When It's Time for an Update: A Brand Refresh Guide

You may recall how certain brands have evolved throughout the years. Perhaps you noticed the logo was slightly altered, the font is different, or a color scheme change. This is the power of a brand refresh. The business adopts a fresh look without sacrificing its vision or essence.

Look at how Nike has evolved throughout the years, for example. In the 1970s, Nike was recognized by its italicized font, which was overlayed with the outline of the iconic "swoosh." After building its reputation for many years, Nike later dropped the name from the logo, leaving solely the "swoosh." In other words, Nike took on a new branding strategy to stay competitive and current with the times.

Staying relevant to the ever-evolving marketing landscape is essential to successful business growth. A brand refresh can help your company stay at the forefront of its industry and draw in more potential customers. In this article, you will learn about why modern branding is necessary, how to identify when it's time to adopt a new brand style, and what to expect.

What is a Brand Refresh, and Why is It Necessary?

Throughout history, market conditions have continued to evolve. As we navigate the age of AI and its competitive changing landscape, it's even more important to prioritize relevance and consumer appeal.

Staying Relevant and Competitive

Refreshing your brand is an opportunity to revitalize your business and stay relevant and competitive in our ever-changing world. Look at how competing brands are presenting themselves. Does your brand seem outdated in comparison? What characteristics do brands tend to draw consumers in when navigating your industry?

Modern Appeal

Updating your brand is necessary so that the company doesn't look outdated. Customers are more likely to trust a brand that is modern and in tune with the current trends. Adopting a modern look also helps with expanding into other markets.

Ensures Vision Alignment

Adopting a new brand strategy can help better align a company's vision with how the consumer portrays it. This will help to eliminate any customer confusion or negative feedback.

Are Rebranding and a Brand Refresh the Same?

Brand refresh and rebranding are often used interchangeably. However, there are distinct differences between these two terms.

Brand Refresh

A brand refresh doesn't change the company's core personality. Rather, it enhances what the company has already built by reinvigorating your market presence. A new branding strategy may include updating the logo, website layout, and color scheme.

Rebranding

Rebranding is more intensive. It refocuses on the company's brand in a whole new light. Think of it like demolishing a house and rebuilding a new, sturdier one in its place. Rebranding can include redesigning the logo completely, recreating a new mission and voice, or even renaming the company.

Going back to the Nike example, in 1964, the company was known as Blue Ribbon Sports, and its logo included the three letters "BRS" slanted and overlapping each other. However, the company later rebranded and changed its name to Nike, adopting the "swoosh" logo in 1971. This was because Nike's vision changed from focusing on selling Onitsuka Tiger shoes to launching their own athletic line of apparel and shoes.

How to Know When It's Time for a Brand Refresh?

The timing of updating your brand is dependent on a variety of factors, from business size and maturity to outgrowing certain business aspects.

Business Size and Maturity Matter

• Startups or independent small businesses with less than ten employees may need to have an update of their brand more often, such as every one to two years. Think of this like trial and error. Emerging businesses are developing their personality to see which one aligns best with their goals and target marketing sector.
• Nonprofits and the public sector may benefit from updating their brand every five to ten years.
• Small businesses that have between ten and one hundred employees can be more lenient, especially if they are established. Refreshing the brand during special occasions, such as the 10th anniversary, is a good strategy. This ensures a seamless transition
• Mid-to-large businesses should consider modern branding if they run into a significant market shift, major product or service launch, or reorganization of stakeholders.

While refreshing your brand isn't necessary every year, small branding adjustments in typography or tone can be implemented annually or biannually. It's best to plan to implement your new brand strategy during a transitional period or milestone, for example, at the time of a product or service launch.

Signs That It's Time for a Brand Refresh

Whether you're looking to adjust the messaging of your company or the brand is outdated, there are multiple indications that a brand refresh may be in order.

