How To Create A Competitive Rebranding Strategy In 2026

Rebrading Strategy: Key Highlights

• Know your rebrand type: Refresh, merger and reinvention paths require different levels of change and different expectations for the rollout.

• Redefine who you’re trying to reach: Updated audience personas guide how your voice, visuals and story must evolve to land with new buyers.

• Update the visual system: Thoughtful adjustments to logos, colors and layouts ensure your identity signals the future without losing all familiarity.

Are you looking to increase market share, appeal to a new audience or recover from a brand-damaging crisis?

A rebranding strategy can help you rethink, refresh and reposition your brand as efficiently as possible.

With 75% of companies having revisited their brand in the past five years, many are treating rebranding as a chance to reset direction, respond to changing customer expectations and create momentum driven by market insight.

Here, we’ll show you how to create an effective strategy that will help you accomplish your specific goals and provide successful rebranding examples to help get you started.

3 Most Common Types Of Rebranding Strategies

Your rebranding strategy will be closely tied to the purpose of your rebranding campaign and the goals you want to accomplish.

Typically, there are three main types of rebranding strategies:

1. Brand refresh strategy to update the brand messaging after a business reorientation or to make the brand more relevant to new markets and new audiences
2. Brand merger strategy to merge the brand under a new parent company after a merger or an acquisition
3. Brand reinvention strategy to reinvent the brand after a damaging crisis or to overcome a negative business reputation

A strategy can help you roll out a rebrand and ensure your goals are met, whether they include retaining your brand’s legacy in case of a change in market focus or introducing a whole new brand to the market as a response to crisis recovery.

In a nutshell, crafting a rebranding strategy includes:

• Researching (new) markets and audiences
• Setting clear goals and expectations
• Defining the scope of rebranding
• Allocating a rebranding budget
• Creating an action plan

To help you better understand the rebranding process, let’s walk through the key tactics you could use in different rebranding scenarios.

Brand Refresh: How To Rebrand To Reach New Audiences

Rebranding for new audiences requires reshaping how your company is perceived, whether through refreshed visuals, refined messaging or updated brand values.

Since 76% of consumers are more likely to choose a brand they feel connected to over a competitor, a rebranding strategy that deepens that connection can create a more natural path to new audiences.

When your brand already has trust behind it, introducing a new direction becomes easier and more meaningful:

1. Define Your New Audience Personas

Rebranding for new audiences starts with understanding who you want to reach and what matters most to them as their expectations evolve.

With 65% of users expecting companies to adjust to their changing needs and preferences, updated personas help you shape a rebrand that feels relevant rather than recycled.

This step gives you direction on how your voice, visuals and story should change to meet a market that may think and behave differently from your current base.

When creating an audience persona, try to be as specific as possible:

• Who is an ideal customer from your new target audience(s)?
• How different are they from your existing customer persona(s)?
• How do they typically interact with products in your category?
• Which of their problems are your products or services going to solve?
• What principles do they passionately defend? What values do they cherish?
• What emotions do you want to evoke when introducing your new brand?
• Which platforms and communication channels are they using the most?
• How can your products or services change their everyday life for the better?

Accurate personas reveal where your rebrand will resonate fastest and where you may need to adjust before you launch.

2. Audit Your Competitors For New Market Segments

To evaluate your competitors for new market segments, the best practice is to start with a classic strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) sanalysis.

With 62% of CEOs saying they’re willing to take more risks than their competitors to stay ahead, evaluating the competitive landscape helps you identify where a well-informed expansion or repositioning might make sense.

This will help you assess your competitors in terms of:

• Strengths: What are their strongest points? How can you compete?
• Weaknesses: How can you make their weaknesses work to your advantage?
• Opportunities: Is there a positioning gap you can fill with your unique approach?
• Threats: What are the risks of entering your competitors’ already established space?

Then, you can move on to more specific questions, such as:

• How will you introduce your brand to this new market?
• Where can you reach your audience that your competition can’t?
• What type of campaign would be the best for growing market share?
• Is there anything you don’t know about this new market and competitors?
• Where can you find the answers, so you don’t make any assumptions?

For instance, when Facebook rebranded to Meta, the move was aimed at reaching a broader and more future-focused audience rather than speaking only to traditional social media users.

The company’s new direction focused on people who want to “connect, find communities and grow businesses” in more immersive environments, expanding its focus beyond its existing user base.

This required defining who that wider audience would be and understanding how they think and engage, which ties directly to the importance of creating new audience personas before a rebrand.

By mapping those motivations and expectations, Meta positioned itself to speak to users looking for the next phase of digital and social interaction.

3. Revisit Your Brand Persona

To position your brand on new markets, you also need to rethink your brand’s foundation:

• Has the purpose of your brand changed?
• Is your brand archetype still the same?
• Have your mission and vision evolved?

In the case of a brand refresh, you might need to brush up on your brand personality and adjust your brand messaging to speak clearly to new audiences.

You likely won’t move too far away from your original values, but it’s still a good idea to take a fresh look.

