When most people hear “brand refresh”, they picture a shiny new logo, maybe a colour update or a new font. But reducing a brand refresh to visual tweaks is like thinking spring cleaning is just about buying new curtains. A true brand refresh goes much deeper – it’s about reshaping how your brand is perceived, experienced and felt.
At Admind, we’ve seen how a strategically executed refresh can reignite growth, align teams and improve brand perception. We’ve also seen how superficial changes – no matter how beautiful – can fall flat if they’re not rooted in a deeper strategy.
What is a brand refresh really about?
A brand refresh is a chance to stop and ask: is our brand still telling the right story to the right people – in the right way? It’s not just about what you look like. It’s about how your brand lives at every touchpoint and in every conversation, internally and externally.
A meaningful refresh might include:
- Rethinking your brand narrative and tone
- Clarifying your value proposition for today’s marketplace
- Aligning the brand identity with a renewed corporate purpose
- Updating brand assets to reflect digital-first realities
- Reinvigorating brand culture from the inside out
5 things most companies overlook in a brand refresh
1. Brand culture and internal alignment
You can’t project a consistent brand externally if your team doesn’t live it internally. A refresh should activate your brand from within – energising employees, aligning departments and reinforcing your shared purpose.
Branding isn’t just what you say, it’s what you believe and how you behave.
2. Customer Experience (CX) Integration
Your refreshed brand needs to be felt in every interaction: from your website and social media to your onboarding emails and support team scripts. If the new brand promise isn’t lived in the customer journey, it’s just a pretty facade.
3. Verbal identity and messaging
Voice matters. Too many refreshes focus only on visuals, forgetting that words are just as powerful. Does your language reflect your updated brand personality? Is it consistent across all platforms?
4. Strategic positioning
Has your market changed? Have new competitors emerged? A refresh is the perfect time to re-evaluate your positioning and ensure your brand is differentiated, relevant and future-proof.
5. Change management planning
Even the most inspiring refresh can fail without a thoughtful roll-out. Stakeholder buy-in, employee engagement and phased activation plans are critical. This is a cultural change – not just a campaign.
Real world example: Slack
When Slack refreshed its brand in 2019, it did more than just redesign its logo. The update aligned the identity with its role as a scalable, enterprise-ready tool – not just a playful startup chat app. The refresh signalled maturity while retaining the brand’s friendly, human essence. It was a strategic evolution, not a rebrand.
What a strategic brand refresh can unlock
- Renewed relevance in a changing marketplace
- Stronger employee engagement and culture
- Clearer differentiation from competitors
- Improved customer trust and consistency of experience
- Renewed energy and pride in the brand among all stakeholders
Is it time for your brand to evolve?
If your brand feels misaligned with your purpose, your market or your audience’s expectations, a strategic refresh may be the key. But it’s not about rushing to change colours or slogans – it’s about going deeper.
At Admind, we help global brands refresh with purpose – deliberately, collaboratively and creatively. Our approach ensures that your brand doesn’t just look better, it works better.
Ready to rethink your brand?
Then let’s talk. Book a free brand alignment session with our experts and discover what your refresh should really focus on.