How do we build employee buy-in for a brand change?

Employee participation gives a brand refresh the insight needed to reflect how the organisation actually works, rather than only how leadership wants it to be seen. Employee listening should include people at different levels, functions and locations, including frontline teams whose work directly affects the customer experience. Ask what employees see as the organisation's strengths and challenges, what customers need, what makes people proud of their work, and where the existing brand creates friction.

Gathering employee insight is not the same as asking people to approve a finished identity. Bring employees into the research phase, synthesise the themes, and use the findings to set the strategic direction and creative brief. This gives employees a meaningful role in co-creation while ensuring the brand change remains coherent. A brand rooted in employees' genuine experience is more likely to feel credible internally and externally.

Employee buy-in grows when people understand why a brand change is happening, what it will help the organisation achieve, and what it means for their own role. Clear internal branding should explain the rationale for the change as well as the future vision, then give employees practical assets and guidance to apply the new brand in their day-to-day work.

Two-way communication matters because employee voice needs a visible response. A feedback loop should show what employees raised, what changed as a result, and where a proposal could not be adopted. This reduces the risk that consultation becomes a symbolic exercise. Managers also need enough clarity to discuss the change consistently, while teams need a way to raise concerns about implementation. In hybrid and distributed organisations, inclusive communication and regular dialogue help prevent information, belonging and coordination from depending on where someone works.

We believe employee buy-in comes from giving people a genuine place in brand development, then equipping them to make the change real in their work. A provider should be able to reach employees across levels and locations, turn their insight into a clear strategic direction, and create launch materials that help people understand their role in the new brand.

We begin brand projects with research that speaks to employees from the factory floor and customer service desks to senior leadership. For Price Forbes, we involved employees in research during a consolidation rebrand and created materials explaining the approach and their role in the brand's future. For First Names Group, employee and stakeholder interviews informed an identity that used every employee's first name, with a coordinated launch designed to make staff feel part of the change.