Also, more often than not, your brand archetype won’t change drastically.

For example, if your existing brand is The Caregiver (think UNICEF), it typically isn’t going to become The Outlaw (think Harley Davidson) overnight.

4. Freshen Up Your Brand Voice

Similar to the brand archetype, your brand voice probably won’t change drastically, but you should revisit it and create clear guidelines to make sure it’s used consistently across all channels.

Since 98% of consumers say authenticity influences their buying decisions, refreshing your voice is a chance to make sure your communication style feels genuine and aligned with what your audience responds to.

You could choose to add a splash of humor, a slice of sassiness or a dash of healthy rivalry to freshen up the way your brand communicates across channels.

For example, Duolingo is known for its sarcastic tone and humorous Tweets, like this one aimed at the postponed release of GTA 3:

5. Reimagine Your Visual Identity

Another important step of a brand refresh is the redesign of your brand’s visual identity.

Since 55% of first impressions stem from visual elements, updating your identity in a thoughtful, purposeful way can influence how quickly prospects understand what your brand represents and whether it feels aligned with their expectations.

Again, it’s probably not going to be a drastic change or complete reinvention, but rather a minor facelift.

Changes in your visual identity may include:

• A logo redesign
• A light website redesign
• A new color palette
• A new typeface
• Custom illustrations

Once you define your new style, you can apply it to business cards, stationery, marketing collateral, corporate website and other brand elements.

Remember, consistency is key when it comes to your brand’s visual appeal.

Dunkin’ is often cited in rebranding examples because of how effectively it refreshed its visual identity to match shifting customer habits.

The brand shortened its name, introduced a cleaner logo and rolled out a modern visual system that aligned with rising demand for coffee and lighter food choices.

These updates helped Dunkin’ communicate what it wanted to be known for going forward while preserving the familiar personality people already connected with.

Brand Merger: How To Rebrand Following A Merger Or Acquisition

In this case, there are three common outcomes:

• The acquired brand makes small adjustments and quickly integrates with the new environment
• The acquired brand completely changes its identity and blends into the parent company’s brand
• The two (or more) merged brands create a new company

Let’s take a look at the key steps needed to rebrand a company within each of these scenarios.

1. Choose The Right Brand Architecture To Gather Multiple Brands Under One Roof

If your company is growing and you plan to expand your existing brand to include new brands – merged, acquired or internally developed – your strategy should start with choosing the right type of brand architecture.

Brand architecture refers to an organizational structure that consolidates multiple brands under the same umbrella.

It typically includes a master brand (think Google, P&G or Unilever) and brand extensions (sub-brands, co-brands, products or services) developed or acquired by the master brand.

The most common brand architecture models are:

• Branded house: An ever-present master brand is directly linked to sub-brands that may be in different categories but typically offer complementary services (e.g., Google)
• House of brands: The master brand may house competing brands in the same category under one roof, but it will nurture the unique identity of each sub-brand (e.g., Unilever)
• Endorsed brands: Sub-brands are developed under the master brand and typically grouped together, but with their own unique brand identity and credibility (e.g., Apple)

Below is a visual overview of the main brand architecture models you can use in your strategy:

Choosing the right type of brand architecture will help you build a cohesive image for your rebranding campaign in the eyes of the public. It will also help your marketing managers make better decisions about the branding strategy and the rebranding rollout tactics.

The rebranding tactics will depend on the brand architecture that fits your company’s situation. They may range from small adjustments to larger ones, such as a name change or a complete reinvention.

2. Quickly Integrate Your Existing Brand With The New Environment

If your brand has been acquired, the level of your rebranding efforts will highly depend on the previous brand position.

Take Slack for example.

When Salesforce acquired Slack, it was already a successful, well-established brand offering a platform widely used across the world.

So, there was no reason for this brand to change its name, visual identity, messaging style or product itself.

The same happened when Adidas acquired Reebok or when Microsoft acquired LinkedIn.

The acquired brands were already strong on their own, so only a few changes were made during the rebranding process due to the acquisition.

The changes were mostly at the corporate level, while the public image of the brands remained practically the same.

But what if your company isn’t Slack, LinkedIn or Reebok?

Let’s move on to the rebranding steps you would take if your small business was acquired by a large corporation.

3. Plan A Complex Brand Transition According To The Existing Structure

If your brand is merging or integrating with a large enterprise, it’s up to the parent company to create a brand transition plan for your business.

The best practice is to define the key steps before the acquisition happens.

The rebranding strategy, in this case, may include:

• Creating a branding protocol for the transition
• Choosing the right branding option for the new brand
• Considering the change of the acquired brand’s name
• Aligning the new brand’s visual identity with the existing style
• Including the new brand into the corporate branding efforts
• Coordinating PR and marketing activities around the rollout

Depending on the parent company’s brand architecture or organizational structure, your business may be integrated as a sub-brand, a co-brand, a separate product/service or anything else that fits into the existing portfolio.

In this scenario, your brand’s name, visual identity, messaging, voice, archetype, personality and other elements will likely be unified with the parent company’s existing identity.

