Brand identity is a cornerstone of rebranding, and it refers to the logo, colors, and typography you’ll use to make an instant impression. Rebranding a company has more to it than brand identity, but it’s still a crucial part of the puzzle.

This can be a good time to bring on some help, too. There isn’t a marketing department in the world that can take on rebranding all by themselves. Especially not if you plan to have any other marketing happening before or after the brand launch.

Rebranding a company is a huge amount of work. Beyond that, an excellent rebrand requires specialized knowledge and skill sets that even an awesome marketing team might not have.

Make a map

Where did you come from, and where are you going? Following the IDEA method, you should have an idea of how to answer this question by this point. Now the Energize phase is all about bringing your new brand strategy to life through visual channels. It’s time to develop a dynamic brand identity that resonates with your target audience and aligns with your business goals.

Any change is hard. Rolling out a new logo, messaging strategy, and package all at the same time is what makes rebranding a company especially difficult. How and when you communicate the changes is just as important as making the right changes.

As you develop your brand identity, now is a good time to anticipate the kinds of collateral you might need. For example, will you be replacing business cards or company letterhead? Branded merchandise? Vehicle wraps? Start putting things in motion now so you’re prepared for when the Energize phase has a beautiful brand identity ready for you to Activate.

Express yourself

Most people find the Energize phase to be the most exciting part of rebranding a company. This is the point where you start to see your brand come together. You’ve determined what your brand needs to be, and narrowed down your values, but how will you express that?

What iconography, visual language,  and image style communicate who your brand truly is? In the early phases of the Energize phase, especially, don’t be afraid to explore! There are many different ways to express the same kinds of brand ideals.

And remember, staying curious makes all the difference in rebranding a company. Always ask why you’re drawn to a specific brand identity component– and if your audience is drawn to it as well. Keeping your customers in mind should be your guiding light throughout the process, and help you select the right option from the many different visual directions a brand can take  Getting to the root of what your brand means you find a brand identity that perfectly expresses those concepts.

Learn a new (visual) language

Emerald Dealer Services Visual Language

Emerald Dealer Services Visual Language

The brain can process the visual components of your brand faster than anything else. And in today’s online world, your brand’s visuals have to be able to stop the scroll. Rebranding a company visually is challenging, and it can feel like a completely different world.

You’ll need to dig deep into what your brand means and where you want to go. Any visual change must be in alignment with your overall brand strategy. How do you want to make people feel? What is your brand personality? These kinds of questions are at the heart of how you want to look.

Incorporating the intangible elements of your brand into tangible elements is one of the moments you might need to call in some help when rebranding a business. Graphic designers, especially ones who specialize in rebranding are fluent in the “language” of visual rebranding.

A note on visual rebranding:

A picture paints a thousand words (without having to read them). When embarking on a visual rebrand, careful consideration is key. How are you going to socialize the new look with your customers and your employees? Visual rebranding can pivot your look completely and may make you almost unrecognizable to your current audience. Having a careful plan to roll out the new look, and a good amount of market research to back up the change, are critical.

Countless brands have released new brand visuals, only to be met with incredible backlash. And sometimes, even become the butt of a joke.

In any visual rebranding, make sure you’re bringing in professional designers. Successful brand visuals will reflect your brand’s strategy and intelligence. Professionals will help you ensure your visuals are more than just a pretty face.

Activate

Poppy Rebranding

Poppy Rebranding

Arguably, the Activate phase is the most labor-intensive of the whole process, but it can also be the most straightforward. The Activate phase is your brand launch, and while there are many different ways to launch a brand, this is also where your in-house marketing team can be incredibly helpful.

As an experienced Los Angeles branding agency, Flux has worked on brand launches for a variety of companies, in every shape and size. This is the last leg of the marathon that is rebranding a company, and seeing a successful brand launch is incredibly rewarding.

Strategize your launch

The first step in a successful launch is a solid strategy. Like every other part of rebranding a company, your launch should be solidly data-based.

How do your customers see your current brand? What are you trying to convey with the new one? Does your new brand look significantly different or are you only making a minor change? What kind of resources are you working with? All these questions (and more) will play a huge role in how you strategize your brand launch.

And, like anything in business, there’s a bit of paperwork to do before you can consider your rebrand complete. You’ll need to copyright your new brand and update DBAs or product names. Check with your legal team to make sure that everything looks good before you proceed.

Check in with your finance department regularly when rebranding a company, as well. Many of the expenses associated with the rebranding process (including hiring an agency) are tax-deductible, so you can mark them as write-offs in your budget.

Unveil your brand

The Taft Building Rebranding

The Taft Building Rebranding

While you’re running the launch, pay close attention to the reception. It’s not too late to make minor changes to the plan! You can also use this time to guide your marketing decisions in the future.

What are some of the things that people like or dislike about the way your new brand shows up?

Rebranding a company is an incredible amount of work, and it can be tempting at this point to check out and let the launch run its course. But the real-time feedback you can give to and receive from your customers and employees is invaluable. Insights found during this process can guide how your new brand moves forward for months, or even years.

Celebrate your team

Once your brand launch is complete, don’t forget to celebrate! You and your team will truly be putting your heart and soul into company rebranding, so take a well-deserved breather.  A successful rebrand is a labor of love, but that doesn’t make it easy.

And after taking some time to step away from the project, you’ll get to enjoy the results. Rebranding a company can breathe new life into your work. It can remind you why you work for – or created! – your company to begin with. Rebranding can also revitalize your sales and service, giving the company an overall boost. Win-win!

Rebranding a company with confidence

G12 Rebranding

G12 Rebranding

Brands aren’t meant to last forever. Companies grow and shift and change, and in successful rebrands, you ask questions, investigate those changes, and use them to move forward.

A full rebrand can make a company…or break it. Poorly done rebrands make your customers – current and potential – confused and uncertain. If you’re inconsistent with your brand, they’ll wonder if you’re inconsistent with your products or services, too.

On the other hand, when your mission and values are clear for every person in your organization, it shows for your customers, too. In better customer service. In higher-quality products. In problems that get solved more efficiently than ever.

Rebranding a company isn’t easy, but it is rewarding. Choosing an excellent rebranding agency will take most of the work off your plate while allowing you to take in all the benefits.

Common fears and FAQs about company rebranding

There’s no way around it: Company rebranding is a massive project with equally massive consequences – one way or another. Some companies experience intense, rapid growth after a rebrand while others attempt rebrands that nearly destroy their business.

These outrageous failures can leave you with massive fears about rebranding. If BP, Uber, and Tropicana can have rebrands go wrong, how do you know it won’t happen to you next? Each of these examples missed the mark because they lacked the strategy and vision necessary for a vibrant rebrand.

When you overcome the fears around rebranding a company, you can embrace your rebranding journey with open arms.

How can you be sure it’s time to rebrand?

Usually, you’ll recognize the time for a rebrand when it arrives. The reasons we list at the beginning of this article are the most common signs: a merger or acquisition, a competitive attack, launching a new product or service, a change in leadership, or a reputational challenge. And if you’re on the fence about a rebrand, the best thing to do is to ask yourself why you want to rebrand in the first place.

