Rebranding as a Strategic Reset: How B2B brands can change more than just their logo

  A rebrand isn’t always the answer. For B2B companies, it may even feel counterintuitive — after all, trust and credibility are built over years or decades. However, when rebranding is executed with clear intent and strong leadership, it can do more than change your appearance; it can reset perceptions, unify your teams, and unlock transformative growth.

In this article, we’ll explore why, when, and how B2B brands should rebrand — and just as importantly, when they shouldn’t.

Why should a B2B brand rebrand?

1. Strategic Reset

Markets evolve, and so must brands. A rebrand can mark a new chapter — whether it's a merger, a new vertical, digital transformation, or a response to disruptive competitors.

It signals internally and externally that a business isn’t just adapting but leading. For example, when Andersen Consulting became Accenture, the new name and positioning reflected their pivot away from an accounting legacy into a technology-and-consulting powerhouse.

2. Relevance and Differentiation

Maybe your offer has matured, but your brand image hasn’t kept pace.

In B2B, especially, companies can end up looking and sounding the same. Rebranding can help you clarify your value proposition, sharpen your visual and verbal identity, and carve out a unique position in crowded markets.

3. Alignment and Focus

As businesses grow, their portfolios and teams often outpace the brand’s ability to explain the sum of its parts.

A rebrand is an opportunity to revisit your positioning and align everyone — sales, marketing, delivery — around a unified promise. This renewed internal clarity fuels external growth.

Key considerations before rebranding

1. Know your brand DNA

Not everything should change. Your brand is more than a logo — it’s your values, promise, history, and what customers genuinely believe about you (“brand truth”).

Audit your DNA:

• What do clients, partners, and employees associate with your brand?

• Which values and strengths are non-negotiable?

• What baggage or misperceptions are holding you back?

2. Understand your brand equity

A brand’s equity is hard-earned. Whether it’s a trusted name, a recognisable colour palette, or a unique tone, you should carefully weigh the value of what you might lose against the benefit of what you hope to gain.

Completely abandoning equity — without a compelling reason — can break the relationship you’ve built with clients over the years.

3. Evolving your culture, not just your image

The most successful rebrands start on the inside. Employees are brand ambassadors; if the rebrand doesn’t resonate with or empower them, your investment is wasted.

Involve staff early through workshops, Q&As, and honest conversations about what the new brand means for them, their roles, and the company's future.

4. Clarify your positioning

Rebranding is a chance to refocus: Who do you serve, what unique value do you deliver, and why should anyone care?

A strong positioning statement drives everything from bids and proposals to website copy and sales decks. Refined positioning ensures marketing is focused, and that everyone is telling the same story.

5. Decide: refresh or reinvent?

Not all rebrands are alike. Some are minor — updating the typeface and modernising without changing the core. Others are wholesale: new name, new logo, new culture, new direction. Map your needs on this sliding scale:

a) Brand refresh: A “lick of paint.” Ideal when the brand is strong but its look or feel appears outdated.

b) Brand evolution: Adjusting messaging, tagline, or visual identity to reflect expanded capability.

c) Total rebrand: Usually prompted by a merger, acquisition, major pivot, or to escape persistent negative associations.

When not to rebrand

Rebranding is as much about discipline as it is creativity.

You should not rebrand if:

• You’re just bored of your branding or want to “keep up with trends.”

• There’s no external pressure or clear opportunity — no shift in market, product, or strategy.

• The underlying issues are cultural, product, or service-related — a new logo won’t fix these.

• Leadership isn’t aligned. A rebrand fragmented by internal disagreement will always miss the mark.

• You haven’t fully explored whether marketing campaigns, better storytelling, or an updated value proposition alone could do the job.

Doing a rebrand just for the vanity of it can waste time, confuse your audiences, and dilute your hard-earned equity.

Pitfalls and “what not to do”

• Don’t underestimate the power of your current brand relationships; alienating loyal clients can have consequences.

• Don’t shortcut research. Failure to include stakeholder input — clients, employees, industry partners — can cause major disconnects.

• Don’t treat the rebrand as a design exercise. Visuals matter, but without substance and strategic clarity, they’re just window dressing.

• Don’t go silent. Keep communication open — with staff, clients, and partners —at every step.

• Don’t forget the practicalities: contracts, legal, digital assets, signage, templates, and more must be transitioned smoothly.
  

Managing the change process

• Plan the rollout: Consider piloting the brand internally before a public reveal. Prepare toolkits for teams to answer, “Why did we change?” confidently.

• Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce: Update every touchpoint — website, proposals, presentations, social media, email signatures, and office space.

• Monitor and adjust: After launch, measure sentiment (both internally and externally) and be prepared to adjust tactics as you learn.

A recent rebrand for Gryd Energy with a rollout across both print and digital.

B2B rebrands that delivered

1. Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting):

A change born from necessity, not vanity: After splitting from Arthur Andersen, Andersen Consulting needed a new name and identity. The “Accenture” brand — chosen to signal “accent on the future” — allowed the firm to reposition itself as a technology-first consultancy, fuelling tremendous growth.

2. Slack (from Tiny Speck):

What started as a game studio pivoted toward one of the world’s leading business communications platforms. The new name, focus, and brand voice were crafted to stand out in a staid B2B landscape — and to align with the collaborative culture it hoped to nurture.

3. GSK (GlaxoSmithKline’s 2022 rebrand):

Following the spinoff of its consumer healthcare business, GSK refreshed its brand to focus squarely on innovation in pharmaceuticals and vaccines. New visuals, brand purpose, and messaging helped reposition GSK to investors, employees, and partners.

4. AB InBev’s shift towards “purpose-driven”

As a B2B supplier and partner, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s rebranding efforts (including its emphasis on smart drinking and sustainability) helped strengthen business relationships, attract top talent, and cement industry leadership far beyond the label.

5. Deloitte Digital:

Deloitte’s launch of the “Deloitte Digital” sub-brand enabled it to reposition itself as a go-to partner for digital transformation, attracting new types of clients and projects, and achieving rapid expansion.

Conclusion

The strategic power of a true rebrand

A B2B rebrand isn’t a quick fix nor a facelift. It’s a chance to reset direction, rally people, and compete at a higher level — when the time is right, and the strategy is clear. The greatest risk isn’t changing too much but changing for the wrong reasons or without engaging those who matter most.

Before you even consider a new logo or tagline, be sure you know:

• Who you are at your core (brand DNA)

• What’s truly at stake (brand equity & relationships)

• Where you want to go (positioning & focus)

• How you’ll bring your people on the journey (culture & change)

Ask tough questions, engage deeply, and, if you do rebrand, do so in a way that’s unmistakably and authentically you. That’s how rebranding becomes a platform for sustained B2B success — not just another marketing exercise.