5 Positive Rebranding Examples to Learn From
A well-executed rebranding is a great way to change the way a company is perceived by the public and to communicate a new vision. Some brands prefer to do it in-house, others hire different agencies to take care of the design. While it can be scary at times for brands, it is about constant innovation and moving forward as a business. For some brands dramatic changes work, while for others small iterations already can help. It needs a grounded practical research and data to not end up with a messy brand which no one can relate to and that doesn’t mean much to the target audience.
We bring to you 5 well done rebrands that we believe you can learn from. Some of them went for drastic changes while others stayed subtle yet intelligent. See for yourself and let us know your take on it!
1. MetLife
Company Profile
MetLife is a global life insurance provider with 100 million customers and operations in nearly 50 countries.
Design by- Prophet
The idea
MetLife’s new visual branding is built around a clean, fresh aesthetic. The new brandmark brings contemporary blue and green colours together in a symbol of partnership to form an M standing for MetLife. The iconic blue carries forth the brand’s legacy and stands for the trust customers have in it, but it has been brightened and now lives alongside a new color — green — which represents life, renewal and energy. The ‘M’ before the wordmark replaced the brand mascot Snoopy they had have for 31 years. Learn more about the whole idea behind the rebranding in MetLife’s press release.
Our take
MetLife’s rebranding forms part of a wider strategy to put customer experience at the heart of the business. Though, what caught our attention most was the brand dropping its famous mascot Snoopy after almost three decades. The mascot was introduced to make the company more friendly and approachable at a time when insurance companies were seen as cold and distant. With the rebranding the company focuses now directly on the trusted work they do and their active partnerships with its clients. It did transport them from an 80’s image right into the 21st century and lets them appear grown up, ready for the new life challenges they are solving with their products for their customers.
2. Mozilla
Company profile
Most well-known for its Firefox browser, Mozilla is a global, nonprofit organization dedicated to making the web better by creating open source products. It attracts the support of a global community of more than 400,000 users, contributors, and developers.
Design by- Johnson Banks
The idea
The logo with its “nod to URL language reinforces that the Internet is at the heart of Mozilla”. For the brand it shows their commitment of the original intent of the link as the beginning of an unfiltered, unmediated experience into the rich content of the Internet. Since imagery is an important reflection of the diversity and richness of the Internet, it was also integrated as an important component of Mozilla’s new branding. The company shared the whole rebranding process openly with the public through their blog.
Our take
We can only give a big round of applause to Mozilla for staying true to its roots. Doing their rebranding process out in the open is a brilliant move to stick to their value of openness. Even their agency partner agreed and so they shared their work-in-progress for public scrutiny. That’s what we call authentic. What came out of this process that involved active feedback from hundreds of people reflects perfectly what Mozilla is all about: community and an accessible internet for all.
3. Deliveroo
Company profile
Deliveroo is a delivery service working in 60 cities around the globe with 8,000 restaurants to bring their food to the homes or offices of their customers via 5,000 drivers, most of them on bicycles.
Design by- DesignStudio
The idea
The final idea was to make typography, illustration and the Roo mark all work harmoniously together, creating a distinctive graphic language. The new identity should communicate Deliveroo’s spirit, vibrancy and energy everywhere, from their website to the drivers kits. Their agency DesignStudio shared a great overview about the new branding.
Our take
Deliveroo’s new identity can be rightly called distinctive. The company feels now more like a global player that stands out with its bright colours from the competition and manifests its position as a leading player in the crowded food delivery market. It makes the company appear more like a lifestyle brand and not like a service for executing deliveries, which can give a mechanic brand feel at times. The rebranding achieved to build a vibrant personality. Further the new logo continues the trend for flat design, which has been adopted by many companies like Instagram and Uber. The company also impressed us with the adaption of the new identity on the driver jerseys, kits and other material while keeping road safety and comfort in mind. Overall, the rebranding was a combination of simplicity and surprises that we really enjoy to look at!
4. MasterCard
Company profile
MasterCard is a technology company in the global payments industry. They are active in more than 210 countries and territories. The company’s logo is also one of the most pervading — it’s currently used across more than two billion plastic cards worldwide, alongside advertising billboards, ATMs, digitally and at global headquarters.
Design by- Pentagram
The idea
MasterCard wanted to evolve its brand identity on the pillars of simplicity, connectivity, seamlessness and modernity. The aim was to preserve the heritage while creating a bold distinctive look. A new brand identity that unmistakably will be recognized as Mastercard, no matter where the consumers are in the world or what device they are on. Learn everything about it in this insightful Designweek article.
Our take
The new identity of MasterCard is not world-changing and it wasn’t expected to be so either. As the digital transformation is still interrupting our lives an iconic logo change would be far too drastic and not help building trust among consumers in adapting new processes and technologies. A radical design change could have alienated customers even further from the brand and its innovations that they are implementing in the payments space. Pentagram cleverly preserved the familiarity and equity necessary for the brand by keeping the interlocking red & yellow circles. It reflects perfectly the company’s optimism about the digital transformation and added forward-thinking to it. Interesting is also that the wordmark was removed from the circles and lost its capital ‘M’ and ‘C’ — a change that should bring it more in line with the resemblance to smooth online transfers. For us the brand succeeded in making its rebranding more digital-friendly. It could maintain its trust and gained modernity that reflects well the innovative developments which the company is bringing to its customers.
5. Zendesk
Company profile
Zendesk is since 10 years building a software to empower brands for better customer relationships. The company has more than 81,000 paid customer accounts in over 150 countries.
Design by- In-house
The idea
The new branding represents each of Zendesk’s seven products with a logo showing them as an interaction of two simple shapes. Symbolizing the business and the customer, these shapes have unique personalities and relationships. Whereas, the main logo is a large Z comprised of the individual shapes connecting together. In this video you can learn more about it from the founders and team.
Our take
“Every interaction has the potential to create a relationship” — Zendesk packaged this statement very well into a product narration that is authentic and doesn’t feel as if they’re trying to hard with the design to convey what their brand stands for. The brand communicates marvellously that it isn’t exhausting for brands to organize the complex business of customer care with its products, but playful and intuitive. Though it is playful, there’s a kind of smartness in it that makes the brand appear serious and reveals its competence in the field. The rebranding is simple, yet clever and fun.
What’s your favourite rebranding?
There are many amazing examples out there to study. We’ve shared our favourites! We’d love to know learn about yours! Comment away below or tweet them to us :)
Love,
#TeamCreate
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