Rebranding a company is something to approach deliberately and confidently. If you’re looking to rebrand simply because you’re bored with your current brand, or worried it feels “dated”, pause a moment. At that point, you could consider visual rebranding, but you could also wait.

And if you truly aren’t sure, you could always schedule a consultation with a rebranding agency.

Will you end up losing money if you rebrand?

Some brands take a hit of millions due to a failed rebrand. How do you know that rebranding a company won’t cause the same problems for you? This is an especially intense fear for brands who are rebranding to take back a loss of market share.

The last thing you want is to make the company rebranding project a huge line item in the budget… only to have it cost you money in the end.

The good news? Approaching rebranding carefully and methodically can help you avoid a spectacular failure. Strategic rebranding helps ensure brand consistency, which has been shown to increase revenue by 30%. And that’s not all – a strong brand will make your marketing more effective, allowing you to build customer loyalty and mindshare.

What if you (or your customers) hate the new brand?

Putting time and effort into carefully designing a brand, only to become a laughingstock or outcast is a common worry about rebranding. Similarly to the fear of losing money, you can combat this with plenty of research– both inside and outside your company. Understanding your internal vision as well as your external perception are both key to a successful rebrand. Get curious, ask questions, and see what your customers and your employees have to say.

Authenticity plays a big role in how your brand is received. We’ve all noticed the rise of blanding, even if we didn’t have a word for it. Removing every trace of personality from your brand is a guaranteed way to make your efforts in rebranding a company fail.  Whether your brand is loud and busy or simple and clean, it should reflect your overall strategy and needs, not a momentary trend.

Bringing in experts can help you balance modern looks with bold personality during your company rebranding.

Gordon Ramsey’s Food Stars: Smart Cups Rebranding

Gordon Ramsey’s Food Stars: Smart Cups Rebranding

Do you need to hire a rebranding agency to rebrand?

No, you don’t need to hire a rebranding agency… but you might want to. Before you decide to field company rebranding in-house, ask yourself: Does my team already know how to rebrand a business? Do one or more of them have the experience or skill set necessary to navigate this specialty?

Agencies are often the simplest and most trustworthy option for rebranding a company. And when you take into account the time you may spend vetting and cobbling together a team of solid contractors, they might be cheaper, too.

Make sure you review an agency’s case studies before scheduling a meeting with them so you know if they have a specialty. Case studies can also show you an agency’s overall energy and what they find important in rebrands.

Is rebranding worth it?

The short answer? Yes. When it’s needed, rebranding a company can transform it at every level. Even when you’re doing a lighter brand refresh, renewing your brand’s vibrancy has a ripple effect.

Rebranding can affect the way you interact with your shareholders, customers, and throughout your organization as a whole. At its core, branding is rallying people together over shared ideas, beliefs, and desires. Rejuvenating that isn’t always easy, but it is always rewarding.

5 Successful Rebranding Examples (+ Case Studies)

Successful rebranding examples happen a lot more quietly than unsuccessful ones. When a rebrand is unsuccessful, people get loud about how much they hate it. The company has to endure a slew of criticism from customers, think pieces, and shareholders.

A businessman connecting question mark with lightbulb solution

When a company rebrands successfully, people don’t make memes or Twitter threads about it. The new brand feels comfortable and natural. So when you’re considering a rebranding project, finding tips on what not to do is much easier than finding tips on what to do.

Today, we’ll be looking at 5 rebranding case studies from Flux. In each of these, we used our tried-and-true IDEA Method to successfully create fresh, new versions of existing brands.

But before we look at successful rebranding examples, here’s a quick refresher on what a rebrand is.

 

What is a rebrand, and who needs one?

A rebrand is a change that a company makes to an existing public image. Rebranding can touch every part of a company, from the mission statement to the visuals. It all depends on what kind of change you’re looking to make.

You might be creating company culture for the first time and want to update your internal brand.

Maybe you feel a need to strip everything to the studs and start over because your brand isn’t resonating with your current customers.

Or maybe your brand needs to be brought into the now in a powerful way.

Rebranding can handle all of these needs, and it’s an effective way to increase your brand’s market value.

All that said, successful rebranding examples have always been done intentionally. Rebranding is a huge project, and successful rebrands always have an equally large goal. It’s not the kind of project that should be taken on because you’re feeling bored with your current brand or are looking to shake things up among your competitors.

When do you need a rebrand?

So when do you actually need a rebrand? There are several times in a company’s life when you’ll need to rebrand – which means rebranding examples are more common than you’d think.

First, a light rebrand – often called a brand refresh – is recommended every five years or so. This project is always on the smaller side. It involves updated visuals and copy and exists only to keep your brand up-to-date.

If your brand hasn’t been touched for decades, it’s time for a change!

Other situations are less frequent but more important. When companies go through a merger or acquisition, a rebrand helps them revise and strengthen their core values and image.

A negative public image can also be a call to rebrand, although these projects need to be handled with special care.

Lastly, a major loss of market share is an excellent reason to rebrand. You might be looking to strengthen your standing against a new competitor. Maybe you need to differentiate yourself in an increasingly crowded market. Or maybe, with today’s competitive hiring standards, you need help attracting and retaining talented employees.

Rebranding examples will include companies who used their brand to accomplish all these goals, so let’s look at just a few of the brands Flux has helped with a rebrand.

 

5 successful rebranding examples

These rebranding examples were all achieved using Flux’s IDEA Method. The IDEA Method is the unique framework we approach each and every project with. It starts with a deep, 360° view of the current brand, including its competitors, customers, and image. From that strong foundation of research, we begin crafting a beautiful brand.

1. FGS: Brand evolution for a 140-year-old company

Fruit Growers Supply: A Successful Rebranding Example

Rebranding examples for companies with a rich history are always works of art. So when FGS approached us for a brand refresh project, we were honored to be their chosen rebranding agency. This brand is a division of Sunkist, and has a proud 140-year history to build on.

During this rebrand, we knew that FGS needed to honor that past while forging a new future. This meant keeping the classic “F” logo that their customers associated with them. In order to bring that logo into the company’s bright future, we redrew it with clean, balanced proportions.

Their present – and future – has also come to include more than just fruit, so we recommended a slight name change to “FGS Growers Supply” as a nod to their rich heritage.

We closed out this project by creating a brand launch plan to bring the new brand to the world, including a welcome box for new clients that celebrates the company’s past and reflects its current identity.

See what we did for FGS here.

2. G12: Life at the speed of luxe

G12 Real Estate Rebranding Example

Successful rebranding examples for luxury brands can be hard to come by. Many luxury brands in recent years have fallen prey to “blanding,” discarding their historic brands in favor of flat, safe imagery.

When G12 came to Flux for a rebrand, we embraced the idea of opulence. The multi-family project wanted to appeal to a young, fashion-conscious consumer. The interior design was already luxurious and elevated, so we helped them craft a brand to match.

Bold brass and gold coloring contrast with black and gray to make a statement. Alongside the colors, geometric shapes like hexagons and a simple, functional logo incorporate smooth waves for a delicious finish.

This rebranding case study also included updating their signage. Every passerby is treated to eye-catching window clings, and column wraps that hint at the luxury inside.

In the leasing gallery, a custom sign with beaded curtains makes a statement: This is no ordinary experience. Finally, brass wayfinding signage offers a sense of cohesion throughout the building, bringing the experience into every moment with G12.

