A Different Name Does Not A New Brand Make (and other thoughts about *that* big corp.)

This past week, Silicon Valley cracked its knuckles, brewed a strong one, and unleashed its best Junior Graphic Designer in a bid to overhaul one of its brightest falling stars: Facebook.

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The true granddaddy of social media (sorry, Myspace), Facebook has been central to some contentious conversations in recent years. And like most people when they discover their granddaddies hold some pretty *interesting* views on life, navigating our way around this as the previously ignorant offspring-users hasn't been easy.

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The destruction of reputation is typically the erosion of trust. It's difficult to say where this stops and starts when the very foundation of a brand (and its culture) has been built on something less than sincere, and grown into an unmanageable authority. But the point is: Facebook has had plenty of opportunities to turn the car around and create meaningful change from its beginnings.

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Instead, now, they've announced their parent company has changed its name: Meta.

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And it won't work.

Brass tacks: what a brand isn't

One of the most significant challenges, when any venture is establishing their brand, is defining what precisely 'brand' means in the first place.

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Bigger companies often associate brand with their mission, vision, and output. It's their biggest product, biggest USP, and biggest customer on invoice. Intertwine the personal aspirations of the leadership team, throw in some *sharp* fonts and an expensive website, and you have a done deal.

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For smaller businesses, a brand might start with the logo and work its way up. It'll do a deep dive into colour psychology, what's achievable in the short- and long-term, and what will gain enough traction to gain enough customers to gain enough longevity.

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Truth is, a strong, recognisable brand is all of these things - and none of these things.

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Just as every brushstroke makes the painting, every element of your business makes the brand. It's your mission and vision, yes. The way you market your products is important, true. But building something real and authentic lies in every ounce of your internal and external reputation.

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The values. The working structure. The product lifecycle. The employee benefits. The development plan. The ESG framework. The clients you'll work with. The clients you won't work with.

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Your brand is as much what you say behind closed doors as it is what you'll print on a billboard in Leicester Square.

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Ignore 'look and feel'

Or at least don't start here. If you've hired a brand specialist who obsesses over the 'look and feel' of your brand without mentioning your overall strategy or narrative, they're a graphic designer.

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A brand narrative (that is, your mission, value proposition, story, messaging and so much more) is foundational to every pillar of your marketing and communications - present and future. It will help inform how you position yourself to stakeholders and potential investors, customers and prospects, the media and the general public.

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Importantly, it provides you with the necessary structure and foundation to support every other strategic direction of your business. And while it isn't a cure-all, a clear brand narrative will anchor you in the good times, and the bad.

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Change is a myth

To give Facebook its credit, the platform will keep its name, and the empire of WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook will huddle together under the umbrella of the Meta-verse.

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But if you managed to follow all of that, you'll know that the issue isn't that the parent company is undergoing a rebrand - it's that 'Facebook' is synonymous with other, not-so-good stuff. And tackling that will require a lot more than a giant wavy, blue 'M'.

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Unless you're a fresh-faced venture whose handful of followers may not notice an overhaul (like, at time of writing, Goldline is) changing your brand drastically will only create inconsistency and confusion at best, and inauthenticity and suspicion at worst.

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There's also a question of when to embark on this venture. For Goldline, five months after its pilot launch probably isn't the best strategy. And for Facebook, five months after its whistleblower went public doesn't feel right either.

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Approaching it as an evolution rather than change, a refresh rather new, will help you determine what aspects of your business' brand need to be assessed, addressed, and adapted. It will also help you communicate that strategically, and in a steadied timeframe.

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Now what?

Ok, your business may not have been accused of the destruction of democracy - but if you have been embroiled in something you'd rather leave behind, or your brand is simply not working, there are ways of addressing this.

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Address it, accept it, move forward.

This rule should steer any refresh - or crisis communications, for that matter. If you're revisiting your brand because of a big, giant whoopsie, don't try to hide it, definitely don't ignore it. Find the careful balance of accountability and progression, and stick to you’re agreed messaging at every phase.

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Oh, and hire a great PR professional.

Don't turn your back on your beginnings.

Reassessing your brand doesn't mean becoming a new company. You'd be surprised at how many brands have been constructed by accident. A name sounds good, the values feel right, it all has a twig of the coincidental, and boom! it's *meant to be*. But gut instinct says a lot, and there's value in keeping those roots at the core of any conversations you're having about a rebrand.

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A good brand should bring together where you've been, where you are, and where you want to go.

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Keep the name, change the outlook.

Regardless of why you've decided on a refresh, evolving your brand doesn't need to involve the name or logo, or any of the core identifiers, for that matter. It might mean taking a critical look at your strategy, and understanding whether it still fits (and assists) the bigger picture. It might mean elevating your content, keeping communications more consistent, or another, simple adjustment.

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Not every issue is catastrophic, and not every need is drastic.

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Take a step away.

Finally, if things are starting to look blurry, you're standing too close. Step back. Change your perspective. Come back to it in the morning, or next week, or next month.

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If things still aren't sitting right in the belly of your business' brand, there might be a different, more brutal reason: your key leadership is too close and stifling creativity, negatively influencing culture, and could be toppling operations. But that's a topic for another time.

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Remember, your business is only as good as your brand, and your brand is only as good as your culture. In other words, your brand and your culture are about as reliant on one another as Zuckerberg is on those grey t-shirts.

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