What is a rebrand?
A rebrand is the process of tweaking, adjusting, or remessaging your brand in order to meetclient needs, attract your target market, or define your offerings in a precise way.
Why would a company rebrand?
- You're going through a big growing up moment. Your business has grown a lot in the lastfew years, and your previous brand just simply can't keep up.
- Your internal marketing is all over the place and no one is on the same page. You need aunified message and consistent, connected brand elements that don’t currently exist.
- You're completely changing your service offering or if you're integrating somethingcompletely new that hasn't been a part of your service offering to date.
How to rebrand successfully?
- Keep detailed records.
- Choose a brand name that is protectable.
- Clearly communicate your brand’s message
Sean: Welcome to Take Flight, where we give you the marketing and leadership tools you needto take your brand and business to new heights.
My name is Sean Sidders and today we'll be talking about our rebrand. Surprise! Our companyhas officially launched its rebrand to Mallard Agency, with a new podcast, name, look and feel tocompliment the change. Now almost three years into business, it's been kind of a rollercoaster,as I know a lot of you can relate with.
And you all have been along for the journey as we've discussed the ins and outs of leadershipand effective marketing up until this point. Today, I'm so excited to be joined by DelaneyWasham, Mallard agency's new marketing operations coordinator who joined our team in themidst of this rebranding process.
Let's dive in
Well, everyone, so excited to have you here at this slightly rebranded, slightly new podcastcalled Take Flight. If you've been along for the ride thus far, you know that we've been referringto this podcast as the Branding Blueprint Podcast for a little while.
And you'll probably also remember that our business has been known as Craftsman Creative forThe last almost three years and today actually is the official launch of our new brand here atMallard Agency. I'm really excited about all of the work that's gone into rebranding our agencyand we'll dive into all the specifics of why we decided to do that and what's gone into that andhopefully give you something of value in terms of what that might mean for your brand as youmove forward and whether or not you're experiencing the potential of a rebrand for yourself or ifyou're just trying to better your brand and your business and take it to new heights, we'reexcited to just talk about what that's looked like for us and how that might benefit you. Butbefore we get into all of that, I'd love to introduce Delaney Washam.
Delaney, hi.
Delaney: Hi, Sean! Thanks for having me
Sean: Yeah, totally. Delaney is actually a pro at podcasting. I through the interview processactually stumbled upon Podcast interview that she had conducted in the past and I listened tothat and It only added to all the many reasons to why we brought you on to the team, but justdon't show me up today
Delaney: Well, thanks, Sean. I appreciate it
Sean: That was a sympathetic response, but I'll take it because I need it right about nowDelaney tell me about what? Brings you to the table today. Tell me about the role you play hereat Mallard and let's start with that.
Delaney: Yeah, so I am the marketing operations coordinator, which is a new position to theMallard team. And I'm super excited to be here, just surrounded by so many incredible creativesand strategists.
It's been a really fun journey so far. This is a role that I didn't know that I initially saw myself in,but I'd studied strategic communication at TCU. And this just seemed like a natural fit whenSean had pitched it to me and through the interview process. So my role with Mallard really ishelping with the marketing of the brand itself.
Our staff, our team is so busy. working so hard for our clients. And so because of that, our ownbranding can sometimes fall to the wayside. And so I'm kind of stepping into that, helping withthe socials, helping with all of the other marketing elements that you might see. And then on theother side of that, that operation side, I'm helping out with a lot of office coordination, creatingstandard operating procedures or SOPs, and just helping the team function and filling in gapswhere they're needed.
Sean: That's awesome. You have filled two very, very important gaps in our business that justfor any business owner out there that started a business, you know how hard it can be to marketyourself, which is what we do so, so well for our clients, but it can be really difficult to do that forourselves.
And any of my agency friends out there knows exactly what I'm talking about. And then on theoperations side, I think that applies to all businesses really. It's just a struggle to come up withreally defined really well thought out but also not convoluted processes that our team can followso that we can be as great as possible
And all of this kind of comes to a head today In the launch of Mallard Agency, and I thought itmight be a good place to start to say, "Why in the world would you even rebrand your company?you had a lot of great things going for you with craftsmen and with branding blueprint podcast.”