See more of how we helped G12 here.

3. The Taft Building: A Hollywood original 

Taft Building Rebranding Example

If you’re still wondering, “Why do companies rebrand?” look no further than The Taft Building. This classic building truly deserves its place among our rebranding examples.

After approximately $43 million was spent on acquiring and renovating the building, a fresh new brand was an absolute necessity. Flux was more than able to deliver, bringing a brand that celebrated this building’s storied history and creative future.

With icons like Charlie Chaplin holding offices in the past, the rebrand was built around crafting your legacy. The world-famous intersection of Hollywood and Vine, where the building is located, played a secondary role in the creation of this fresh new brand.

We grounded this color palette in neutral colors, but included an exciting pop of coral as an accent. For typography, we combined serif and sans-serif fonts to bring both a classic and contemporary feel to the print.

Before shelving this project with our other successful rebranding examples, we created a custom brochure. This brochure alludes to the building’s place in movie history by mimicking the style of classic movie posters – doubling as a unique memento from the building.

Check out more of The Taft Building’s rebrand here.

4. The Groveland: Roam. Rest. Repeat.

Groveland Rebranding Example

Next on our list of rebranding case studies is another historic building. The Groveland needed a special touch for their company rebranding project.

The hotel began as a trading post in 1849, officially becoming The Groveland hotel in 1875. Making this one of our top rebranding examples meant we needed to be able to bring their history into the new brand without making them look stuck in the past.

California, where The Groveland is located, has a rich history and a promising future in exploration. The rebrand leaned into the feeling of adventure, exploration, and awe that visitors experience in the natural surroundings of the hotel.

We incorporated strong earth tones, like rich greens and browns, as a call back to the concept of discovering the landscape. The typography is a blend of a custom serif reminiscent of old typeset with a gentle, hand-drawn cursive to bring a relaxing, soft feel.

See more of what we did for The Groveland here.

5. Rakuten Super Logistics: Fulfillment superstars

Rakuten Rebranding Case Study

There aren’t many successful rebranding examples in the logistics sector, and during this project, we discovered why. Strong brand voices and eye-catching visual branding are unusual in logistics. However, logistics companies are the cornerstone of many e-commerce businesses.

So when Rakuten Super Logistics came to us for a rebranding project, we knew this was going to be something special. Surprisingly, “super” wasn’t being used within their old brand’s messaging. We chose to highlight this in the new brand, making it the cornerstone of their identity.

The rebrand proclaimed Rakuten as “Fulfillment Superstars.” The messaging focused on something that we noticed during customer research.

Rakuten’s current customers weren’t sure what made Rakuten better than other fulfillment services. We renamed and reorganized their key differentiators and presented them to the world as the “Flawless or Free Guarantee.” They’ll get the right order to the right place on time, or you don’t pay.

Then, we introduced each and every one of these differentiators through social media campaigns. Bright colors and original photography created a welcoming, personable look that matched the new messaging perfectly.

See more of how we helped Rakuten become one of our top rebranding examples here.

 

Rebranding case studies: why do they matter?

Finding great rebranding examples from companies is key to choosing the right rebranding agency for your business. These case studies will give you a snapshot of the skill set and thought process behind the work the company can do for you, as well as open the door to learning about their methods and beliefs about branding.

When you’re ready to talk to a brand identity agency, these rebranding examples can jump-start the conversation and help you craft your most successful brand yet.

11 Tips for Attracting and Retaining Talented Employees With Branding

Talented employees are hard to find. You post job listings on a dozen different job boards (including LinkedIn). You post “now hiring” signs outside your building and banners on your website. You go through seemingly endless rounds of interviews. All in search of that one perfect candidate.

Boss trying to attract and retain a talented employee who's about to leave through the exit the door using a magnet

And once you find them, keeping them can feel even harder. Your turnover feels out of control, and you don’t know what’s causing it. Why are all your employees leaving?

Attracting and retaining talented employees gets much easier once you realize that people’s connection with brands goes deeper than their purchasing power.

People want to connect with brands at work, too. In fact, branding is one of the best ways to make the never-ending struggle to find top talent easier. So if you’ve wondered: “Why do companies rebrand?”, attracting and retaining talent is certainly a great reason!

Today, we’ll dive into 11 tips for attracting and retaining talent using your brand.

11 ways to attract and retain top talent

Attracting and retaining top talent starts with realizing that today’s employees are looking for a give-and-take relationship with their work. Days of “hustling” and “climbing the corporate ladder” are becoming a distant memory.

So how does attracting and retaining talent look in today’s workforce? First, remember that those top employees see hundreds of job openings when they’re looking for work. They’re just as tired as you are of chasing opportunities that never quite work out.

The clearer you can be about what you have to offer, the better chance you have of attracting and retaining talented employees.

Here are just some of the things you can do to make attracting (and retaining) top talent easier:

1. Listen to your employees

Job satisfaction survey for attracting and retaining talented employees

How do you know what you have to offer from an employee’s perspective? Ask your employees.

Survey employees at every level of your company. What do they love about working for and with you? What could stand to be improved? Why? Importantly, ask them if they know what your company stands for. Is your internal branding strong enough that every one of your employees understands your mission and vision?

The more you listen, the easier your job will be. The people who are with your company right now are there for a reason. Once you know what that reason is, you’ll be able to refine and amplify it, both internally and externally.

Attracting and retaining talented employees starts with retaining the talent you already have. Giving them a voice and showing them their feedback matters is a great place to start.

2. Consider a brand update

Yes, company rebranding is usually done for your customers. Undergoing a rebrand or a brand refresh is often an external project, but not exclusively. A brand update can also help in attracting and retaining talented employees.

In general, updates are typically a good idea every few years to maintain the integrity and freshness of your brand. Starting a rebranding project with hiring and retention in mind is a powerful way to create internal branding that resonates with your employees. This is particularly important if there have been major structural changes to your company, like a merger or acquisition. Updating your brand with a focus on internal branding can help you increase efficiency and strengthen company culture.

You might already have a strong internal brand, or you might have no internal brand at all. Either way, now is the perfect time to audit your brand and see exactly what you’re working with.

3. Create (or improve) your employee value proposition

Employee value proposition pie chart for attracting and retaining talented employees

Your employee value proposition exists to answer one question: “Why should a talented employee choose to work in this position with you instead of with your competitors?”

You may never have delved deep into this question before. Or, like your brand, maybe you haven’t reviewed it in a few years, and it’s time to look it over again. Bringing in an outside party can help you get a clear, fresh view.

During your work with a rebranding agency, you’ll put your brand under a bright light and look at every part of it. This, and the employee surveys you complete, will help you put together an employee value proposition tailored to attracting and retaining talented employees.

4. Review your pay and benefits 

It’s not as “cool” as some of the other things on this list, but pay and benefits are important to talented employees. In fact, 7 in 10 job seekers consider salary the most important part of a job listing – and are more likely to apply to a job that shows a salary range.

If you’re struggling with attracting and retaining talented employees, take a moment to make sure your salary and benefits are competitive. And it’s not just when you’re first hiring, either. Review pay and benefits for all your employees annually to account for performance, cost of living increases, and changes in responsibilities.