Brand Reinvention: How To Rebrand Following A Reputation Crisis

A crisis-driven rebrand has a specific goal to achieve – to rehabilitate a brand in the eyes of the public.

1. Reinvent Your Brand To Create A New Public Image

First and foremost, a rebranding that follows a reputation-damaging crisis has to be genuinely driven by a desire to change the course of the existing brand and reinvent its image.

With 40% of users actively seeking brands that bring something fresh, surprising or trend-driven into their world, the shift needs to show a genuine commitment to doing things differently.

Otherwise, customers will see through the stunt, which can make them feel disappointed and less likely to support the brand throughout its transition.

The key tactics for this rebranding strategy include:

• Avoid making excuses or denying the impact of a crisis
• Acknowledge the mistakes your company may have made
• Identify the new direction and set the course for a new brand
• Address your existing customers’ concerns during the crisis
• Highlight the issues that need an immediate resolution
• Reconnect with your core brand values
• Consider changing the company name if needed
• Build a new brand by placing customers at the center
• Ensure that everyone on your team is onboard with rebranding
• Create new marketing collateral and prepare to launch campaigns
• Start a rebranding campaign across social media to announce the rebrand
• Issue press releases to set the stage in the public for the new brand to arrive

Old Spice is a useful reference point in rebranding examples because it shows what a full brand reinvention can look like.

The company shifted from an older demographic to younger consumers, adopted a witty and self-aware personality and redesigned its messaging to match what this audience found entertaining.

This reinvention helped Old Spice break away from outdated perceptions and reestablish its place in a category that had largely moved past it.

The Best Rebranding Announcement Examples

Announcing a rebrand is never an easy task.

You need to prepare for potentially negative criticism and carefully craft a response. You also need to create a plan for social media announcements, press releases, videos, homepage/website announcements and more.

Let’s take a look at how some of the most famous brands have navigated a rebrand.

1. Google Rebranding Campaign

When Google rebranded G Suite into Google Workspace in October 2020, critics had a mostly negative opinion about it. Not regarding the new brand name or the rebrand itself, but mostly about the logo redesigns. Because, suddenly, all Google app icons looked almost the same.

“Now Gmail is just another rainbow shape in a sea of very similar rainbow shapes,” reported TechCrunch at the time of the rebrand announcement.

However, creating a unified look with recognizable Google colors was a reasonable move from Google’s perspective. As Google announced, the rebrand is going to help their customers to see Workspace “as a product that brings together all the tools they need to get their work done.”

2. Airbnb Rebranding Campaign

Back in 2012, Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky hired Pixar animator Nick Sung to make the customer journey storyboards. This helped Airbnb understand its target audience’s challenges – both guests and hosts – and translate them into a brand promise of “transforming how people travel.”

In 2014, it was time for a rebrand to live up to that promise and craft unique messaging that would diversify Airbnb from competitors.

Along with the tagline “Belong Anywhere,” the new Airbnb brand mark Bélo was created as the foundation of the new identity. The idea behind Bélo was to make an icon that encompasses four key points – People, Places, Love and the letter A (representing Airbnb).

3. Instagram Rebranding Campaign

“Instagram’s New Logo Is a Travesty. Can We Change It Back? Please?”

This was the headline of the Adweek article published in 2016, at the time of Instagram’s logo and app redesign reveal.

The same article also stated that “it may well go down as one of the biggest design fails of the year”.

Shortly after, millions of Instagram users couldn’t have imagined the app (nor the logo) looking anything different from what it looked like after the rebrand.

So, what happened there?

When the new look was revealed, critics hit hard, but Instagram’s key performance indicators unveiled different insights, as the total number of active users has steadily increased to reach 1.46 billion in 2025.

Create Your Rebranding Strategy With Digital Silk

When you approach the rebranding process strategically, it enables you to create a roadmap to stimulate new growth, evolve your brand or rehabilitate after a brand-damaging crisis.

When you know the purpose and the main goals of your rebranding campaign, you’ll have a much clearer picture of how to create the most effective strategy for your company.

Digital Silk uses data-driven insight, creative expertise and a structured approach to help companies build rebrands that connect with the audiences they want to reach.

As a full-service branding agency, we offer:

• Rebranding services
• Top branding strategies
• Custom web design
• Custom web development
• Digital marketing campaigns

Contact our team, call us at (800) 206-9413 or fill in the Request a Quote form below to schedule a consultation.  

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Grant Visser

Director of Brand Strategy

Grant Visser brings over 18 years of experience in brand strategy, business development, and marketing performance across Africa, Europe and other global markets. He has led high-impact roles at multiple Fortune 500 companies like Monitor Deloitte, AB InBev, Pernod Ricard and Absolut Vodka, driving strategic planning, media and data-led marketing transformation. With a strong academic foundation and multiple published works, he applies a strategic and analytical lens to every challenge. Grant is passionate about building market entry strategies, enhancing ROI, and using data to unlock brand growth. He’s a frequent contributor to C-suite panels and has served on advisory boards for leadership and business education.