Rebranding vs Brand Refresh: Which is Better For My Business?

November 13, 2023

It was the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus who posited that change is the only constant in life. The business environment is no exception to this theory. For every business, there comes a time when certain changes become inevitable. In such situations, either you change and remain relevant, or resist change and stay stagnant, or even decline.

One big question most businesses ask at such times is whether to rebrand or refresh. Whether you’re rebranding or just refreshing your brand, both tasks require significant costs. Hiring the services of an experienced multimedia marketing company can help you maximize scarce resources and get the desired results.

What is Rebranding? 

Rebranding involves the complete transformation of certain key elements of a brand. In terms of the degree of change, a rebrand is often more extensive and radical than a brand refresh. Hence, in a rebrand, a brand's identity and strategy can be overhauled holistically. Rebranding is typically adopted when the current brand strategy has failed.

Elements that may be affected during a rebrand include:

  • Brand identity
  • Brand positioning
  • Brand strategy
  • Logo
  • Messaging
  • Website overhaul
  • Brand values
  • Brand guidelines
  • Ad campaign overhaul
  • Mission and vision statements

The Benefits of Rebranding

Rebranding is often more challenging than a brand refresh but, when properly conducted, can yield several benefits, such as:

  • Help a business come up with better business ideas, objectives/goals
  • Create a new, better brand image
  • Bring new opportunities, including a larger customer base and market share
  • Help ensure differentiation from competition
  • Help attract investors
  • Enable a company to hire more talented employees

What is a Brand Refresh?

A brand refresh is a set of modifications to certain brand elements in order to realign the brand with current trends in the marketplace (or achieve any other goals that necessitate the refresh). In other words, a brand refresh can be likened to an attempt by a brand to fine-tune or modernize its image while preserving its core identity and strategy. Elements that may be affected during a refresh include:

  • Logo
  • Color palette
  • Font
  • Writing style
  • Minor website modifications
  • Slogan updates
  • Ad campaign modifications

The Benefits of a Brand Refresh

Though a brand refresh is often not as comprehensive, in-depth, or radical as a rebrand, it still ushers in a variety of significant benefits. Here are some of them:

  • Can bring a brand up to date with market trends
  • Can make a brand stronger and more competitive
  • Ensures changes are made while keeping some core elements intact
  • New visual elements can help attract new customers
  • By modifying certain elements, a refresh can help bring a business back into the center of public consciousness

Rebrand or Refresh: Which is the Better Option for You?

As noted earlier, change is the only constant in life, and every business must change according to present-day realities. The business world is always in flux, characterized by innovation, new consumer tastes, preferences, and demands. Therefore, your business will need to rebrand or refresh once in a while.

So which option is better for you? Well, it all depends. If your brand is in a fairly strong position and doing well, then you may just need to refresh things here and there to become even stronger and more profitable. In contrast, you will need a rebrand if you have fallen behind your competitors and thus require holistic improvements to at least catch up if not overtake them. However, note that a company in a strong position may also decide to rebrand to achieve more. But this carries an element of risk because you do not change a winning team, as those in the soccer industry will often tell you.

If you are in Pittsburgh and looking to either rebrand or refresh, be sure to check out Twothirty Media, an experienced branding agency in Pittsburgh. We are branding experts who possess the knowledge and experience to assist you in building a strong, consistent brand identity that resonates with your target audience.

Written by Randy

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