Really, we've experienced quite a bit of growth over the last few years which I'm so incrediblygrateful for but I thought it might be interesting to kind of just dive into the why behind all of it.
So maybe we can start there. I'll just start by saying that we kind of didn't know what we weredoing whenever we started this business. We actually made a video a little while ago. It kind ofshowed like my wife and I sitting on the couch, like really just trying to figure out what's this thinggoing to look like and what was it going to be called?
And so as we've matured and as we've progressed we've really thought it's important for us toestablish a long term brand that we can go by for a really long duration of time. And one thatreally represents our service offering that represents our small but mighty nature really well.
We've really established a lot of clarity in terms of what we do and who we do it for. We offerbranding and strategy, video production, and outsource marketing execution for mid sizedbusinesses primarily. And because of all of that additional clarity, it made sense both internallyand externally for us to welcome to the table a new name and if anybody out there has evertried to either name a business or rename a business and also take into account, you know,protecting that name over a long period of time. That is a really challenging exercise and I knowyou came in at the kind of very tail end of that, Delaney, but you've kind of seen the brand cometo life.
Talk to me about Your initial reactions and also what you're excited about as we move forwardwith a new brand
Delaney: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I was really drawn to the work that this company producesand just the storytelling aspect of it all
And so when I heard that we were changing, I think it was my first day I might've heard that wewere, we were going to rebrand and I was like, “Oh, okay, this is a shift.” But when I heardSean's vision for it, I was really excited. I think Mallard just really definitely encapsulates all thework that we're trying to do here.
I love what you said about the small but mighty. I think that's definitely true of this team. And sogetting to know everybody on this team and getting to see how my role fits into it. It's been reallyfun to kind of get creative with Mallard, with the branding, with the marketing and see how eachmember of the team contributes.
So, Dylan helping with videography and we have Tag, who's creating all of our design elementsand seeing him get to put a spin on it and talking to Mackinley, and Ashley, and Mike. andeveryone else has just been really cool to see how the whole team also gets to be involved inthis process and make Mallard really what it is.
So I think that's also helped me, being a newer teammate, to see all of that happen because it'shelped me understand each person's role so much better.
Sean: Yeah, totally. That's a really great perspective and maybe it might make sense to kind ofwalk through like we've kind of established the why you know. It's kind of a growing up momentif you will, but also, maybe giving a little bit of a peek behind the curtain of what were the stepsthat were actually involved in coming to this name change and this rebrand that You're probablyalso seeing in addition to actually listening to right now.
And really once we had identified that this was something that we were going to do, you reallyhad to focus on what, what was the actual name going to be. And that, like I mentioned, is avery challenging process to come up with a name that is both, once again, protectable as wellas memorable and and also just feels authentic to the culture that you've created, the work thatyou do.
And I really feel like Mallard has encapsulated all of those things. We're also kind of changingfrom Craftsman Creative, and I really see strategy as one of our core skill sets. We're kind of50-50. I'm sure you've noticed that, Delaney, just being here for a short amount of time.
Delaney: Yeah, definitely. I think I was initially drawn by seeing the video and that storytellingaspect, but getting to be now in meetings and getting to see how that strategy aspect has grownso much when we're sitting down and talking about different clients and pitches.
It's not just how can we make this beautiful. It's how can we make this, how can this actuallyhelp the client? How will this help their long term goals? And how can we create something that,again, is both, like you said, 50% is equally beautiful and strategic at the same time?
Yeah, and that has really been the kind of like progression of our business over time is fineSean: tuning both of those things pouring resources pouring fuel onto the both of those fires tokind of create one larger fire if you will and once we kind of established what that name wasgoing to be which by the way was I mean Golly, probably weeks, probably months of actuallyresearching and you know, running that name by a number of outside third parties to get theirperspective, and honestly coming to my wits end in moments and being like, There is just simplynot a word in the world that will encapsulate who we are
Yeah, and that has really been the kind of like progression of our business over time is fineSean: tuning both of those things pouring resources pouring fuel onto the both of those fires tokind of create one larger fire if you will and once we kind of established what that name wasgoing to be which by the way was I mean Golly, probably weeks, probably months of actuallyresearching and you know, running that name by a number of outside third parties to get theirperspective, and honestly coming to my wits end in moments and being like, There is just simplynot a word in the world that will encapsulate who we are
We have a plan that historically has been called the branding blueprint, funny enough. And wehave since re-branded that as well, as of today, to our field guide. And that field guide is a sevenstep plan for success. If you listen to the early episodes of this podcast, we went through all ofthose different steps and We actually followed our own playbook, if you will.
