Should you rebrand?
A rebrand is expensive to do badly and expensive to put off. The signs it is time, the signs it is not, and what a rebrand should actually change.
15 October 2026 · 2 min read
Signs it is time
You are winning on the work and losing on price. Customers who meet you are surprised you are as good as you are. The logo falls apart at small sizes. Different people in the company describe it in different ways. You have outgrown the market the original identity was made for. Any one of these is worth taking seriously, and two or three together usually mean the identity is costing you money.
Signs it is not
You are bored of the logo but your customers are not. A competitor has rebranded and you feel left behind. Sales are down for reasons that have nothing to do with how you look. A rebrand will not fix a pricing problem or a product problem, and doing one to feel busy throws away the recognition you have already built.
Refresh or rebrand
A refresh redraws and tidies what exists: the same idea, made to work properly. A rebrand changes the idea itself. Most small businesses need the first more often than they think. The Kindred rebrand redrew a mark people already recognised and gave it a system to live in, which is often the right call when the recognition is worth keeping.
What it costs and how long it takes
Anywhere from a few thousand dollars to six figures, depending on scale. For a small business with one main product, a proper brand identity is the realistic unit of work. Ours runs three weeks from brief to handover, and the number is written against the scope before it starts.
Why rebrands fail
They change the look without changing the argument, so the new logo says the same unconvincing thing more expensively. They are designed by committee. Or they launch without rules and drift back to old habits within a year. Each of these can be avoided, and all three are worth asking any agency about before you start.
