Re-brand or branding refresh brief requirements

There are a number of considerations to keep in mind when putting together a brief for either a rebrand or a refresh of an existing brand. Depending on the scope of the project and your budget you may not want to undertake each step, but we would recommend a thorough investigation into how your brand currently performs and what you need from a new or updated brand.

There are certain elements you’ll want to include in your brief to ensure that your rebranding agency are able to fulfil your requirements in their entirety and that you have buy in from all key stakeholders.

Research

You may want to commission a trusted research agency who are able to identify what your customers or clients think about your company and your brand. For example; what adjectives do they associate with your brand? Do they trust it? Does it feel high end or budget? Are you resonating with your target audience? What motivates people when making the decision to use your company or services. In some cases, the answers to the question may not be what you aspire to, but that’s why you’re rebranding right?

About You

In order for the rebranding agency to assess your requirements they need to know as much about you as possible. Essentially, who are you? What do you do? Where do you do it? Who are your competitors? Who are your target audience? What are your USPs? This will form the basis of the investigative work they do.

Why the rebrand?

This is the part where you need to tell the agency what the need for the project is. If you have undertaken research, this is the part where that comes in. What has that told you? What is the perceived personality of your company and where do you want it to be?

Maybe your company has expanded or diversified, and your current brand no longer tells the story you need it to. It may be an expanding or crowded market and you need to ensure you have the edge over your competitors. Whatever the reason, you need to outline it in your brief.

Objectives

What do you want to get out of this exercise? This may seem like a simple question, but you need to ensure that all key stakeholders are on the same page and you are clear on what your collective objectives are. Are you simply wanting a new logo or a new suite of artwork or is it deeper than that? Are you considering your target audience, looking at imagery and tone of voice that resonates with this audience?

It’s also a good idea to include examples of your current marketing and branding at this stage.

Project specification

At this stage you need to outline what deliverables you require. These could be any of the following:

• Brand Values

• Tone

• Sociability

• Uniting geographical disparity

• A response to market challenges

• User personalisation

• Targeting different socio-economic groups

• Engaging with key stakeholders

• Engaging with colleagues throughout the process

• What’s in and out of scope

• Are there any sub-brands or sister companies or partners to consider?

• Accessibility

• Brand assets - including all offline and digital assets e.g. website, social media, e-comms, print, interior décor etc

Copyright, budgets and timescales

It’s also important to outline the details. Do you want ownership of the copyright and the assets? You need to set out what your expectation is. You also, very importantly, need to outline your budget and the timescales you expect this to be completed in. Also outline the format you’d like to receive your creative proposals in and any specific instructions and contact details for questions and submission.

So, there you have it. By using these easy steps, it should put you in a really strong position to ensure you get the best out of your chosen branding agency and ultimately better value for money at the briefing stage, allowing you more time and money to be spent on the parts that really matter, the branding.