Start with a clear reason, not a new logo. Decide what to keep, settle your positioning, then design the identity and roll it out from the inside out. Tell your team first, update what people see most, and plan any domain change as a technical project in its own right.
Do you actually need a rebrand?
You need one when the business has changed and the brand no longer fits it: a merger, a new market, a different offer, or a name holding you back. Being tired of your own logo isn't a reason, because you see it far more often than your customers do. If people understand you and it just looks dated, a brand refresh is probably enough and costs much less disruption.
What are the steps, in order?
- Write down the reason. One paragraph on what has changed and what the rebrand must make possible. Every later discussion comes back to this.
- Find out what people recognise. Ask customers what they remember about you. A colour, a shape or a name took years to build.
- Decide what stays. Name it explicitly before any designer starts.
- Settle the positioning. Define your position first, because design can't resolve a strategic disagreement.
- Decide on the name. Only change it if you have to. If you do, follow a proper naming process and check availability early.
- Design the identity. Test it on real items, such as a proposal, an email and a mobile homepage, not on a nice presentation slide.
- Plan the rollout. Make a list of everything that carries the old brand, then decide what changes when.
- Launch and follow up. Announce it once, then check every few weeks what's still out there under the old look.
What do you need to change, and when?
| When | What | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| Before launch | Your own team, key customers, legal documents | Nobody should be surprised, least of all your staff |
| On launch day | Website, email signatures, social profiles, proposal templates | This is what people see most |
| Soon after | Directories, partner sites, review profiles, invoices | Old descriptions keep getting repeated, also by AI tools |
| As it runs out | Printed materials, signage, vehicles, clothing | Replacing it all at once is rarely needed |
What if your domain changes too?
Then treat it as a separate technical project, because that's where a rebrand can do real damage. Google's site move guidance recommends permanent server-side redirects from each old URL to its new URL, a Change of Address request in Search Console, and keeping the redirects as long as possible, generally at least one year. Map every old page to a new one before the switch. Keep the old domain registered, and check that mail to old addresses still arrives.
What are the warning signs that it's going wrong?
- Nobody can explain why you're doing this without mentioning the logo
- The discussion is about taste, and the first paragraph you wrote is never mentioned
- The team hears about it from a customer
- The launch date is fixed, but nobody has made a list of what has to change
- The budget covers the design but not the rollout
What does a rebrand cost?
It depends on the identity work and, often more than people expect, on what has to be replaced. At 5DAYS a new Brand Identity starts from €2,450 and a Brand System with strategy, templates and applications from €4,950, excluding VAT. A new website, naming, signage and printing come on top of that. Count your team's time as well, because switching takes effort.
