Launching your new brand internally

A shiny new brand is certainly something to shout about. The big idea, once an unpolished notepad sketch, has been transformed into a visual stamp you can proudly share with the world. The brand marque is ready, the proposition is clear and the strategy has been defined.

So, what’s next?

The logical step for some would be to market your brand to your customers, and indeed this is important. But what about internal marketing? Sharing your journey, and revealing the grand finale to your employees communicates the importance of the brand, and could have a bigger impact than you’d think.

1. Plan your campaign.

Often overlooked, an internal campaign is just as important as external activity. The aim is to create an emotional connection between your employees and your brand. Sending an email to the team with a presentation attached is unlikely to inspire employees, but a personal delivery will have a far higher chance of engagement. Employees need to become invested and a part of the new identity. Without this involvement, there may be issues with brand pride, consistency and principles, which can weaken the brand and create a disjointed visual and strategic identity.

2. Share the vision.

Pick the right moment to launch your new brand internally. Get the team together to share the journey, explaining your initial decision to rebrand and the path you took to get there. Think about the key messages you want your team to take away – your company’s mission, vision and tone of voice – are these remaining the same or have they evolved? Looking at these as a starting point can help to strengthen your delivery and lay the foundations before unveiling the new visual identity.

3. Talk them through the visuals.

Your brand’s visual journey is important. Logo design, colour palettes, fonts, and applications are all essential elements that can help transform and unite employee thinking, and ensure everyone understands how you want to present the company. Think about the first time you were taken through the strategy behind the new creative route – can you recreate that for them? Or can you ask the designer to come in and take them on that creative journey for you?

4. Create some hype.

Moleskin notebooks, mugs, pens, shirts, posters… They may seem like gimmicks but new collateral gives your team something tangible that allows them to start using and owning the new brand immediately. They will act as brand guardians and need to get to grips with it as quickly as possible. And who doesn’t love a new notebook?

5. It’s a team effort.

Get the team onside. Give employees the chance to ask questions, to absorb the information you’ve shared and to get acquainted with the new brand guidelines. All of this will provide valuable insights and feed into the external launch campaign plan.

In the real world.

We supported Consortiq, a global business specialising in integrated drone solutions, in unveiling their new visual and strategic identity to a team of over 50 employees.

The re-brand came at a critical point in the company’s growth and helped prepare them for the next phase of their international strategy. With a fast-growing team, many of whom work remotely in offices across the UK and the US, the need for all staff to understand and embrace the refined identity was a belief shared unanimously by the board.

The leadership team chose to launch their brand internally at their AGM. Many employees were aware of exciting developments happening behind closed doors so the promise of a big unveil was an eagerly awaited event.

Consortiq’s new visual identity was born from in-depth strategy work that focused on defining a clear vision, position and unique proposition in the market. This included a workshop which played a key role in informing the creative brief and guided a go-to-market strategy in which messaging, content and brand applications were directed towards sector-specific launch campaigns.

There were many elements to the story that helped Consortiq explain to their team how the brand had arrived at the final creative articulation. And it was important to take them on that journey.

Our Strategy Director, Daniel, and Design Manager, Dan, went to Consortiq HQ to help present the new and improved visual identity, paying close attention to the steps taken along the way.

The branding was kept under wraps throughout design phase, and the leadership team worked with us to establish a range of internal collateral and branded goodies for the team to take away. These ranged from practical tools to fun, personalised items.

All in all, the unveiling was well received and ignited the unity and passion desired to launch Consortiq’s new brand.

“Our new brand launch was an extremely exciting time not just for the Marketing team, but for the entire company. It meant new beginnings, and getting people excited about it from the beginning was important. Our unveiling of the brand created a buzz amongst everyone. It brought to life the core values of the company and showed that we mean business and we’re here to stay.”

Shea O’Donnell, Marketing Manager, Consortiq

Visit our branding page to learn more about our services. Or if you’re curious about how we can help with your branding challenge, Fleurie would be happy to tell you more. Call us on +44 (0)1202 330 000 or send us an email.