Thinking about a rebrand? Don’t waste your team’s time, or your budget.
Too many mid-sized organisations dive straight into the fun part, the pretty designs, shiny new logos and bold colour palettes, only to hit roadblocks when it’s time to launch. Why? Because good visuals alone won’t fix a misaligned message or a confused team.
A successful brand or website refresh is about much more than new colours or updated fonts. It’s about getting everyone pulling in the same direction, clarifying your message, and bringing your stakeholders along for the journey, well before a pixel is touched.
If you’re planning a refresh this year, this practical guide will help you get it right. You’ll find out exactly how to audit what you already have, prepare your marketing team for the road ahead, and pitch a refresh that lands, and sticks.
Use this as your starting point, and don’t forget to grab our free Brand Refresh Checklist at the end to keep you on track.
Before we get into the how, let’s talk about the why. Many marketing teams skip the prep work because they’re excited to see change. It’s understandable, new visuals and fresh copy feel tangible. But without proper preparation, that excitement can quickly turn into confusion, wasted time and, ultimately, budget blowouts.
When you prepare your marketing team properly, you:
A little planning up front saves a huge amount of hassle later. So, how do you do it?
Start with purpose. Gather your marketing team (and any key decision-makers) and get aligned on why this refresh is happening in the first place.
Ask questions like:
These questions might sound simple, but you’d be surprised how often teams skip them, and pay for it later.
When everyone is clear on the ‘why’, your brief will be sharper, your approvals faster, and your launch smoother.
Before you build anything new, you need to know what you’re working with. An audit stops you from reinventing the wheel, and highlights the real gaps.
Here’s what to look at:
Your brand assets: Logos, colours, fonts, imagery, templates. Are they still fit for purpose? Where do they fall short?
Your messaging: Taglines, value propositions, tone of voice guides. Does your message reflect who you are now, and does it resonate with the customers you want tomorrow?
Your website: Review your site’s content, structure and performance. Which pages perform well? Where are people dropping off? How does your site stack up technically: speed, SEO, mobile usability?
Your competitors: Where do you stand in your market now? What are your competitors doing better? Where can you differentiate?
Bring your team together to review your findings. This step ensures you’re not changing things that are already working, and shows where your focus (and budget) is best spent.
A refresh is the ideal moment to check your audience and your voice. Over time, many brands drift away from their target audience without even realising it.
Revisit your buyer personas. Who are your best customers now? Have they changed? What do they care about? How do they make buying decisions?
Once you know who you’re talking to, sense-check your tone of voice. Does it still fit? Does it feel authentic, clear and consistent across every channel?
Bringing your team into this conversation helps them understand the changes to come, and gives everyone confidence when it’s time to roll out the new messaging.
A brand or website refresh has lots of moving parts. One of the biggest reasons projects get stuck is unclear roles. Avoid this by setting responsibilities early.
Work out:
Don’t assume people will just ‘pick it up’. A clear plan keeps things moving, avoids double handling and makes it easy to see when something’s drifting off track.
No brand or website refresh happens in a vacuum. Whether you’re answering to a board, a leadership team, or other departments, you’ll need buy-in.
Map out your key stakeholders and plan how and when you’ll involve them. Be clear on what you need from them, input, feedback, sign-off, and when you need it.
Bringing them in too late can cause costly reworks. Bringing them in too early, without clear context, can create confusion. Find the balance that works for your team.
A realistic timeline makes or breaks a refresh. Too short, and you’ll rush quality work. Too long, and momentum drifts.
Work backwards from your ideal launch date. Factor in time for:
Add buffer time for unexpected changes, they always happen.
Share the timeline with your team so everyone knows what’s expected and when.
Many teams pour all their energy into launch day, and forget what happens next. But your audience won’t automatically find your new brand or website.
Plan how you’ll announce the refresh. Build campaigns to tell your story and explain why it matters. Update your marketing materials, social profiles and email footers to stay consistent.
Decide how you’ll gather feedback and measure success. Look at traffic, engagement, conversions and stakeholder sentiment. Stay ready to tweak and optimise once you’re live.
Finally, make sure your team has what they need to roll out your refreshed brand with confidence.
Create practical guidelines, brand kits, style guides, messaging documents, templates. Run short training sessions if needed. Make it easy for your team to keep things consistent, no matter who’s producing the work.
The more you support them upfront, the stronger and more cohesive your refreshed brand will look and feel.
Refreshing your brand or website is one of the most powerful ways to show the market who you are today, and where you’re heading tomorrow. But it shouldn’t be rushed.
When you take the time to prepare your team properly, you set yourself up for a refresh that doesn’t just look good, it works.
If you’re ready to do it right, we’re here to guide you through every step. We help mid-sized organisations evolve strategically, sustainably and at scale, with clear messaging, standout design and a team that knows exactly where to go next. Get in touch with us, we'll make it happen.