5. Double down on creating company culture

Company Core Values Concept for for attracting and retaining talented employees

Your employees work for a paycheck, it’s true, but they don’t work for just a paycheck. Creating company culture is an important step in attracting and retaining talented employees.

Your culture is the way that your teams interact with each other.

When you revamp your culture as part of an internal rebranding project, you might worry about alienating existing employees. You might lose some employees during this process, but they will be people who don’t believe in your mission or the positive changes you’re trying to make.

At Flux, we believe that strong brands take a stand. The clearer you are at what you’re taking a stand for, the easier attracting and retaining talent will be – even if you lose people who don’t stand for the same things you do.

6. Put your job descriptions to work

Job descriptions are more than a bulleted list of duties with a salary range tacked on the end. Or at least, they should be. When it comes to attracting and retaining talented employees, your job description is like an online dating profile. That is, it gives them a taste of what you’re really like so they can decide whether you’re a good fit.

Your job descriptions should have a pop of personality – are you serious or fun? Are you dreamers or do-ers or a mix of both? Well-written job descriptions will help weed out candidates that don’t mesh with your culture before you even have to review a resume.

7. Show up on socials

Genicook's new social branding designed by Flux

Genicook Social Branding

Your top talent isn’t just on the job boards. You can find them on social media, too. And showing up on socials means that you can catch the attention of talented employees who aren’t actively job-seeking.

A great social media presence should be part of any brand’s marketing efforts, and just like every other part of your brand, you can leverage that internally, too. Use social media to spotlight star employees, proudly talk about your brand’s values, and discuss open positions.

Attracting and retaining talented employees through social media is easier the stronger your presence is, so make it a key part of your content strategy.

8. Conduct thoughtful entrance and exit interviews

Interviewing can be a tedious process. It takes a skilled interviewer to get to the heart of what will make an employee a good fit, but a strong brand can help. Use your employee value proposition, company culture, and brand values to create thoughtful questions that help you determine how compatible you are.

And don’t forget exit interviews! Exit interviews are often overlooked, but they can be a gold mine for improvement. Why is this employee leaving? How can you use that information to improve the experience for your current and future employees?

Attracting and retaining talented employees requires consistent improvement, and exit interviews can guide this process in the long term.

9. Watch out for burnout

Burnout is rampant in today’s workforce since great work is often rewarded with…more work. This does make sense though. Of course you’d want to give important projects to trustworthy employees! However, that attitude won’t help in attracting and retaining talented employees.

Work Delegation Pie Chart

Remember that even your most productive, talented employees can and will get overworked. When necessary, consider hiring permanent or temporary support for the role or passing along tasks to other members of the team.

10. Provide opportunities for growth

No one likes being bored, especially not at work. Talented employees are bursting with potential, and they want you to help them uncover it. Give your employees the opportunity to train in different areas, continue specializing their skills, or learn how to be effective leaders. Showing your team that you care about their growth goes a long way in attracting and retaining talented employees.

11. Keep evolving

They say change is the only constant, and that’s certainly true of brands. Attracting and retaining talented employees looks different from month to month and year to year.

The most successful internal rebranding examples come from companies that embraced the need to change and improve over time.

Attracting and retaining talent with branding

Internal branding is the unsung hero of low turnover. Successful brands give people something to believe in, and internal branding carries that belief over to your team. Teams who believe in your brand will advocate for it, bringing with them even more talent. When people have a reason to show up, they also have a reason to stay. Strong brands ensure employees believe in what they’re doing, and empower them to feel they’re part of something bigger than themselves.

If you’re unsure how to create successful internal branding on your own, don’t worry! A brand identity agency can help you craft a brand for attracting and retaining talented employees that fit your company like a glove.

How To Integrate Companies After Acquisition – 9 Important Steps

Working out how to integrate companies after acquisition is a rollercoaster. While you may be thrilled about the possibilities this new acquisition brings to the table, that doesn’t mean everything is going to be smooth sailing. There are still dozens of details to handle before you can pop the champagne on your successful acquisition.

Employees celebrating successful integration of companies after acquisition

The integration of companies after acquisition is a huge topic, but it all comes down to one thing: getting everyone on the same team. The sooner you can do that, the sooner the rough seas of acquisition will calm.

From your stakeholders to your c-suite to your employees and even your customers – everyone has to be on board for this project to be a success. When you make that happen, your company can go full speed ahead into a bright future.

 

How to integrate companies after acquisition in 9 steps

You’ll find there are many different questions to ask after a company acquisition. Some of these have to do with logistical issues like budgets, data, software, and systems. And those are certainly important, but they shouldn’t be the only things on your list.

When your teams have synergy, the logistics are much easier to handle. You don’t have to chase information down or try to play referee in interpersonal squabbles. Everyone is a single team working for a single goal – and your efforts in pursuit of that goal go that much more smoothly.

That’s why achieving synergy is the most difficult part of how to integrate companies after acquisition. Everything else hinges on it. So don’t try and go it alone.

Involve your teams in the process of the acquisition, and consider working with a rebranding agency to help you find the right strategy for integrating two potentially very different companies into one.

Taking an acquisition from transaction to a full integration can be a difficult process, but there is a roadmap you can follow. Use these 9 tips for how to integrate companies after acquisition to help things go smoothly:

1. Clarify your goals

SMART Goal Setting Concept

Before anything else, take a moment to think about your goals. When puzzling out how to integrate companies after acquisition, you need a metric for success.

Every company will have its rough spots. Processes will need to be updated. Data sets will grow and change. And some people within your team will have friction with each other, whether they’ve worked together for 20 years or met because of the acquisition.

Expecting integration to turn your company into an unbreakable machine isn’t realistic – or even possible.

So what do you hope to achieve? What happens after company acquisition processes are underway will largely be determined by your answer to this question.

If you’re struggling to find answers here, don’t worry. These questions to ask after a company acquisition can help you get started:

    • Why did you choose to acquire this company?
    • Where is the acquired company strongest? How do its strengths support your company’s weaker points?
    • What about the acquired company’s current brand, vision, voice, or team inspires you?
    • Imagine your company five years from now. How does the company you’ve acquired drive your success in the future?
    • What kind of metric can you follow to track your team’s progress?

Getting clarity on these questions can significantly help with how to integrate companies after acquisition.

2. Get leadership (and stakeholders) on board

Once you have your goals in mind, it’s time to start getting people on board. The next step in how to integrate companies after acquisition is getting leadership and stakeholders on board.

Stakeholders can be impatient, and executives often have a huge vision for the successful future of the company. But this can have a destructive impact on successful integration.

Patience will be KEY to success.

Remember, your teams have just met each other, and trust doesn’t happen overnight. Use the goals you’ve created to get buy-in on a methodical integration.

When you can show your stakeholders and executive team that you are making progress, they’ll be more receptive to your slow-and-steady-wins-the-race approach.

3. Ensure your cultures are compatible

Company culture iceberg model designed based on discussions and questions asked after a company acquisition during a board meeting

Before an acquisition, or as soon as possible afterward, it’s important to do a “culture audit.”

The more different your two cultures are, the more difficult the integration of companies after acquisition will be.

