The Post Brand Boomerang

You thought the rebrand was the fix. Untangling a hairball of brands into one shiny brand.

And to be fair – it was a necessary move.

The old brand didn’t reflect who the company had become. The regional mishmash needed unifying. The CEO wanted something that looked ready for prime time.

So you reached for the big agency.

The one with the pitch deck, the proven process, the creative swagger, the big name client roster. You didn’t need just a logo. You needed a leap forward.

And for a moment, it worked.

New brand. New energy. New confidence.

But now, eight months later…that feeling is long gone.

The boomerang hits

You’re back in the weeds.

Back firefighting the barrage of requests.

Back hearing complaints from Sales about lead quality.

Back struggling to get connect Marketing activity to business outcomes.

The follow-up campaigns don’t have as much oomph as the first one.

You’re looking for help solving your lead gen problems. (Because naturally, your targets have grown – the company has a rebrand to pay for, after all.)

And while the agency is trying, there’s actually another issue at play here.

A familiar pattern

I’ve seen this scenario unfold more times than I can count. Heck I’VE been the Marketing leader in this position.

• A company hits a growth spurt and decides it’s time to rebrand.
• A big, national agency is RFP’d in to make it happen.
• The launch looks and feels incredible.
• Post-launch leadgen falters.
• Marketing starts looking for other options.

So six months, maybe a year later, Marketing retreats from the big agency to a patchwork of freelancers and maybe a local agency (usually a different one this time).

Some bring design in-house.

It’s not the agency’s fault.

And it’s definitely not yours.

It’s just that Marketing needed something more foundational. And no one told you that.

What you really need to renew momentum

It’s not that the rebrand was the wrong move. It’s that it wasn’t the only move.

I’m advising a client now on the part that was left behind during their big rebrand. We revisited the foundation the department is built on, took stock of what still needed to be done (I use a People, Plan, Processes model), and created an action plan to get her house in order.

• Are you clear on what scaled marketing looks like?
• Are your campaigns carrying on at a launch-level investment?
• Are you ready to measure impact not just output?
• Does the current structure allow you to execute repeatably?
• Have you built a growth engine? (Or are you just polishing the hood?)

And yes, she’ll be “circling back” to determine whether the agency is still the right partner.

But this time, she is the steady hand.

Now when she throws the boomerang, it’s with intention.

It comes back in her control.

Because all these years as a Marketing leader – here’s what I’ve learned:

If you don’t lay the foundation during the rebrand, you’ll have to come back and do it later, under pressure.