The benefits of rebranding for employee-owned businesses

Like any significant business evolution, making employee ownership truly work requires effort across multiple areas. Among these areas of focus, engagement through branding represents a compelling starting point. A thoughtful rebranding process signals the ownership transition externally and serves as a collaborative engagement tool that can align and empower your newly transitioned employee-owners around a shared vision.

While every organisation’s employee ownership journey is unique, there is an almost universal recognition that how we present ourselves as businesses to both internal and external audiences requires careful consideration and a willingness to do the work.

Understanding brand in the context of employee ownership

First, let’s dispel a common misconception: your brand is far more than just your logo. Sure, visual elements play a role, but they’re merely the tip of the iceberg. Your brand encompasses who you are, what you do, how you do it, and most importantly, why. It’s the embodiment of your values, your positioning, and how you connect with your target audiences.

For employee-owned businesses, this brand journey takes on additional significance. The transition to employee ownership creates an opportunity to reflect on and potentially reshape how the company presents itself to both internal and external stakeholders.

The delicate balance of change

When a business becomes employee-owned, leadership faces a unique challenge: maintaining stability while embracing positive change. This balancing act is important for several reasons:

• It reassures existing clients and partners about business continuity
• It energises employees about their new stake in the company’s future
• It provides an opportunity to refresh the company’s market position
• It allows for collaborative input from newly empowered employee-owners

And, whilst change is inevitable, it’s important to stress that a rebrand doesn’t always result in a completely changed proposition or a dynamic change to visual identity. The process presents an opportunity to ask questions that most businesses should periodically take advantage of, namely, is our brand authentic and supporting our business and do our people know how to tell our story?

The collaborative advantage

One of the most powerful aspects of rebranding as an employee-owned business is the opportunity for widespread involvement. Unlike traditional rebranding exercises, which might be directed solely by senior management or external consultants, employee ownership opens the door for meaningful contributions from across the organisation.

This collaborative approach offers a number of benefits:

• It ensures diverse perspectives are considered in the brand development process
• It creates buy-in and enthusiasm among employee owners
• It leads to more authentic and representative brand outcomes
• It strengthens company culture through shared purpose and achievement

This process of brand engagement isn’t new. Why a company does what it does can give meaningful purpose to an employee’s engagement with the business they work for, especially for younger generations. Having a hand in realising that purpose, defining it and demonstrating it in daily operations is engagement on a whole new level.

Real-life impact: The Interaction experience

Learning and development consultancy Interaction have been employee-owned since 2019 and in 2021 they embarked on a comprehensive rebranding project involving the whole team. Managing Director Katie Scott shared her thoughts on the process:

“For us the focus wasn’t just on the output (i.e. clearer brand positioning, a refreshed brand identity and a new website). Importantly it was about full participation, shared experience and being part of the many discussions along the way. Our aim was, as a recently financially free EO company, to enable everyone to have a voice and feel even more invested in and engaged in all things Interaction.”

Interaction’s experience perfectly demonstrates how a rebranding process can simultaneously strengthen company identity while deepening employee-owners’ investment in the business through meaningful collaboration and shared values development.

“An invaluable new addition to our brand was the creation of company Values – Care, Connection, Playful and Grounded. These truly capture the glue that binds us together not just in terms of the work we do with our clients, but in our strong people focused, EO culture.”

The impact on market position

While the internal benefits of rebranding are significant, the external advantages shouldn’t be overlooked. Employee ownership can be a powerful differentiator in the marketplace. Much like the provenance of a luxury product, employee ownership can contribute positively to customer purchasing decisions, particularly for businesses where value alignment is important to their target market.

Our experience at Salad demonstrates this perfectly. Following our rebrand in 2023, we found that our employee-owned status resonated strongly with certain clients, even becoming a deciding factor for some new business relationships. Starting with our proposition, we refined our messaging and revolutionised our visual identity to represent our collective makeup and individual contributions.

A designer’s perspective: Bringing the vision to life

We asked our our Head of Design Jon Lockhart for his thoughts on our rebranding process in 2022:

“Revisiting the brand was one of the first conversations we had as a team, and although it was hard for some of us (mostly our Founder, Bella!) to part with the old Clarendon logotype, there was a unanimous call for something bold to reflect the company we had now become. We wanted something that could celebrate each individual and the team. We often spoke about enjoying the journey, so it was important that a sense of fun came through.”

“While the traditional design agency aesthetic often adopts a blank canvas to showcase the work, we needed a visual identity that could stand on its own. The bold use of colour, typography and illustration allowed for this and it’s something we’ve grown into. A couple of years on and like any brand, it continues to evolve but the process marked a defining moment and is a reminder of the business we are today.”

Best practices for success

When approaching a rebrand as an employee-owned business, consider these key principles:

1. Embrace intentionality: approach the rebranding process with clear objectives and a well-defined strategy.
2. Include broad representation: involve employees from different levels and departments in the process.
3. Balance evolution and revolution: determine whether your brand needs subtle refinement or a complete transformation.
4. Consider your investment: while the process requires significant time and effort, the long-term benefits often justify the investment.
5. Focus on long-term impact: design the brand to support sustainable commercial success and cultural strength.

Beyond the rebrand

Remember that rebranding is not a one-time exercise. It’s part of an ongoing journey of evolving and strengthening your business identity. For employee-owned businesses, this journey has added significance as it reflects not just the company’s market position but the collective aspirations and values of its employee-owners.

Conclusion

The transition to employee ownership presents a unique opportunity to revisit and refresh your brand identity. When approached collaboratively and with intention, this process can strengthen both internal culture and market position. While the investment required may be substantial, the returns – in terms of employee engagement, market differentiation, and business resilience – make it a worthwhile endeavour for employee-owned businesses committed to long-term success.

Remember, the goal isn’t necessarily to create something entirely new but rather to evolve your brand in a way that authentically reflects your employee-owned status while maintaining the equity you’ve built in your market. When done right, this process can become a cornerstone of your success as an employee-owned organisation.

Want to know more?

If you’d like to find out more about our branding services, you can visit our brand page. For more information about our services for employee-owned businesses, please visit our employee ownership page.