Rebranding is a smart way to stay relevant with your customers, especially in crowded markets with strong competitors. However, it comes with a price tag. While the cost of rebranding can feel daunting, it’s ultimately an investment in long-term brand equity and business growth.
From strengthening customer loyalty to opening new market opportunities, the returns often outweigh the upfront expenses. Still, without the right tools, rebrands risk becoming inefficient and unnecessarily expensive. A digital asset management (DAM) platform helps streamline the process by centralizing assets, reducing duplicate work, and ensuring every team stays aligned.
This guide dives into the estimated costs, components, and factors that affect a rebrand and how to maximize your ROI.
What are the components of rebranding, and how much do they cost?
1. Brand strategy and research
Foundational research and developing a brand strategy are non-negotiable for a rebrand. It’s the best way to understand market gaps and customer preferences. Use internal stakeholder interviews, audience segmentation (including focus groups), competitor analysis, and brand audits as research methods.
The cost for research and brand strategy can vary greatly depending on the scope and how you do the work. For example, keeping it in-house is more cost-effective than using an external marketing or branding agency. Another primary cost driver is the scope and depth of your research. If you have a lot of interviewees along with detailed segmentation and competitor mapping, it can add to the time and cost.
2. Visual identity and design costs
A visual identity with cohesive core design elements creates a shared foundation for all marketing, product, and customer-facing work. Without a coherent new look, you risk brand confusion and misaligned perceptions.
The most common graphic design elements in a rebrand include logo, typography, color palette, iconography, and even UI systems. Breadth and fidelity (or adaptability) can affect the cost of your visual identity and creating a new design, especially if physical packaging and signage are involved.
3. Brand guidelines and documentation
Brand guidelines ensure every team member and partner knows exactly how to apply your brand’s new visual and verbal identity. Without clear, accessible documentation, even the best executed rebrand will erode over time, leading to inconsistent applications, wasted resources, and reduced brand recognition.
To make a rebrand stick, guidelines need to be scalable, governable, and easy to update. Avoid using static PDFs hidden on a shared drive. PDFs quickly become outdated and are hard to enforce. A living, digital platform keeps guidelines centralized, searchable, and adaptable, which can reduce downstream costs by preventing misapplications and rework.
Cost depends on the format and functionality of your guidelines, as well as the scale of rollout.
4. Marketing and communication materials
Marketing and communication materials are the most visible proof points of a rebrand. They’re where your updated strategy, visual identity, and brand messaging meet your audiences. Skipping or underfunding this step risks a brand launch that feels incomplete, inconsistent, or confusing, undermining all the work invested in the rebrand.
A complete rebrand generally requires updating all your marketing collateral and assets, including:
- Website and landing pages
- Social media profiles and templates
- Sales decks and proposals
- Email templates and campaign creative
- Paid media assets (digital ads, print ads, OOH)
- Product packaging and signage
- Event materials (booths, banners, handouts)
(Note: Internal-facing assets like employee brand training decks, onboarding materials, and internal communications templates may also need updating so your team can champion the new brand effectively.)
Keep in mind that regional variations, multi-language campaigns, compliance approvals, vendor coordination, and simultaneous internal and external launches can all multiply costs.
Factors that influence the cost of rebranding
There are a few factors that can affect the overall budget. These often shape when, how, and where costs appear.
Company size and scope
The size and scale of your business impact both the volume and complexity of work required.
- A global enterprise may need brand assets in multiple languages, a website redesign, tailored campaigns, and guidelines for each region, and detailed documentation for dozens of teams.
- A mid-sized regional company might only need a single set of guidelines, a handful of logo variations, and a small website refresh.
- Smaller businesses can move faster with fewer deliverables but may still face high costs if their customer base spans multiple industries or markets.
Internal vs. external resources
Who executes the work can shift costs dramatically.
- An in-house team could handle most design updates, but outsource some specialized elements like motion graphics or packaging materials.
- An external agency can manage the entire process end-to-end, but that often comes with higher project fees due to strategy, creative, and project management overhead.
