Refresh Vs Rebrand – Which will lead to your success?  

Refresh and Rebrand sound pretty similar, but ultimately the differences are like chalk and cheese. Whilst a brand refresh is like giving your company a fresh lick of paint, with a rebrand, you’re knocking down the whole house and rebuilding a new one in it’s place. But how do you determine which is the best choice for your business and what makes the changes a success? 

Let’s start with the differences…

Refreshing your brand involves making slight alternations whilst maintaining the same identity. Whether this be an update to the font or colour palette of your company logo, or a change to your slogan or website. The core details remain the same, you’re just developing them slightly. 

A rebrand on the other hand, you’re wanting to showcase your company’s new personality. A new logo, name or audience would help you achieve a brand-new identity. 

But why are they both important? 

“Today’s news is tomorrow’s history” has never been so literal. With the helping hand of social media platforms such as TikTok, what’s hot and what’s not is forever interchanging. As the world evolves your company must too, otherwise you’ll simply be left behind and the popularity of your brand will slowly but surely deplete. So, whilst your brand might have supplied your company with success for many years, there comes a point where it’s time for a change. 

This is where a refresh can come in handy. We often don’t get things right the first time around, so a refresh is your chance to advertise the growth of your brand whilst maintaining the recognition you have built up for so long. And whilst companies have succeeded, it doesn’t come without challenges. 

In 2016 the iconic social media platform, Instagram, quietly changed their logo. Much like Marmite, some loved it and others loathed it but nearly all were left confused, thinking a new app had appeared on their phones. Since the launch in 2010, Instagram had dramatically changed. The nostalgic logo of a polaroid suggested the platform was just photos, but the technical development meant it was so much more than that six years on and the new logo needed to reflect that. So, whilst controversial the minimalist refresh was both vital and successful.

So why do companies pay thousands of pounds to rebrand when they could just refresh their trademark instead? 

The usual goal for rebranding is to alter a customer’s perception on a company or product. 

Take Hermes for example. In the not-so-distant past of 2022, they rebranded to ‘Evri’. According to the delivery company, they wanted to portray all the “different people, different parcels, different places, different communities” that their company support. Therefore, the play on words to mean Evri one and Evri where seems fitting. But was this really the case? Hermes was notorious for it’s bad reputation, with Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert Poll ranking them one of the worst UK delivery company numerous years running. They are scrutinised on social media for delivery delays and mishandling parcels which has raised the question to whether or not they just wanted a fresh start from all the bad publicity. 

Swings and roundabouts; there’s pros and cons to both strategies. Changing the look of your company can be overwhelming, but if your brand isn’t getting the engagement it should be, then it might be time for a change.