You need to know upfront how easy (or difficult) creating a company culture will be. It’s easy to misplace this step among all the logistical tips on how to integrate companies after acquisition, but it’s vital to the health of your team in the end. Your team is the fuel of your company, so it’s essential that they feel unified.

4. Make integration a priority

Don’t let your integration efforts become something that happens “when you have time.” The old adage that we make time for what’s important to us is true. And unless you make time for it, figuring out how to integrate companies after acquisition will be pushed back to tomorrow over and over again – until it’s too late to approach it intentionally.

5. Choose a point person

Managers are discussing what happens after company acquisition in front of a white brick wall with drawn leadership graphics

At this point, you’ll want to pick someone who can clear the time on their calendar to take the lead integration. There’s going to be quite a lot of back-and-forth between the two companies, and you don’t want any information to be lost.

Choose someone familiar with what happens after company acquisition occurs, or someone who intimately understands the inner workings of the company. They should get a list of who to reach out to with different concerns and be the first person you update throughout the process.

Basically, they’ll handle the small stuff so you can take an aerial view of how to integrate companies after acquisition successfully.

6. Identify key employees

Redundancies are a normal part of acquisitions – but don’t jump the gun. Before you decide to keep anyone or let anyone go, do a thorough investigation. How and why did each person in each company get to where they are now? What does their growth trajectory look like?

These are important questions to ask after a company acquisition. When you can answer them, you know that the people who are staying with the company are the strongest assets you could have.

7. Create a plan for your brand

Shimahara Visual brand identity designed by Flux Company

Shimahara Visual Branding

The benefits of branding aren’t restricted to getting a competitive edge, but branding can certainly help you to retain your edge! When puzzling out how to integrate companies after acquisition, it’s important to remember customers, too.

“Under new management” is frequently used as a joke, but the consequences of customers and employees losing trust in a brand is real. Make sure you have a plan to help acquisition go smoothly without confusing your current customers or weakening your brand equity.

8. Update your internal branding

Since nothing happens without a solid team, internal branding should be a key part of the integration of companies after acquisition. Once you sell your team on your new brand, they’ll have no problem selling your customers on it, too.

Internal branding also gives you the space to really lean into the rich history of each company. This is especially true if one or both companies already have a strong internal brand. A big part of creating culture and synergy is showing your teams that they’re understood and that they have lots in common.

Internal branding allows you to show your employees what you already know: That combining these companies together will build an unshakeable team.

9. Refresh your external branding

Rakuten Logistics External Brand Refresh designed by Flux Company

Rakuten Brand Refresh

When you’re pondering how to integrate companies after acquisition, rebranding might come to mind. It’s tough to know when to rebrand during an acquisition – or whether you should rebrand at all!

Sometimes, a lighter brand refresh is a better fit compared to a full rebranding of both companies. Sometimes, an entirely new brand needs to be created. Whatever the strategy required, it’s important to address your brand. Acquisitions can be delicate times for your brand both internally and externally, and you don’t want to leave your customers or your team members wondering what’s going on. Even if it’s a small change, it’s guaranteed your brand will have to respond to the new acquisition in some way.

Take this example: Budweiser and Guinness are both beer brands. But that doesn’t make a potential acquisition easier for one of them. Nearly everything else about them is different – their visual branding, their messaging, their entire ethos. An acquisition requires that two very different companies come together, without alienating existing customers and employees. A branding agency can craft the right strategy to make this a reality.

 

What happens after company acquisition is over?

At the end of the day, a successful acquisition ends with a single successful company operating under a united brand. These steps for how to integrate companies after acquisition only scratch the surface on how to bring two companies together into something greater than the sum of their parts.

After you’ve sorted out how to integrate companies after acquisition, you’ll still have a lot of work to do. Part of that work is crafting a compelling brand – internally and externally – that anchors your company.

Your brand is who you are, and an acquisition will change that, however slightly. Working with a brand identity agency can help you create something that your shareholders, teams, and customers will fall in love with.

20 Qualities To Look for in a Top LA Branding Agency

How can you be sure the LA branding agency you choose is safe to trust your brand with?

Team of a branding agency

Your brand is your company’s lifeblood. It sets you apart from the competition, endears you to loyal customers, and wins over new ones. Before you dive into a relationship with a branding agency, you want to be absolutely certain your brand will be in good hands.

Hiring a branding agency is a unique, personal process – and it’s important to screen your branding agency carefully. Here are just some of the qualities you should look for before making the leap.

 

20 qualities your LA branding agency should bring to the table

Make sure your branding agency excels in all these areas before choosing to partner with them:

1. Strategy

Branding isn’t just beautiful typography and carefully-designed logos. For a brand to be successful, you need to uncover the reason behind every choice and map a clear path to the future. The LA branding agency you use needs a strong sense of strategy in everything they do.

2. Metrics for results 

How do you know whether your branding project was a success? Before you start a project, your agency should be able to help you set metrics for your results. This should include the impact of the new brand on your staff, customers, and bottom line.

3. Insight into your target audience

You know and love your customers. And your target audience expands beyond your current customers. An excellent LA branding agency will be able to gather and interpret data that gives powerful insight into your target audience, whether they’ve bought from you yet or not.

4. Understanding of internal branding

When you embark on a branding project, it should always be done with an eye towards executing brand-driven strategies in the future. Your agency will need a strong sense of how to successfully create and implement internal branding, as well as external branding.

5. Brand identity definition

ARBORA brand identity created by Flux Branding

ARBORA Brand Identity

You may already have a sense of your brand identity, but chances are good that it’s still a bit blurry. A talented branding agency will be able to bring even more power and definition to your brand identity, no matter how confident you feel right now.

6. Attention to detail

Because the last thing you want is a brand lunch, when you need a brand launch.

7. Creativity and innovation

Strategy, metrics, and research need to be the foundation of your brand. And building on that foundation are creativity and innovation, powering the strongest, most impactful brands.

8. Adaptability

No matter who you work with, company rebranding doesn’t always go exactly according to plan. Adaptability allows your LA branding agency to use their expertise on the fly, adjusting to any unforeseen circumstances that get in the way of your brand launch.

9. Transparency

Branding is a specialized field, and it’s easy to get lost in jargon, especially when it comes to results. Your agency will be completely transparent about every step of your project.

10. Strong communication skills – for you and your audience

Your LA branding agency will need to clearly communicate your message through your brand, but that’s not all. They’ll also need to communicate well with you about expectations, changes, deadlines, and creative work.

11. Responsiveness and availability

Hand in hand with communication comes responsiveness. Your agency doesn’t need to be available 24/7, but you should know when and how you can get a hold of them. You’ll also want to make sure that their availability lines up with yours.

12. Clearly laid out contracts and billing

A professional, trustworthy branding agency will have contracts that clearly define deliverables, timelines, and other key factors of your branding projects – including prices and invoicing.

13. Frameworks and processes

Flux Branding IDEA Method

Great agencies don’t fly by the seat of their pants. They use frameworks like the IDEA Method to produce excellent results every single time.

14. Experience in your industry

An LA branding agency that has experience in your industry brings an extra layer of expertise to your project. They don’t just know branding, they know branding and the unique quirks of your industry inside and out.

15. Ability to monitor and respond to trends

A Los Angeles branding agency might be situated near Hollywood, but that doesn’t mean they should jump on every sexy new trend. Talented agencies know exactly what’s trending and how today’s trends might (or might not) impact your brand’s future.