So we rediscovered ourself, we came up with a new identity we established our messaging, weestablished a new website, we'd really love for you to check that out established video assetsand photography a new strategy and a completely new um, way of going through marketingexecution.
And those seven steps are what we do for clients all the time, but we did it for ourselves in thisinstance. And so... That was really revealing, honestly, for me. You know, I put that plan togetherand it's been so successful for so many clients, but it's mostly executed on by our team at thispoint in the business.
And it was really revealing for me to see what worked and what didn't. And I'm really glad to saythat most of it was really successful. And I'm sure that that will shine through and how werepresent ourselves moving forward. But yeah, tell me you know, as we kind of went through thesteps of rebranding from your perspective how do you think we became stronger in thatprocess?
And you know, don't necessarily compare Craftsman to Mallard, or you can, I guess, but how doyou see us kinda progressing forward, and what are the changes that you're noticing?
Delaney: I think to that point, what makes us so much stronger as a result of going through thisprocess would definitely be just that fine tuning of messaging.
Messaging is so important. The way you communicate to the world about who you are and whatyou do, not only in the business world, but also in life is extremely important. And just being ableto identify what makes you who you are And to clearly communicate that is really half thechallenge.
So you can think of it, honestly, on a personal level, how do you tell other people who you are?How do you demonstrate that? How do you demonstrate your skills and your offerings and yourpurpose, what you bring to the table? And so to take that to a brand and personify it in a way,was extremely helpful
Again, I think, like I said earlier, having each member of the team who's so critical to makingMallard who Mallard is, what Mallard is, get to speak into that and give their talents to our ownbrand is really special. I think there's just so much buy in from everyone who's here and somuch buy in, obviously from you, Sean, of course, just getting to see all of that play out hasbeen just insanely cool.
Honestly, I think getting to see a company who produces an amazing product, that brandingblueprint, the field guide, now that you say, which also is available for free download on ourwebsite too. So like looking through that and getting to learn through that, I think yeah, it's justreally strengthened who we are, what we do, and has made that easier to communicate toclients.
I think it's really exciting to tell even existing clients we've already taken through the brandingblueprint, but now the field guide, getting to see them experience this rebrand with us, I think isonly going to solidify what we offer them because we're showing, hey, we don't just talk the talklike we walk the walk to like, this is something we're constantly evaluating.
And so, your brand should evaluate it too, how can you make yourself stronger? How can youmore clearly communicate to your clients to your customer base, what it is that you do andgetting to say, Hey, like, we get it. We've been where you are. And here's how we got through it.And we want to help you do that too.
Sean: Totally. it was really challenging for me to even, like, accept this inevitability of having togo through this exercise because, truthfully, it's like a really vulnerable place as, like an agencyto put yourself out there and say, we're gonna rebrand ourselves because there's just more eyeson that naturally because that's your core product at the end of the day, right?
So the way you market yourself is the is the capability that you're representing to the market thatyou're able to to offer so that created some fear in me if i'm being totally honest, but What Iquickly realized and what I recognized was that the people that we've assembled in this placeAre so incredibly talented in so many different ways That can all come together to create aunified and a clear brand.
And brand means all the things that are included in the seven step plan that we just mentioned.It's not just your logo. It's not just our message. It's not just your video. It's not just your website.It is all encompassing. It is the feeling that you create in your target consumer. And your brandmatters a lot right now.
I feel it. I'm sure most other businesses out there feel it. And for anybody listening out there, Iguess the second part of this podcast that I think would make a lot of sense and might be as, ashelpful as possible is to kind of run through a couple of tips and or questions to consider. Firstand foremost what would some reasons be for somebody wanting to rebrand?
