As we ring in the New Year you may be thinking about new year resolutions, it’s the perfect time to step back and have a look at your company’s brand. Even brands that were established a few years ago can start to look outdated. The market and our customers’ preferences are always evolving – so shouldn’t your brand evolve too? But where do you start? It's important to first know the difference between a rebrand and a brand refresh as they aren’t the same.
Ring in the New Year with a Refreshed Brand Identity
- Friday 3rd January 2025
- 5 mins read
Brand Refresh – the evolutionary approach
A brand refresh is a great way to ensure your business stays relevant and up to date with current trends. It’s perfect for engaging your customers as it gives them something to talk about showing you are in tune with industry changes. It also helps you remain competitive in a changing marketplace. You want to remain relevant and competitive and a brand refresh helps prevent your identity from stagnating.
Here’s some ways you can refresh your brand:
Modernise your look – you keep your core identity but update elements of your brand.
Tweak your logo – this could be making small changes to give your brand a more contemporary feel.
Revise your strapline – this is particularly important to do if your current strapline no longer resonates with your business. Updating it can better reflect your evolving values.
Update your fonts – modernising outdated fonts can improve readability and align your brand with current design trends.
Create a new colour palette – developing a new fresh palette can better communicate your brand’s personality. Here’s some ways a colour palette can have an impact:
• Soft neutral colours are good for calm and trustworthiness
• Bright, bold colours highlight energy and innovation
• Earthy tones work well for sustainability and authenticity
• Monochrome illustrates sophistication and luxury
• Reds are great for urgency or excitementThe key thing with a brand refresh is you don’t change your core identity or strategy.
Rebrand – the revolutionary approach
A rebrand is a whole different ball game. It’s a major strategic shift and a significant undertaking. Essentially, you're giving your business a full repositioning. It’s something to consider when your current brand no longer serves your needs—whether due to a PR crisis, a desire to expand into new markets, or even plans for international growth.
A rebrand takes more time and resources than a simple brand refresh, but don’t let that discourage you—it can be highly beneficial in the right situations. It’s not just about updating your logo or colour scheme; it’s about evolving your company’s vision, messaging and culture.
Completing a successful brand refresh
So you’ve identified that your current brand is a little outdated, isn’t quite reflective of your marketplace and you want to make some subtle changes to better identify with your target customers.
Here are a few tips to ensure your brand refresh is a success:
Begin with some RESEARCH. Often known as a brand audit, this is where you step back and look objectively at your brand and assess whether it's achieving its goals. Identify both the strengths and weaknesses of your brand. Review your website, social media and marketing materials. Would a potential customer easily understand what you're offering? How does your brand stack up against the competition? You might also consider surveying a few customers to gather their feedback, as their insights can be incredibly valuable.
Write a LIST. It may sound simple, but it’s trickier than it seems. Depending on which aspects of your brand you're updating, you'll need to track everything that's affected. For instance, if you're redesigning your logo, you'll need to identify all the places it appears - whether on printed materials, your website, signage, clothing, merchandise, or even coffee mugs and pens in your office! Don’t forget your social media.
Think about the TIMING. While it’s not ideal to tackle a brand refresh during a particularly busy period, it can be a great opportunity if you’re launching a new product or service or want to create a buzz amongst your customers.
Top tip: Branding is crucial, and partnering with an expert lets you focus on what you do best - running your core business. Read on to see how we can help.
Why you need an expert?
You might be wondering why we’re talking about brand refreshes, which often involve a lot of design work. After all, we’re known for our printing expertise. But did you know we offer much more? In addition to printing, we have an in-house graphic design studio that’s worked with both local businesses and international companies, helping them refresh their brands and manage rebrands over the years. Our creative team will take the time to understand your needs, collaborating with you on your brand refresh to ensure you get the most out of your marketing budget. Ultimately, you'll end up with a brand that truly reflects your business, meets the needs of your customers and adapts to the evolving marketplace.
Just Got a Logo?
We’ve worked with many small businesses that only have a logo. In the rush to launch or set up a website, they often stop at the logo design stage. But now that your business has grown, it’s time to take that logo and build a complete visual identity around it. This includes defining your fonts, colour palette, digital and Pantone colours, logo positioning and typeface weights. We’ve put together some helpful tips here to guide you through what needs to be done.
Once Your Brand Refresh is Complete, What's Next?
After completing your brand refresh, it’s time to take the next step. We offer a range of cost-effective solutions that won't break the bank. For example, our business stationery is competitively priced and includes everything you need. We’ll work closely with you to provide advice on cutting costs without compromising quality. From choosing the right paper stock for your literature, folders and packaging, to ensuring consistency across all your materials, we’ve got everything covered.
If you want to share your refreshed brand with your customers, we can help you create and design newsletters - whether you prefer print or digital formats. Newsletters are an excellent tool for communicating your brand updates and can easily be integrated into your overall marketing strategy. If you already have a newsletter, we can also update its design to align with your new visual identity.