16. Positive reviews and case studies

Flax Coffee Branding Case Study

Flax Coffee Branding Case Study

Reviews and case studies offer a detailed look at what working with a particular agency is like. You can see what their strongest qualities are, how they tend to come at projects, and what others have enjoyed about partnering with them.

17. Strong team players

Your LA branding agency isn’t just one person, it’s many different professionals, all working together to create your brand. Besides working together with each other, your agency will also need to work with you and your team to create a brand that’s uniquely you.

18. Drive for excellence

Branding can literally make or break a company, so mediocre just won’t cut it. The best branding agencies are always improving and innovating to provide the best possible outcome for you.

As you’re researching, keep note of which agencies go above and beyond. Who impresses you, inspires you, and empowers you to create your brand?

19. Potential for a long-term relationship

Ideally, you want to update your brand every 3-5 years. So before you hire an agency, ask if you could see yourself working with them for not only the months it takes to finish this project, but for future projects, too.

20. Passion and pride

Finally, the best LA branding agency will have immense passion and pride in their work. It should shine through every touchpoint you have with them, from their blog to their website and from your first exploration call to the launch of your brand.

 

Creating memorable brands

As a branding agency in Los Angeles for more than two decades, Flux strives to better embody every one of these qualities, every day. When you’re ready to get started, get in touch. We can’t wait to create a memorable brand with you.

Why You Need Internal Branding + 6 Tips for Success

Internal branding is the unsung hero of some of the world’s most successful brands. When we talk about branding as a whole, it’s easy to reduce it to just a logo. And even once you cross the threshold and see branding in a more holistic light, internal branding is often forgotten.

It shouldn’t be.

Office workers that show strong teamwork are holding a green megaphone with text “TOGETHER”

Branding or rebranding is a massive project, so missing something during the process is not uncommon. However, with all the focus on your customers, it’s easy to forget the people that determine the success of your business in the first place: your employees.

Internal branding allows you to be a strong positive force for your employees, not just your customers. Employees at companies with strong internal brands are powerfully productive, creative, intentional advocates for your brand in ways your customers can’t be.

Like external branding, internal branding is a project you must take seriously. Unfortunately, even companies that understand the benefits of branding don’t see the value of internal branding. They end up half-heartedly putting something together.

They make sure the logo is sprinkled throughout the building. Employees get branded e-signatures or business cards. The company values are on the wall somewhere. Maybe they host a yearly Christmas party or throw a ping-pong table in the break room and call it good.

But none of it is done intentionally or strategically. They end up with a lot of parts that don’t form a cohesive whole.

So how do you create a cohesive internal brand? Let’s discuss our top tips for successfully crafting your company brand.

 

Internal branding: 6 tips to set yourself up for success

When your internal brand is an afterthought, your employees won’t be engaged or passionate about your brand. They won’t go out of their way to talk about your company to their friends and family, won’t post about it on social media, and probably won’t be too thrilled to come to work.

The key to successful internal branding is understanding that your employees are every bit as important as your customers. (Maybe even more so.) They’re the engine of your car, and you need to fuel them. If you don’t, you won’t get far. If you do, you’ll be astonished at how far they’ll take you.

Here are the best ways to achieve successful internal branding:

1. Listen to your employees

CEO planning to improve internal corporate branding is listening effectively to employees' feedback

Step one of internal branding perfectly matches step one of external branding: research. Instead of researching your customers, however, you need to research your employees.

What do your employees think about your brand?

Why did they come to work for you in the first place? Why did they stay?

Do they believe your company solves an important problem?

Do they feel their work is meaningful?

These questions are only the beginning. Before you can create a strong internal brand, you need to know how your employees currently see your brand.

Sometimes, your employees already have a good sense of the brand, but they don’t feel engaged by it day to day. They may like the idea of your brand but not see how it applies to them.

In other cases, your employees may not have a great sense of who you are as a company at all.

Understanding where your employees are coming from allows you to see where your internal branding is strongest and where it’s weakest. Most importantly, it allows you to look for branding agency services that can turn your weaknesses into strengths.

2. Build excitement

Once you know what your employees need, it’s time to build excitement. You need to know when to rebrand for the biggest impact, and you need to guide people through the change.

Internal branding is especially hands-on. You won’t be launching your brand out into the world. You’ll be creating a shift in the way your employees think about the people they spend so much time with.

No one likes massive change. So when you change your internal brand, tell your employees – in no uncertain terms – exactly why you’re making this change.

What problems are you trying to solve?

What benefits will they see in their everyday lives?

Why does this rebrand matter to them?

Building excitement for an internal rebrand isn’t just about getting people fired up. It also gets people ready to put in the effort required to change the entire flow of the workplace. Without this step, your internal rebrand can fizzle out before it really begins.

3. Take your values off the wall

Don’t worry; if you have a painting or poster with your values on it, that can stay. But it shouldn’t be the only way your employees experience those values. When your employees see a visual representation of your values, it should reinforce their experiences, not introduce new information.

If you value honesty, create space within the company for people to give their unfiltered thoughts. Build time into meetings for candid discussions around the pros and cons of decisions. Give people a chance to really be honest.

Employee presenting her ideas for product improvement

If you value sustainability, create a company-wide reward system for sustainable actions like recycling. Allow employees to volunteer with green initiatives on company time. Make sustainability show up front and center in the daily operations of your company.

These are just starting points for creating tangible values. In today’s increasingly aware culture, customers and employees are starting to demand that companies put their money where their mouth is. They don’t want to hear that you care about sustainability, diversity, or honesty. They want to see it.

4. Hire (and retain) in alignment with your brand

What does your application and hiring process look like right now to an outsider? Does your brand shine through every step?

For most companies, the answer is no. The job listings are perfect clones of listings for any other company. There’s no vivacity, no personality, no reason to work for that company other than a paycheck.

Don’t let your hiring process be like that!

Your hiring process should reflect what it’s like to work with you. What do you expect your employees to do day-to-day? How do you expect them to interact with their co-workers, team leads, and executives? What kind of person are you hoping to hire?

Internal branding allows you to reach candidates that don’t just have the right qualifications, but the right mindset.

And when you have a strong internal brand, retention does an interesting thing. At first, you might notice a sudden exodus of employees that are no longer a good fit. But once the people who don’t align with your brand are gone, hiring and retention get easier than ever.

5. Create culture

Creating company culture is a complex topic on its own. Cultures develop at a macro and micro level, from your overall company culture to the cultures of specific departments and teams. Internal branding should guide all of them.

Using your internal brand to create culture is similar to taking your values off the wall. It’s all about creating day-to-day experiences that allow your employees to experience your brand – and each other.

Is your brand bright and playful? Consider hosting a happy hour or mini-golf tournament to give your employees the chance to get to know each other off the clock.

Is your brand scientific and determined? Host workshops or guest speakers to foster a deeper understanding of the problem your company solves.

Is your brand out-of-the-box and innovative? Escape rooms can appeal to the problem-solvers your teams are made of and give them a chance to work together in a more relaxed environment.

Knowing and liking their co-workers colors your employees’ perspectives on your brand. They don’t see your company as a faceless monolith. They see it as a real community – something they’re excited to be a part of.