• Your brand looks outdated compared to competitors or needs a modern feel.
• There is a misalignment between your company's brand and vision, or the messaging is inconsistent.
• There is a disconnect between the customer's understanding of your brand and the mission of your brand.
• The company has received backlash from your target audience.
• You are entering a new marketing sector, or your target audience has evolved/expanded.
• Your business has evolved. This includes aspects like your business model, strategy, or product range.
• The industry is changing, and your competitors are updating their brands.
• If your business recently underwent a merger or acquisition, it may require strategic branding for a seamless transition.

What Does a Brand Refresh Entail?

A brand refresh includes updating both internal and external components of the business without sacrificing the essence or vision. These changes are both aesthetic and strategic, designed to better reflect the brand's evolving values, vision, and audience expectations. When giving your brand a fresh look, you may want to consider:

Updating the Image of the Brand

Visual transformations encompass key elements like the logo, color palette, typography, illustration style, and design templates. A refreshed logo can signal modernization or a shift in brand positioning, while new color schemes and typography create a more cohesive and memorable identity. Updating illustration styles and templates ensures visual consistency in marketing collateral, presentations, and social media content, reinforcing the brand's personality. These elements work together to create a current, recognizable, and emotionally resonant brand image.

Adjusting the Voice and Messaging

When adjusting the voice and messaging of your brand, you may want to revise the vision statement so that it aligns with the brand. Other adjustments may include revising taglines, tweaking the tone, and updating the customer persona for relevant messaging.

Brand Guidelines

Updating the company tool, commonly known as a brand kit or digital style guide, to reflect the dos and don'ts of visual and verbal usage is helpful for training and consistent representation both internally and externally. Revising the brand kit or digital style guide provides the organization with a deeper understanding of the brand tone, style, and mission. In turn, the updated reference allows the company to socialize the brand uniformly, improving the opportunity for brand recognition and recall.

Digital and Physical Asset Updates

Every brand touchpoint, digital or physical, needs to tell the same story; this includes updating the website landing pages, email templates, packaging, business cards, signage and branded spaces. Whether it's a screen or a storefront, each asset in the redesign should reflect the refreshed identity, delivering a consistent, high-impact brand experience.

Brand Refresh Considerations

When considering a brand update, it's important to be honest about your business goals, message, customer feedback, and competition. Audit your brand and identify your story. Here are some helpful questions from Web Tech Fusion professionals to ask yourself when considering a brand refresh.

• How did your company start, where are you now, and what's your vision for growth?

  Understanding your origin story and future trajectory helps shape a brand that reflects your full journey.

• What's motivating this brand refresh right now?

  Is it a shift in audience, market positioning, visual appeal, or something else?

• What three to five words best describe your organization today?

  This helps to uncover your core identity and whether your brand still reflects it.

• Who is your ideal customer, and how do they compare to your current audience?

  Clarifying this difference can identify gaps in brand alignment and messaging.

• Are you aiming to expand or shift your target market?

  A brand refresh is the ideal time to reposition for new segments.

• What sets you apart from your competitors—and how can your brand reflect that?

  Differentiation is key to making your brand memorable and relevant.

• What feedback have you received—positive or negative—about your current branding or messaging?

  Customer input provides real-world insight into brand perception and areas for improvement.

The more honest you are with what you want out of a brand update, the more success you will have.

Do You Need Expert Advice on How You Can Revitalize Your Brand?

If you need expert support in refreshing your brand, Web Tech Fusion can help. Our marketing professionals will guide you through the audit process to determine the weak points in your brand. Based on your brand identity discovery audit, we can identify areas of improvement and whether your company could benefit from a brand refresh.

Web Tech Fusion works in exclusive partnerships, meaning that we will work with only one organization in a certain market sector. When you partner with Web Tech Fusion, you can be confident that we will prioritize your brand. Our goal is to keep your company ahead of its competitors, current with the market conditions, and relevant to your target audience. Call us at (844) 932-3873 to schedule a consultation to revitalize your brand strategy today!