As experienced digital marketers, we recognize intimately the importance of a brand.
For us, a brand is more than just a memorable and impactful logo, it’s an entire organization’s messaging system.
From colours to fonts and typefaces to tone, successful brand design does more than simply tell people who you are. It tells a story, marks your position in the market and lets people know what your organization is all about.
As Advesa Digital evolves, we realized that our branding had to evolve, too. The Advesa of today is miles apart from the Advesa of more than 4 years ago and the branding that we previously had was not indicative of the organization that we are today.
Curious about our transformative journey and how to rebrand your own organization? Let’s explore the process together.
Why Rebrand?
Any rebranding decision should start with the “why.”
Why did we want to rebrand?
The decision to rebrand wasn’t a snap decision. The Advesa Digital of today isn’t the Advesa Digital of the past. As we developed and grew our organization, we realized that our logomark and logotype weren’t being translated perfectly into our media and marketing collateral.
There was difficulty in discerning which design elements to best use for varying design elements and purposes which created inconsistency for our visual style.
At times, these inconsistencies even made us look like 2 different companies.
Pictured on the left is our logomark and on the right, our logotype. The abstract typeface conveyed themes of modern minimalism. Clean and simple yet noble and elegant.
Our logotype represents the ‘A’ in Advesa as well as an upward arrow to signify transformative growth. Our original logotype and logomark were designed to be used separately, but it was hard to decide when a bold symbol would fit better over the thin lettering. The thick logomark and sleeker logotype clashed and didn’t create as cohesive of an identity as we’d liked.
The differences between our thin logotype and bold logomark generated a lot of internal and external confusion over which company we were – the exact opposite goal of branding.
Colours weren’t a specific point of interest in the rebrand process, but ambiguity in the use of our brand colours came up as a serious problem. There were differing teal colours with different transparencies that contributed to an incohesive visual brand identity.
Combined with already muddy visual signalling from our logotype and logomark, it was hard to paint a concrete picture of who we were.
In addition to colour ambiguity and the clash between our logotype and logomark, we came to realize that our font choice was too generic. We needed a more personable font choice tailored to the organization that we grew into over the years.
Our abstract typeface no longer was a reflection of who we were – a fledgling firm just finding their way. With time, came direction and with direction came change. The decision to change our typefaces wasn’t something that we could have done without first changing our logotype and logomark.
We refined our logomark and logotype to compliment each other better and everything else followed suite to create a friendlier yet still innovative brand messaging system.
This wasn’t a “one-and-done” kind of deal – it was an iterative process of working through each visual element and ensuring that they all contributed equally to our visual brand story.
How Did We Rebrand?
Our rebrand was a journey that began with little steps.
The ambiguous styling we had led to us reviewing different marketing collateral with different branding styles. Standardization was needed, so we started off with a condensed brand book to make sure that everything aligned visually.
The logomark and logotype were the first things that we changed. Keeping the same visual style of the bold logomark and the thinner logotype, our logomark and logotype are now more indicative of the halves to a whole that they each represent.
Colours followed up shortly after. The teal blue that we had used was important to us, but didn’t translate well into our new logotype and logomark. The decision was made to keep the same base colour, but upscaled.
Our new Advesa teal colour continues to represent our values of intelligence, sophistication and innovation with a brighter, friendlier appeal which is ideal for attracting new customers and clients.
Typography was the last element to be finalized and one that we’re extremely happy and proud to share. Our original typography used one typeface for display, caption and body text. Our new one features 3 rare typefaces that complement each other naturally.
Perfectly visible in mobile and desktop applications, our new typography signifies our professionalism and themes of modern minimalism — clean, simple yet elegant.
A typical rebranding project would consist of market research to assess the organization’s current position in the market and the reasons as to why they want a rebrand. There needs to be direction and purpose – not a superfluous on the spot decision made through intuition.
Once this market research has been completed, communication between your creatives and the stakeholder must be clear, effective and consistent.
Timeline, budgetary restrictions and the key objectives behind rebranding has to be made clear before any work is started. With a definitive strategy in hand, your creatives can begin creating.
Rolling out the brand is the last step and one that doesn’t stop. Introduce your organization to the re-branding and inform them of new assets and marketing collateral. Internal and external PR campaigns should be launched to keep internal as well as external stakeholders in the loop.
You’re excited for a re-brand. Everyone else should be, too.
Key Takeaways on How to Rebrand
As businesses grow, adapt and evolve, so too must their identity. This growth must be guided by direction and purpose, and not made superfluously on the spot.
This was the mindset we adopted during our rebrand project and it’s one that’ll help your organization’s metamorphosis into something amazing.
Like our rebranding strategy? Interested in carrying one out for your business? Let us know.