6. Make yourself memorable

In the age of social media, being “shareable” is more important than ever. Your packaging or social media presence might be shareable to your customers, but what about your employees? Are you doing and saying things they want to share?

Company newsletters rarely get read, but there are other ways you can share your brand identity with your employees.

A social intranet platform is a great place to post shareable graphics, quotes, and benefit announcements that your employees can’t wait to share with the world.

Branded merch, and other “swag” give your employees a way to bring up your brand in casual “off-the-clock” conversations.

Artists and contributors wearing Spotify Studios branded apparel designed by Flux Branding

Spotify Branding

 

Reaping the benefits of internal branding

Internal branding is a big project. Creating consistency within an organization is difficult, but the payoff is incredible.

Imagine what would happen if every one of your employees was as dedicated to your brand as your customers are. What would customer service look like? Would there be more innovation at your company? What would your turnover rates look like?

There’s a reason people love to work at start-ups, and it’s not money or status. Start-ups often have strong internal branding. They sell their employees on the brand hook, line, and sinker.

Here’s the thing: Any company can do that. All you need is a powerful internal brand. And working with a brand identity agency can help you create (and meaningfully launch) your brand to transform the way your employees see you.

If you’d like to discuss how to create a successful internal brand with our brand identity experts in Los Angeles, reach out to our team today.

How To Find Your Los Angeles Branding Agency

At the time this article was written, a search for “Los Angeles branding agency” turned up about 56 million results. And that’s a real problem.

Businessman next to a compass is undecided which la branding agency to work with

Branding is a serious project, whether you’re crafting your brand for the first time or undergoing a rebrand. You’re putting the future of your business in the hands of someone else.

Your brand influences how your customers see you. How your employees see you. Ultimately, an excellent brand should reflect how you see yourself.

Choosing a branding agency means you’re choosing a partner, a guide, and an expert. It shouldn’t be an easy choice. But it should be clear.

Which of those 56 million results can you discount immediately? Who should you schedule a call with? Who’s worthy of helping you shape or reshape your brand, and how do you know?

Flux has helped companies all over the world to craft their brand. Today, we’ll be helping you understand what made our Los Angeles branding agency the right fit for these companies – and whether we can help you, too.

 

How to choose a branding agency that’s a perfect fit

Company rebranding is a complex task. When you hire a branding agency, you’re starting a relationship with a partner that can help you handle that task down to the most minute details.

So, like any partnership, choosing your Los Angeles branding agency will require excellent communication.

You’ll need to communicate well internally, efficiently scope out potential agencies, and know how to choose someone once you’ve short-listed companies.

These three pillars of communication are the difference between a project that runs smoothly and one you’ll need to shell out the cash to do over within a year, so let’s go through them in a little more depth.

Review the project internally

Team planning to work with a branding agency in Los Angeles is reviewing their needs internally

Whether you’re looking for a Los Angeles branding agency or considering options from anywhere, you’re going to encounter variety.

Branding agency services can cover everything from customer and market research to creative work and brand launches. Depending on your unique position, not all of these will be a fit for your brand.

Reviewing your needs internally – before you even schedule a call with an agency – will help you determine which services you’re looking for.

You’ll also need to review your budget. Branding is an investment in the health and future of your business, and that’s how you should review your budget line for a branding project. You’re investing in something, and a wise investment will pay off.

It’s important to have a sense of your budget, and also to be realistic with your agency. If you need a light refresh or a full rebrand will change the amount of work required, and an exact quote will depend on your needs.

Prepare for interviews

Brand Strategy (Who, What, How, Why)

If you’re looking at an experienced branding agency, getting that quote will be an involved process. Great branding agencies don’t pull numbers out of thin air. They take time to go over your wants and needs, where your brand is, and where it’s going to give you a unique quote.

Hiring a branding agency takes time and communication. Block off time in your calendar, make space in your research for meeting with agencies, and have questions ready to go.

The quote is just one of a series of questions you’ll want to ask a branding agency. You’ll also want to ask questions like:

  • Do you think we can or should accomplish all this in one project?
  • What’s your area of expertise? Does that mesh with the goals of this project?
  • How can we contact you with questions or concerns if we decide to move forward?

And chances are that the agency will use this time to interview you, too. If they didn’t, you wouldn’t be setting yourselves up for success. They’ll probably ask about your current brand, the overall health of your company, and whether you’ve worked with agencies before.

Be honest with the agency you’re speaking with at the moment. Effective brands are built on effective communication, and that can’t happen without honesty and trust on both sides.

The better you can get to the heart of what you need from your agency, the better you’ll be able to determine whether it is the right fit.

Ask about their methods and successes

Flux Branding IDEA Method

Flux Branding IDEA Method

Once you’ve established the trust that would land a Los Angeles branding agency on your shortlist, it’s time to dig a little deeper.

What gives that agency the unique ability to deliver a brand that’s just right for you?

First and foremost, you’ll need to understand their method. If an agency you’re looking at working with doesn’t have a method, proceed with extreme caution. Methods and frameworks allow agencies to deliver consistently great results.

Flux uses our unique, proven IDEA Method to craft brands from start to finish. “IDEA” stands for Ignite, Distill, Energize, and Activate – and each phase hones in on something specific that all great brands need.

The IDEA Method allows us to build the components of a brand step by step, creating authentic brands that stand out in the marketplace.

Once you know the Los Angeles branding agency you’re speaking with has a method, ask to see it in action. Great agencies will have plenty of successful rebranding examples to review.

This could also be a time to ask the agency what happens when things don’t go according to plan. This will give you insights into what a day in the life of working with them is like.

 

Find a Los Angeles branding agency you can trust

Your brand is the lifeblood of your company, and anyone you trust with it should understand the gravity of that.

At Flux, we are honored to guide brands on their journey of transformation. Change can be scary, but it’s the only way forward. We believe so much in the power of change, we named our company after it. While finding the right Los Angeles branding agency might feel like searching for a needle in a haystack, it’s all about finding the right fit. If you’re ready to take your brand from now to next, we’re ready to talk.

When you’re ready to start a project with us, just get in touch. We’re honored to be part of your brand’s journey.

Why Do Companies Rebrand?

You’re thinking about embarking on a rebrand, and you don’t want to rush into things. So you’re wondering, “Why do companies rebrand?” Taking your rebrand seriously is good because a rebrand will transform how your employees, customers, and competitors see you.

An ecommerce CEO pondering on: Why would a business want to rebrand?

The journey of a rebrand can be difficult. There are problems to solve, interviews and research to conduct, and a million and one details to take care of.

And when done strategically, the results of that work can send your market value and brand equity skyrocketing.

So how do you know if it’s time to rebrand?

As an experienced branding agency in Los Angeles, we find there are 6 key indicators you can use to measure how effective a rebrand will be for your company.

 

Why do companies rebrand?

There are a variety of occasions that might spur a company to rebrand. At first glance, these can all seem disconnected, almost random. However, there are really 6 key moments for rebranding when you dig deeper into the question, “Why do companies rebrand?”

A well-done, strategic rebrand builds and strengthens companies. During certain times in a company’s life, these benefits of branding are especially important.

These 6 examples are the most common, so let’s dive into each of them a bit more.

