Brand refresh = simple facelift
If your brand’s nice and strong but just needs a little something to jazz it up, that’s where a brand refresh (or evolution, if you’re feeling fancy) comes in. A refresh will give your brand a new look and feel and help you keep up with the market. Rather than completely changing what you’re all about, this is more of an update – a tweak or a hotfix, if you like.
Have we got an example for you? Of course we have. Plenty of big brands tend to have a refresh at various points in their lifecycle.
Pepsi have just got one, moving away from the 2000s, rounded lower-case font to something bolder, brasher and reminiscent of what they had in the 1970s. Much like Coca-Cola did with its Zero Sugar and Original Taste labels a few years ago, this means they can bring the Diet and Max brands more in line with each other.

But, fundamentally, the core Pepsi brand itself hasn’t changed – its brand values remain the same, and it’ll inevitably keep marketing on the same taste tests that it’s been doing as Coca-Cola’s biggest rival since forever. However, a new look that’s more in keeping with current design trends and what people expect when they pick a bottle off the shelf is more likely to attract sales in the short term.
Rebrand = wholesale change
A rebrand, however, is a different undertaking. A rebrand goes much deeper – really, if you’re thinking about a rebrand, you’re ready to redefine your business with an inside-and-out transformation.
Rebrands take more time and they take more strategy. But the difference they can make to your business goes far beyond a quick-fix sales boost. A rebrand offers you a new understanding of the business and allows you to future-proof it, instead of reacting to a trend.
Really, rebrands are all about change – something has changed, either in your business or outside it, and you need to harness it. We love a brand refresh, don’t get us wrong, but we really like to get our teeth into a rebrand and change the way you approach your company.
A good example of a rebrand (other than some of the ones we’ve done, here’s a link, there you go) is the Co-op. We’ve all got one down the road, and you’ve probably been in one this week, but have you thought about its brand recently?
The Co-op has been a big part of the British retail landscape since 1844. It covers banking, funerals, holidays and, of course, food. In 2016, after years of failure, their new chief executive decided that the branding had become too confused and too corporate. It was time to take things back to basics.

They got rid of their most recent ‘The co-operative’ logo and reintroduced the classic clover-leaf design, but in a far more modern format. New messaging brought it back to the public – who, as members, are invested in its future. It worked, and the company was back to operating at a profit.
If you’re thinking about shaking things up, consider whether it’s a refresh or a rebrand that you really need. We’re happy to help you with either – just get in touch and tell us more about the project.