Developing a new brand isn’t a walk in the park. There are so many things to establish before you even think about what it should look like. The most obvious question is why are you rebranding? In our case, we split paths with our OPM division and needed a new name and new identity. So where did we start? Below is an overview of our Thruline creation in 7 steps…and when I say “in 7 steps”, trust me when I tell you there were thousands of baby steps, front steps, back steps, side steps, leaps and more between these.

1. Defining our audience. Since we’ve been around for almost 30 years, our audience was already defined. However, as we worked through the process, we needed to consider our mission and vision as well.

2. Developing the bones of our brand. The bones, the foundation and architecture of our brand, consists of several elements including: name (yes we needed a new name we could trademark), mission, vision, values, personality and voice and tone. Naming was its own distinct project, but we took the time to get it right. We established and trademarked a name that reflected our new brand and culture. Mission and vision were pretty straight-forward, it was finding the right words to express what we do in a simple way that was the challenge. Values, personality and voice and tone are sort of married together. From the beginning of this process, we knew what kind of company we were and what we would continue to be. We work hard and we play hard. We are professional, yet playful. Our goal was to make sure our brand would reflect ‘sophisticated fun’.

3. Researching our competition. This is a critical step in developing a new brand. We researched how our competitors were marketing themselves so we could differentiate ourselves. We also conducted research with internal audiences (employees and clients) that was critical in defining our differentiators and unique personality. After defining our audience, conducting our research, and developing the bones of our brand, our creative juices kicked in.

4. Letting the creative people do their “thang”: In a nutshell, we processed all of the information from the steps above, had a snack, played a mindless game, doodled some logo sketches, drank a RedBull, drew word webs and came back with concepts for the visual identity. From there, we discussed the initial ideas, dissected them and threw them away or developed them further. After several rounds of this, we moved forward with a logo…and then we threw it away.

5. We threw away our final logo. When we were at the point where logos were being designed, there was a committee that decided on the “final” logo. The creative team immediately started working on marketing materials, plastering the new logo all over the place in preparation for our upcoming launch. But as these materials were being developed, it hit us. No one liked it, including the designers that created it. We weren’t excited about it. So we started over.

6. Starting over. Something was missing. The feeling of excitement, the pride in our company, the passion for what we do – none of this was reflected in our final concept. The creative team took another stab at it. We turned up our headphones, went for a walk, drank more RedBull, sketched more ideas, socialized with coworkers… and then it happened. The BRAND was created.

7. The real final product. What’s often mistaken about a rebrand is that the final product is the logo. While that’s definitely a part of it, the final product is the ENTIRE brand. Our company is professional and playful, which is reflected in our logo, our website, our marketing materials and our internal environment. It’s the feeling we have when we come to work everyday and the pride we have when we tell others about our new brand. It permeates everything we do and signifies our brand promise. All of these things came together to create our cohesive brand.

I’ve been through several rebrands in the past 14 years and have experienced both good and bad reactions. Never have I seen so much excitement and enthusiasm around a new brand launch both internally and externally. That’s when I knew Thruline Marketing was a huge success, regardless of how many steps it took to get there.

Laura Menninger, Creative Director