Behind the Scenes: Our ReBranding

Just off the heels of our own rebrand, we would maybe ask you to reconsider your own rebrand.

Just kidding! Though we will be honest: It is not a task for the faint of heart. Completing a brand overhaul is a ton of work and requires your entire business, and its employees, to be on the same page.

(spark), formerly known as JUMP!, found ourselves in this predicament only a few months ago. We withstood the test of a rebrand, and I’ve survived to tell the tale.

In order to better align with our overall agency group and partner studios, it was time for our studio to find its new identity. One of the hardest part for our team was to settle on a name. It needed to be something that evoked our values and mission, while matching the formula that was used to name our partner studios.

After countless meetings, a few arguments, hours of research, domain name searches, we had something. A “Spark!” if you will.

From that point forward, we would be known as (spark).

Once the name we decided, we moved on to the look and feel of the brand behind the name. Our designers created brand guidelines that would be implemented across our website, print collateral, digital and social presence.

Along with the look, we had to establish a brand voice and tone. We wanted our brand voice to sound professional, but innovative. Flexible, yet forged in process. This guided all copywriting efforts to include website and social copy.

There’s a part of a rebranding process where you finally see all the meetings, hallway conversations and design concepts finally come to life! This happened for the (spark) team when we began designing our new website. We had a digital presence and a place for potential clients to learn more about us.

And we didn’t stop with a website overhaul. If we’re making a digital presence, we wanted to do it across the entire internet We also updated and unified all social platforms with our voice and brand-centric creative.

Not without our struggles or hiccups, we successfully launched a new brand for Leap Group. This brand aligned with the overall messaging of Leap Group, it matched not only in name, but purpose to its sister studios.

As a survivor of a rebrand, I would like to leave you with some tips for if your brand is thinking of undergoing a rebrand.

1. Be patient. Try to keep your cool and remember that these are important decisions that will take time to make.
2. Always, always, always keep your audience in mind. Your brand needs to speak to your potential customers at all times from all channels.
3. Check for available domains. This helped determine our new name! You may have a great new name, but you might have to get creative when choosing from available domain name options.
4. Don’t skimp on PR. Create buzz around your new brands launch, so you don’t fall flat in the market.
5. Get everyone on board and excited. Your employees are your brand’s biggest advocates. Make sure they are aligned with the new mission and ready promote the new brand.

And, of course, if you have any questions, reach out! It’s not easy, but a rebrand is worth every hardship for the sake of your group.