Rebrand with Confidence

No matter who you are, you can make your marq

The path to a rebrand is not linear. The decision to do it isn’t taken lightly; whether triggered by growth, an acquisition, a shift in the market, or an opportunity to modernize, it is a serious undertaking. The responsibility to execute is equally challenging, but it seems I’m drawn to that special sort of challenge. It is March Madness, the Final four-level pressure.?

We’ve all watched brands attempt to update and ultimately fail. No one wants to launch a rebranding campaign and be compared to Tropicana (if you know, you know). If you go for a rebrand and miss it, there are a lot of eyes and ears on it, so delivery is paramount. So, why have some companies missed it? Where did they go wrong?

Over the past ten years, I’ve worked on several successful brands and feel fortunate for the opportunities to flex my creativity. I got the chance to build Mythbusters, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman’s Live Tour brand from the ground up. I developed the brand for Prosper, and then worked on Competitive Cyclist with the man, the myth, the legend, Aaron Draplin. I also did the rebrand for Creminelli meat, which was a highlight because of its visibility with placements in Wholefoods, Starbucks, and Target nationwide.?

Do it boldly.

When I think about what made each of those projects successful, I have to admit that confidence played a key role. This isn’t about ego; I’m referring to the bold approach in challenging the brand as it stands and identifying the best path forward. Assurance in the future of the brand has to come first, and once you feel confident in what it can do for your audience, you can dream about how it will re-introduce itself to the world.

Mastercard received backlash for their rebrand and their use of circles (again) didn’t completely resonate with their audience. Maybe they played it too safe, but the way their rebrand was received indicated that they should have done more.?GAP seemed to forget the history with their logo, and its legacy, so when they abandoned that, it didn’t position them to do anything bigger or better, and instead, upset their loyal customer base. They quickly reverted back to the old brand, which was a bit like the twilight zone, but at least they course corrected.?

A rebrand, a successful one, is driven by your audience and the goal that brought you there, to begin with.

Audience & Product Alignment

My success in branding gave me a shot to deliver Lucidpress’ rebrand to Marq. A rather perfect example of dreaming big about what the brand could say about the future of the product. This opportunity presented a unique set of challenges. The product is a solution for brands to share their creative stories, so no pressure. It is a platform that honors the brand and ensures that it is implemented consistently every single time. And so, I knew the new brand had to assure our target audience that we could amplify their brands, and they had to feel a deep sense of trust in us that our product could deliver. It wasn’t just about the name or the look of the brand, it had to ooze confidence, from?every?angle.?

That said, in a time when brands are attempting to update and modernize to grab attention, it can be so easy to lose sight of the initial purpose. What do you want your audience to feel when they interact with your brand? Of course, you want to impress them, but, it can’t be smoke and mirrors. The brand should represent what your product can deliver on, and every brush stroke should be a characteristic of who you are as a company and reflect your brand promise. For Marq,?I wanted our logo to give brands confidence that they could trust us, but I also wanted them to be able to see their brand come alive in our product.

Timing is everything

Initially, I was pretty adamant that the Marq brand stay black and white until it was in the final stages. Messing with color too early doesn't give you a clear vision of the mark. In the case of Marq, once it was time for color, it was an exploration to be sure.?

The UX considerations with this brand, and working its identity into the overall ecosystem of the product took us down a path of color tests that made me hesitant to dip too far. That said, the color exploration process landed us on a palette that surprised me, in a good way. I think the lesson here is that sometimes the reaction to play it safe isn’t necessarily a bad choice, but challenging the reason for it, and considering if you can push it further is worth the time and exploration.

Tropicool Vibes

Anchored with turquoise, the color of creativity, our ‘Tropicool’ hues, along with our bold?mar(q), gave our brand a personality to build upon. The development process was rooted in a desire to make a statement; we had the track record and proof that our product was a driver of growth for our customers, so we had an opportunity to play that up a bit.

It may sound elementary, but considerations like, will it work for the product, the brand, and the website, aren't always taken into account.?The palette we?call “Tropicool” checked all the boxes, which made it a 10/10 match.?

Is the black/white variation of our logo as memorable as the turquoise and coral one-two punch? Absolutely, not. And while I don’t think anyone would describe me as safe, and I typically tend to lean into bold choices.

Boldness and uniqueness with your own mark can co-exist when you thoughtfully consider the environments in which your brand will play.?

Tell your brand story

In the evolution of a rebrand, start to finish, there are opportunities to brush over the small details, and if you do that, you can miss it. The name, the logo, the colors, all carry weight in how the brand comes together, and each step has to bring you back to what sparked the change in the first place. Lucidpress was tied to Lucid, by name. Its identity mirrored that of Lucid’s. It was like a best-selling novel, with a sequel launch formed around a supporting character. The foundation was strong. The proof of success was there, and now we had this special opportunity to allow Lucidpress, now Marq, to stand on its own.?

We had to tell?THAT?story.

How to determine success?

It’s easy to pick out the flops, and it is almost funny how hard it is to pinpoint the ones that did it well. Is it because we accepted the changes without pause? Is that why we call it a success? It didn’t ruffle feathers? We never blinked about it?

Old Spice wasn’t considered a respectable deodorant by anyone under the age of 40, until they came out with a campaign about smelling like a man’s man and threw half-naked guys on horses on the beach. It was memorable and changed the way people thought about the brand. That is a success and an example of modernizing a brand to change the way the audience sees it. It worked, and it's hard to remember how uncool they were before they asked us if we wanted to “smell like a man, man.”

To sum it up

Here I am, post-another rebrand, and this one, hits different. Like smoking meats on the Traeger all day, anticipating that first taste, you know it’s going to be good. Time well spent. I felt that way with this one. With every choice we made, every approval, every iteration of how this brand was going to show up, I knew, it hit the marq. And, I think that could be the ultimate compass for success. If you do it scared, something might not be right. If you aren’t certain how it will land, it isn’t ready. Approach it with confidence, and see it through.?Challenge yourself and your team to think long-term. Make confident choices. Be bold.?But, be sure.?

The critics are watching, after all.?

At least, I am.?

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John Perry is the Creative Director at Marq. The brand-templating platform that empowers everyone within an organization to build on-brand. Design is his medium, Jordans are his obsession. When he is not designing killer logos and getting weird with graphics, he is outside, actively ignoring his notifications.