How do we get employees behind the new brand?

Employees support a new brand when they can see their experience, values and ambitions reflected in its purpose, brand narrative and identity. Speak to employees and stakeholders before choosing the new brand, especially people across functions, locations and seniority levels. Their input can reveal what people genuinely value, what needs to change and which parts of the existing culture are worth protecting.

A clear purpose gives the new identity something more meaningful than a new logo to rally around. Stakeholder workshops and research can uncover the human impact, pride and responsibility already present in the organisation, then turn those ideas into messaging people can recognise as true. In complex businesses, that sense of recognition helps employees make sense of change and explain the brand with confidence.

A new corporate brand identity becomes human when employees can see themselves in it and use it across the moments that matter. The work around a new identity should extend beyond visual design to include positioning, a brand narrative, verbal identity, guidelines, templates, launch content, digital touchpoints and internal communications.

People-led imagery, authentic stories and language that sounds like the organisation can make a visual identity system feel less like a rulebook and more like a shared expression. Give teams practical examples for presentations, customer conversations, recruitment and everyday content. Where a portfolio includes several businesses or sub-brands, the rollout also needs clarity on how each identity connects to the masterbrand. The goal is simple: employees should know what the brand stands for, how to bring it to life and why it matters.

A bolder rebrand can win employee support when the creative idea is rooted in a clear insight about the organisation and its audiences. Bold does not mean throwing out the rulebook or choosing a visual identity that employees cannot recognise. It means making a decisive choice about what the business stands for, then expressing that choice with confidence and empathy.

A coordinated brand launch matters too. Give employees their first experience of the new brand at the same time, with clear leadership communication and materials that help them take part. Measure whether the rebrand was worth it by setting a baseline before launch and tracking changes in employee understanding and commitment alongside awareness, consideration, credibility, relevance and preference in the market. New assets are an output. Adoption and changed perception are the stronger tests.

We believe employees get behind a new brand when they help shape its meaning and can see how it works in the real world. A provider should be able to connect stakeholder research, purpose, positioning, verbal and visual identity, launch planning and practical rollout support. We have done that for First Names Group, where employee and stakeholder interviews informed a people-first identity and employees were brought into a coordinated launch. For Price Forbes, we combined market research, stakeholder workshops, strategy, identity, guidelines, templates, launch content and a website. For Everywhen, stakeholder research and creative workshops helped create a unifying identity designed to give employees a brand they could stand behind with pride.