 

1. To build team spirit with an internal rebrand

Happy rebranding team in LA coming up with great ideas while brainstorming

Employee retention might not be the first thing to jump to mind when asking yourself, “Why do companies rebrand?” That’s a problem, because internal branding can make a huge difference in whether your top talent stays or leaves. (Or accepts your job offer in the first place.)

Branding exists to form a strong emotional connection. With your customers, yes, but also with your employees. If your employees don’t believe in your company, even the best offer, product, and external branding in the world won’t make a difference.

When your team doesn’t believe in you as a brand, they can’t follow through on the promises that your marketing makes. 

When you dedicate resources to creating company culture, your team does believe in you, and they become your fiercest advocates.

This means they’ll create a seamless customer experience, but it doesn’t stop there. Your team will create stronger connections with each other and carry their passion for your brand outside the workplace. They’ll gush about you to their family and friends, attracting not only new customers but new employees.

The short of it: 

Why do companies rebrand internally? To attract and retain the most dedicated brand advocates – their own team.

 

2. To give a launch extra momentum

Groveland postcards created by Flux Branding

The Groveland Rebranding

You’re launching a new product or product line, and you need to be certain it makes a splash. So why do companies rebrand while launching? To help a new product launch gain the momentum it needs to stand out in a crowd.

Rebranding takes a massive effort. Why would a business want to rebrand during all the chaos of a new product launch?

Simply put, sometimes you just can’t afford not to.

Balancing product marketing vs. brand marketing can be difficult. Which one needs more resources during a launch? Your team can find itself caught in endless circles trying to determine where the bulk of your time, energy, and effort should go.

What if your product marketing and brand marketing could work together instead?

Working with an experienced rebranding agency means that your product marketing and brand marketing could build each other’s momentum instead of competing for resources. It ensures that your overall brand supports your new product, meaning that your new product won’t just draw attention once– it will build you a loyal audience that keeps coming back for more.

From a customer-facing standpoint, a rebrand during a launch builds excitement and changes the way they see your company. Your company is telling them – on every level and with every opportunity – that this launch is interesting, exciting, and a big deal that deserves their attention.

The short of it: 

Companies embarking on a big launch rebrand to build excitement about the new addition, and ensure their overall brand is aligned with their latest offering. When your product marketing and brand marketing are collaborating – rather than competing with each other for resources – they can exponentially increase the success of a launch and parlay it into long term returns.

 

3. To communicate your values during a company crisis

Crises happen to every company at some point in its life. They aren’t necessarily an indication of failure, but they do require fast action. During a company crisis, customers start to form negative associations with your brand.

Precisely what those associations are will depend on what kind of crisis you’re dealing with.

Your customers might start to see your company as irresponsible, dishonest, unethical, or even financially undependable. So why do companies rebrand during a crisis like this? Won’t it seem to deflect from the problem?

When rebranding due to a crisis is rushed, directionless, or poorly executed, yes. Customers see through a rebrand that’s just there to distract in a snap.

But rebranding doesn’t have to be any of those things. When your rebrand is deliberate, well-executed, and communicates a clear shift in company values, you can start to rebuild genuine trust in your brand.

You may already have some form of brand reputation strategy in place to help with damage control. If you don’t, your rebranding agency will help you create one. During a rebrand, creating this kind of strategy is especially important since it will allow you to handle crises internally before they spiral out of control.

The short of it:

Why do companies rebrand during a crisis? Some do it to deflect from dealing with the real issue, but rebranding can do so much more. You can rebuild customer trust with a thoughtful, intentional rebrand that communicates your company’s real values.

 

4. To strengthen a merger, acquisition, or sale

Two entrepreneurs shaking hands upon agreeing on the best real estate acquisition rebranding process

Bringing two companies together is an intense process. You’re dealing with a lot of change, sometimes both internally and externally.

So why would a business want to rebrand on top of all the change that’s already happening?

Rebranding during a merger, acquisition, or sale is a strong, strategic move. Many would argue it is also essential. Rather than letting the change happen to you, with very little control or direction, you take the bull by the horns. YOU guide the changes that your company goes through.

Your guidance will provide a sense of security and confidence to both teams, as well as your customers. There’s no wondering which protocols, slogans, values, or visuals will stay and which will leave. Your customers and employees understand exactly what’s happening.

It will also unite your formerly two or three (or more) teams as one.

Your rebranding checklist will always include internal communications, press releases, and marketing. During a merger, acquisition, or sale, these become especially important since you need to keep everyone on the same page and draw a distinct line from your old brand to your new one.

Here at Flux, we call this a brand transformation– going from now to next.

The short of it:

Why do companies rebrand during mergers, acquisitions, and sales? Change during this process is inevitable. The more deliberately you can channel that change, the more likely you’ll be to emerge stronger than ever.

 

5. To update and refresh your current brand

Sometimes, there’s a simple answer to the question, “Why do companies rebrand?” You don’t want to look like you’re stuck in the 90’s (and not in the trendy “what’s old is new again” sort of way)!

Visual trends come and go.

Your company grows and evolves.

And even if you aren’t undergoing a major launch, chances are good that your company offers different products now than it did 10 or 20 or 30 years ago.

That means there could be a gap between how your customer sees you and how your brand exists in the here and now. A brand refresh can close that gap.

When you refresh your brand, you may find that you also attract new customers who didn’t notice your company before.

Updating a brand can be tricky. You want to attract new customers without alienating loyal ones and communicate change without looking like a different company. Your rebranding agency can help you strike the delicate balance of a brand refresh.

The short of it:

If you haven’t touched your brand in awhile and your look doesn’t reflect who you are anymore, it’s time for an update. A brand refresh can help you stand out to new customers and close any gaps in how your current customers see you.

 

6. To strategically begin a competitive attack

Rakuten Super Logistics landing pages with new look and voice developed by Flux rebranding agency

Rakuten Super Logistics Rebranding

You used to be at the very top, the #1 choice. What happened?

Copycats and new kids on the block can be a nightmare for established businesses. But they don’t have to be. Rebranding can be the first stage in a competitive attack to help you take back your market shares.

Why would a business want to rebrand as part of a competitive attack? Would you be risking your current position? Not necessarily.

Strategic rebrands can help you carve out a distinct place for yourself among competitors – or reinforce your current place.

Your rebrand can take you from being seen as a generalist in your category to a specialist. From simply well-made to a position as a luxury brand. From well-informed to an expert.

During a competitive attack, customer perception and desires are everything.

When you’re considering how to rebrand your business, make sure that customer research and market research is front-and-center. (At Flux, we consider this stage so critical that it’s the very first phase of working with us under our IDEA Method.)

The short of it:

Why do companies rebrand as part of a competitive attack? If you’re losing market share, your customers don’t see your company as the leader of your category. A rebrand that listens closely to your customers strengthens their perception of you and puts you right back where you belong – on top.

 

Is it time for your rebrand?

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: your brand is who you are as a company.

Businesses are living, changing entities, which means that your brand will need to evolve over time. Rebranding strengthens and builds your company, aligning how people see you with who you are right now.

Flux is an experienced branding agency in Los Angeles. With more than two decades in the industry, we can help your company solve any branding problem. Reach out to see the difference strategic rebranding can make.