Do you have any, any thoughts, Delaney? And then I can follow up with some of my own
Delaney: Yeah, for sure. I think, for one if you, if your brand doesn't tell the story of what youactually offer or what you do that could create a ton of confusion.
And so if there's confusion, I think you've said this before, Sean, but the product or the companythat clients and consumers understand the most is the one that they're going to go with. So theone that has almost like the, the less hard, in a sense, your brain has to work to make adecision that is hard, like choosing an agency or choosing an insurance company or choosingthis or that the brand, the company.
The service that's able to most clearly communicate that is the one that's going to be chosen.And so you need to have a logo. You need to have a mission statement. You need to haveofferings that make sense for what it is that you're actually doing. Because if people areconfused, there's not going to be buy in.
So I think that's one that's really important. I think two just if there's a lot of services that havethe same name or, the same similar looking logos, you want to make sure that you differentiateyourself because a lot of markets are really oversaturated. So you have to make sure that youstand out in a positive way.
So that means polished. That means clarity.
So those are two things that come to mind, but Sean, what would you add to that list?
Sean: You know, I, I, I have a little bit of a, like an alternative perspective. I totally agree witheverything you said, but I also think about things from like the business owner seat. And I'm like,what are the practical things that might come up in my business that would be like, rebrandtime. I don't think that's a decision you should ever take lightly, by the way, because I do believein generating brand equity over time and making sure that you don't simply change for the sakeof change.
I think there needs to be reason and impetus for that. And you definitely do not want to do it toomany times, that's for sure. But, if you find yourself in one of these scenarios, I would sayconsider it. Or at least have the conversation internally and maybe bring in an outside partner togive you some advice.
But if you're going through a big growing up moment, if you are If your business has grown a lotin the last few years, if you have you know, grown by two, three, four, five times and yourprevious brand just simply can't keep up you can probably notice that, by the way, based off ofhow your internal team is feeling about it and or how the market is reacting to it.
I would encourage you to seek out feedback. And, If people feel like your product is outweighingyour brand, that's probably a good sign that you should probably level up your branding tomatch your service offering. The second thing that comes to mind is if you are having a reallyhard time creating alignment internally.
We have a lot of clients who come to us and say, Well, we developed our brand a long time ago.It's relatively strong but everybody, every department, every employee here just does their ownthing with it. That can mean one of two potential recommendations. One would just be simply tocreate clarity with your existing brand and to make sure that there are checks and balances inplace, proper brand guidelines making sure that everything runs through the right funnels or arebrand can actually be a really great way for you to create some more continuity in your, inyour business.
So if you're struggling with internal kind of people running free or if you're leveling up as abusiness or another option would be if you're completely changing your service offering or ifyou're integrating something completely new that hasn't been a part of your service offering todate.
There's a lot of different reasons why, but those are a few of the ones that come up. The mostoften for us in terms of why somebody might actually think about rebranding. And if you're inone of those situations, I would encourage you to potentially think think about whether or notthat's something that you'd be interested in doing.
It's definitely and I feel this because I just went through it. I have a lot of empathy for how muchwork goes into it because it's one thing for me to. Know how to do it and and also sell it to ourclients and understand the value and measure the value. And it's a completely another thing forme to sit in the quote unquote client seat and have to go through it for myself.
Have to see different variations of a brand and respond and fine tune and... You know whittle itdown to something that's focused and use language that resonates and, you know, go throughthe whole kit and caboodle. And also put my money where my mouth is and actually spendthose dollars. It, it gives me such an appreciation for the money that our clients spend ondeveloping a great brand.
And it also gives me a, such a clear look at the fact that spending that money... Provides youimmediate value. I mean just in the initial launch of of this brand Of just even the kind of like prelaunch of showing people it is Immediate they're like, whoa, you really are taking things to thenext level.
We should have a conversation and That's just the pre launch, right? So imagine the thepotential impact for your brand if you were to consider that I'm not saying it's for everybody But ifyou are in one of those situations we talked about, it can make a big, big difference. As it has forus.
