Tips from how we built the Magic Little Giants brand
Whether your brand has grown very quickly, pivoted or needs evolution, a re-brand plays a role in the majority of successfully business. It can be a significant period of change, but it can also be a subtle shift in modernisation or a time to regroup and reassess. The key to avoid disruption and ensure a smooth upgrade is the process. Not just a marketing activity, it’s a full business buy-in where cutting even one corner can make or break are brand success. Anyone remember when there was an attempt to rebrand Sonic the Hedgehog? Missed the step of customer feedback and promptly found themselves publicly reversing all their prior decisions. Taking learnings from our own process, here are our tips for your rebrand.
1 – The Vision. Does the vision work?
The Magic Little Giants rebrand started before we really knew we needed it, and that’s important to register. What was the driver of this rebrand? For us, the pandemic shifted budgets away from marketing consultancy and larger revenue strategy projects. In fact, the travel & leisure industry had no budgets, so we looked at options to help these brands continue to grow with a cost-beneficial and risk-free product to enable marketing activity to continue as the UK opened again.
This led to more products fully focused on supporting the industry thrive – being the gateway to growth.
2 – External mediation
We’ve all had ideas we have thought were game-changing and turn out to be underwhelming. Or we rush decisions because it feels pertinent in that moment. So, get an outside party to support you build your vision and values together. We used Brand Vista and spent hours on zoom with what felt like millions of virtual post-its. They guided us and helped us to make decisions.
3 – External feedback and research
Competitor analysis and market research with known senior business contacts. Ensuring there was a place in the market for us and that there was demand for what we were offering. So much more than validation, this insight helps to shape future activity, business development and decision-making.
4 – Identity. Does it need to change?
This is an important step and isn’t always necessary. For us, we needed a new name and visual footprint. The reason was that we weren’t a marketing consultancy anymore. Sure, we have it as a service, and do it really well, but our vision and offering were so much more. We had become a full-service marketing agency for the most fun industry to work in. Our identity needed to reflect this.
So we spend forever deciding on a name. Many more virtual post-it notes, many hours of discussion, many names we loved until we realised someone else had it. Many names we loved on the day and then woke up to be less than inspired. We had outside help to guide us and eventually we settled on Magic Little Giants.
5 – The design
Much more than a logo and colour palette. The visual identity reflects culture, offering and mindset. There are also a lot of assets to change in a rebrand. For us, when changing the course of offering, simply re-colouring and swapping out a logo wasn’t going to work. We designed digital-first, based on the leading platform to be seen by customers and clients, our website. Our web partners led the design and visualisation to create a web platform which fully allows the showcase of our breadth of offering. This design was then reflected onto our client decks, promotional assets and internal communications.
6 – The communication plan
You can call it a launch, but your launch is a long, slow journey, not a quick hit. It takes time and planning, and a project manager, to manage the migration of a new brand. Allow for at least three months from confirmation through to live and living. Once you are immersed in your new look, the growth continues, and communication goes on and on. For us, that is our annual marketing plan outlining the steps we need to take to grow.
We are now Magic Little Giants, a marketing agency supporting the industry we adore. The biggest outcome and learning from our rebrand process is that it was a positive experience through every step. The guided and diligent process ensured no decision felt rash and we have built a brand with plenty of opportunity for success.
