Why people resist rebrands (and how to win them over)
Why customers resist a rebrand, even one that improves things, and how to prepare them before launch: say why you’re changing and what it means for them.
Jon Founder, Cultmethod Rebranding 2 min read
People resist rebrands because change takes time to get used to, even when it’s change for the better. That’s why a new logo is rarely love at first sight. The fix isn’t polling customers. It’s preparing them: explain why you’re changing, what it means for them (usually nothing), and build anticipation before launch.
You’re excited.
The rebranding project you’ve been working on for the past quarter is finally about to be rolled out to the public.
With great anticipation you hit ‘Publish’ on the post announcing the change on your company blog.
The notifications start to roll in.
Wait— what’s this? They were supposed to like it!
Why do people hate rebrands?
Mostly because change takes time to get used to, and because people see the new look before they hear the reason for it.
People love to hate. That’s why many highly publicized rebrands are subject to ridicule and mean-spirited criticism.
When Slack unveiled a new logo by Pentagram in January 2019, the internet piled on. Within hours, people had turned it into a swastika and compared it to rude body parts.1
At the time, Slack was the trendy tech team’s chat app, trying to win large enterprise customers (Salesforce bought it two years later). So they enlisted a world-renowned brand agency to create a visual identity that could appeal to those customers.
Basically, it was a start-up that was ready to grow up.
Problem: as soon as they rolled out the new identity, many of their existing customers said they hated it.
Most of them reacted before they’d read a word about why Slack had changed it, or what Slack’s goals were.
For most people, change takes time to get used to—even when it’s actually change for the better.
That’s why a logotype is very seldom love at first sight.
It’s also why I advise against outsourcing big decisions to other people (whether they be family, employees, or customers).
If you’re wondering what you should base your decisions on instead of customer feedback, the answer is this: strategy and vision.
Rebranding requires courage and leadership.
How do you get customers to accept a rebrand?
But it also requires change management.
Prepare them before launch: explain why the change is needed, what it means for them, and build anticipation, so they hear the reasoning before they see the logo.
Rather than just roll out the new identity without forewarning, Slack should have pre-empted the criticism by preparing its customers for it well in advance.
Slack should have explained to their customers why the changes were necessary as well as how the changes will affect their relationship to the company (most likely, not at all).
They should have hyped the coming changes on social media to drive more attention to their explanations and increase understanding and buy-in among their customers.
That’s how you get your customers invested in the success of your company.
That’s what set Steve Jobs apart: he shared his vision and strategy with the world, so people knew why Apple was changing before it changed.
Don’t leave people guessing.