Delaney: Definitely. I think that even ties in what you had said too, and what we're really allabout, which is that creative side, but also that strategic side. Those things have to go hand inhand in order for... you to be successful.
Seav: Yeah, definitely. And I guess to kind of round out the overall recommendation of if youare considering a rebrand, here's just a couple of things that ladder up to the top for me. I wouldreally encourage you to Keep a detailed record of all of the work that's done through the processof the rebrand.
You're going to go through a lot of different variations. You're going to go through a lot ofdifferent words. You're going to go through just a lot of versions of different things through arebrand. And you want to keep all those things on hand. And you also don't want to delete allthe stuff that you've done.
Historically either it's always a good idea for you to keep those things on hand and that'ssomething that our team is pretty diligent about just because if we ever need to go back, wealways have access to, to things and because it's a fluid process really. It's not just a one anddone situation.
It definitely takes, takes time and sometimes you need to go backwards because it's just notlanding the further and further you go. The other thing is. Work with a good trademark attorney.Make sure that you have a really great contact in that regard. and also make sure that yourname is protectable.
That's something that I really wanted to prioritize. I knew that as we moved into this next phase,that was something that we really needed to prioritize and I would encourage you to, to do thattoo. And then I guess the, the third thing that I would really consider is Don't underestimate howlong it's going to take
Unless you're working with a team of professionals who do this for a living I mean we were ableto probably turn around this brand in probably about a quarter.
We started this process about three months ago and We're professionals. So imagine how longthat might take for an internal team of people who are used to simply just doing marketing Butnow they're having to rebrand something entirely Consider that it's going to take a little whileeven if you're working with a professional team three months is no joke We had to really cram itin there like we do for our clients pretty often but and we did a lot probably more than wetypically would do and
That is something that just takes time. So don't underestimate that, that time component.
Delaney: Yeah, I love that. Sean, I have a question for you before we wrap up. What are youmost excited about for this rebrand for Mallard?
Sean: I think that it really captures what we do in a really clear way, going back to what you saidat the very beginning. I'm not saying that the name itself, like... Mallard Agency doesn'tnecessarily tell you exactly what we do, but everything that surrounds it has been purposefullyassembled to create clarity for how we can add value for people.
And I am so incredibly compelled that that value does not just lie on the client side, but that itlies internally, too. Our business is a special place to spend every day. And I feel like, Our newbrand really represents that if you were in the process of building out a brand new office andconstruction takes a while, but it's on its way and one of my favorite things that I actually justreviewed earlier today that our designer had worked on were our core values posters and Ireally just love the way that the brand is seeping into everything that we do and definingeverything that we do, including our internal culture.
So I'm excited to see how that takes shape and yeah. Hopefully it takes us to new heights.
Delaney: Awesome.
Sean: Well Delaney I'm super excited to have you on the team. That's an, I'm like, actually very,very excited to have you on the team. You're a great right hand woman to have in our cornerand you've already added so much value.
I mean that truthfully, those aren't empty words. And actually right before this, Mike was tellingme how great you were. So I'm excited to see you continue to bring Mallard to life becausethat's one of your core responsibilities. So if it's not showing up in the world, it's Delaney's fault,not mine.
Delaney: Blame me
Sean: Delaney, tell me some of the ways that people can get involved with Mallard and whereshould they even look if they're interested in learning more about this, what this rerun evenlooks like.
Delaney: Well, you absolutely need to check it out because it is incredible you can check out ourwebsite, Mallard Agency, follow us on social media, LinkedIn, and of course the podcast itself.We're just constantly wanting to not only post the work that we do, but add value to y'all whofollow us, and to help y'all have successful marketing and business endeavors as well.
Sean: Definitely. And if you, anybody really wants a hat or a sweet t shirt we have some reallycool merch that just dropped. Is that what the kids say these days?
Delaney: Yeah, just about.
Sean: Thank you for that. We're excited about this and we hope that it welcomes you along forthe ride too. Our hope is that this adds value for you and adds clarity.
If you ever are interested in working with Mallard we're so excited and we hope you are too.We'll talk to everybody soon.
