Best practices for a rebrand, plus an inside scoop on Aimtal's new visual identity

Your brand has 7 seconds to make a first impression. Let’s make that impression count.

Hi, I’m Valentina, one of the graphic designers on the team, responsible for creating Aimtal's updated visual identity. I’m thrilled to share how you can plan your own rebranding project as well as show you Aimtal’s new look!

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The most common reasons why companies rebrand

When a brand is developed, it’s key to keep in mind that this process is not linear or finite. It's a constant ebb and flow, and by recognizing opportunities to reposition it, you can make sure your brand evolves and grows alongside your team, values, culture, accomplishments, and goals. 

Entrepreneur states that most companies consider rebranding once every 7 to 10 years with smaller refreshes in between to elevate their visual identity. Additionally, a rebranding project is not just about tweaking a logo or creating a 3D mascot - you should think beyond the visuals.

Before you get started, you first need to understand ways your brand has evolved so you can develop a strategy as to how you want your company to be represented now and in the future. 

For example, Aimtal has grown substantially in the last few years — our team grew by almost 50%, we expanded our service offerings and had the opportunity of working with many different B2B clients from diverse industries. In the four years since Janet Mesh and David Tapia co-founded the company, we have successfully achieved many of our most ambitious goals. A change was needed to reflect this growth of Aimtal. And it was time to aim higher. 

Here are some other common reasons that companies may choose to refresh aspects of their brand or undergo a complete rebrand: 

• Your internal and external brand perception aren’t aligned
• It’s time to reach a new or expanded audience
• You’re losing relevance and you need brand revitalization
• Your product or service offering has changed
• Your visual brand is outdated or irrelevant
• You’ve experienced a change in leadership
• Your company’s mission has changed

An overall company evolution was the strategic driver of our updated brand identity at Aimtal, especially regarding the visuals. I’m sharing best practices for you to follow if you embark on your own branding project. Let's take off.

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Start your company rebrand journey with lots of research

You came to the conclusion your brand needs some revamping. You’re starting your rebrand project, but where to actually start? Answer: the research phase. 

But Valentina, what kind of research do I need to perform? Internal research, market research, and a competitor analysis. 

• Internal research: Recognize if the current brand is still aligned with the core values and the goals of the company, and how the internal team perceives your brand and reflects the values on a daily basis.

• Audience research and competitor analysis: Dive into the minds of your target audience by conducting customer and audience research. Uncover who they are at their core to determine the best ways to resonate with them. Understand your competitors as well — how does your brand stand out? Lean into the ways you’ve differentiated.  

Once the big-picture research is complete, the designers and brand team should be able to decode and translate the new concepts into visuals and graphics. This stage will help determine what kind of redesign you will actually need. Will it be a partial rebranding? Or do you need a full revamp? This is the moment to find out.

In our case, Aimtal has evolved a lot over the years — from a scrappy yet strong startup, to an established agency serving enterprise B2B tech clients. Our core values and mission remained the same, but our goals and objectives expanded and matured, so we needed to adjust our brand to reflect those changes. We rooted the new direction in our approach to marketing — an integrated, empathetic, and strategic journey, so it was only fair our new visual identity needed to convey that as well. It was time to showcase our expertise within the marketing universe 🪐 and that is what we did. Literally…

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How to conduct a company rebrand, plus a look at Aimtal’s new and improved visual identity

The rebranding process is like a puzzle — once you've finalized your strategy and your positioning is clear, the other pieces should come together seamlessly. Your design should be able to tell a very clear story of your brand's personality and how that is translated within the visuals.

For us, it was very clear how a solar system theme fit our new messaging and how we could utilize elements from the universe to revamp our brand. The next stage was to give our design team the freedom to experiment. Color palettes, new fonts, illustrations, different iconography… the more you play with different ideas, the more you will understand what works and what doesn't.

It’s important to research the psychology behind how people perceive brands based on their logo, colors, fonts, and messaging. For example, 8 out of 10 consumers see color as an indispensable part of brand recognition. Colors connect your brand with what you want your customers to feel (or think about) whenever they see your marketing content…

• Blue or Aqua — Serenity, Strength, Reliability 
• Red — Passion, Boldness, Hunger
• Orange — Confidence, Creativity, Enthusiasm
• Yellow — Positivity, Clarity, Warmth 
• Green — Nature, Connection, Relaxation 
• Purple — Wisdom, Uniqueness, Mystery
• Black — Power, Timelessness, Stability
• Grayscale — Balance, Neutrality, Calm 

We landed on two new fonts and a new color palette. We also incorporated some new iconography and illustrations as well as unique mesh gradients and infographics. Our brand was finally coming together, but there was something missing… our website! 

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In your research, you should prioritize your brand's main touchpoint. This should be aligned to your brand goals and objectives and this touchpoint should be the first avenue that the new visual identity should be applied to. It can be an app, a social media platform, a storefront, or, like in our case, a website.

The Aimtal website project was the epitome of this new chapter. We were able to communicate our changes and demonstrate our evolution through our design choices, while maintaining our core values and mission. 

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Find the right partner for successful rebrand project planning

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When going through a rebranding process, planning is key. A lot of things can go wrong. Timing, lack of strategy, unclear plan of action, contractors, vendors, unmet deadlines… the list goes on. The sooner you can proactively forecast roadblocks and put a plan in place if they do happen, the faster you’ll get back on your feet if something goes awry. 

A company rebrand is no small undertaking — if you’re completely overhauling your brand, the full rebranding process can take 12 to 18 months from start to finish. Working with the right partners is key for a successful and stress-free process. An expert, trustworthy agency (hi, that's us! 🙋) will be able to help you deepen your understanding of the consumer's mind, the market trends, how to make your goals a reality, and valuable recommendations about your brand's new direction. 

If partnering with an external agency to help you throughout the process is not an option, don't sweat. Rely on your team to make smart decisions, they know your brand inside and out and live your company values day-to-day. 

Ready, set, launch your company rebrand

It's time to reap the rewards of your hard work! Launching your new branding and visual identity is an exciting and memorable moment for your brand and it calls for celebration.

When launching your rebrand, consider the timing. Does it align with a company anniversary? Should it be announced at a company event or conference? Should the launch be postponed due to unforeseen events? How do you plan on communicating the new branding and direction to your audience? Knowing how and when you are going to show the world the new changes is imperative, and making sure you have a clear plan will help you leverage the most of it.

Now that you’re equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to give your company brand the upgrade it deserves, it’s time to hit the ground running.