- Hybrid approaches (e.g., using internal teams for implementation and agencies for strategic direction) can strike a balance between cost and expertise.
Timeline and deadlines
Timelines can be a significant cost driver in rebranding.
- An expedited six-week rollout could require premium fees for expedited design, overtime for internal teams, and last-minute vendor changes.
- A deliberate 6–12 month process allows time for research, testing, and phased rollouts. Slower timelines can reduce rework, errors, and burnout, while often producing a stronger, well-crafted final result.
Technology and tools
The right tools can reduce long-term costs and improve brand consistency.
- Platforms like Frontify centralize guidelines, assets, and templates, eliminating the need for costly one-off design requests. For example, Bosch used Frontify to rebrand at scale, with just four people managing 100k users, giving the brand an ROI of time savings that they can reinvest in other higher-value work.
- Real-time collaboration features cut down on back-and-forth edits and help avoid mistakes that lead to expensive reprints or campaign delays.
Over time, the investment in brand management technology for a rebrand can outweigh the recurring costs of manual, fragmented processes.
What to budget for a brand refresh, reboot, or overhaul
We’ve seen a range of rebrand projects managed within our software and used that knowledge to define three specific types of rebranding, with varying intensity and complexity. The different types are based on rough estimations and do not include the costs of in-house employee salaries.
As you go through the rebranding process of outlining what needs to change, you’ll probably have a good idea of which type of rebranding fits your company best. However, there’s not necessarily a perfect rebranding type for every case. You might settle for a combination of two of the following, or even slightly above or below the edges. Regardless, use this section as a north star to begin with, as you plan your project.
1. Brand refresh
Roughly $50,000 – $100,000, over 3–4 months.
A refresh is the most basic type of rebranding. It’s also the one most people identify with the word “rebranding.” The brand refresh is perfect for businesses with somewhat straightforward needs and includes the following:
- Brand Discovery (Who are we really?)
- Brand Identity (What are we communicating?)
- Website & Digital Media (How does the website look like?)
- Corporate Stationery (What material do we have?)
- Copywriting (What’s the style and tone of text?)
- Photography & Illustrations (What do we look like?)
Discovery, stationery, and identity
The discovery, stationery, and identity are actually somewhat similar in pricing for any size brand doing a refresh. What might be a key differentiator is the magnitude and complexity of your website and/or app. A great website that looks and feels good to use is the core of your brand refresh — by answering these questions, you’ll be able to crystallize the scope of time and budget for the overall initiative.
Another big piece, which is the extension of the core (discovery, stationery, identity), is the illustrations, photography, and copywriting. This is where it’s essential to be your true self, making sure the elements are really in line with your brand core. For some brands, these elements might have different levels of importance — some software, for example, might not use photography to the same extent, and for other brands, added flair in copywriting might not be relevant at all. That’s where you can cut time and costs.
2. Brand reboot
Roughly $100,000 – $250,000, over 5–6 months.
Another type of rebranding, often for somewhat more developed companies with additional complexity, is the brand reboot. A fast-growing company might quickly outgrow its initial brand identity due to the increase in new coworkers and the vision of the company. This type is a great way of changing up your brand to stay top of mind in an ever-changing industry. It’s a rebrand project for the company that might have a few years on its neck but never really updated the brand profile or strategy, and includes the following:
- Website
- Copywriting
- Photography
- Marketing Material
- Audience Research
- Brand Audit
- Brand Identity
- Corporate Stationery
- Brand Strategy
- Naming & Tagline
The biggest differentiator between a brand refresh and a brand reboot is the fact that a reboot includes a lot more research and strategic thinking. Some challenges that can be solved with a proper brand reboot are if you’re:
- Having problems differentiating your company or expressing your USPs.
- Feeling the tear of brand inconsistencies.
Research & strategy
First, you’d have to conduct some internal research to make sure you understand how the brand is perceived by your coworkers. This can be done with one-on-one interviews or a smaller group of people in a workshop, allowing them to have their voices heard.
Apart from this, a reboot also includes more detailed customer research to better understand how your brand is perceived externally. The price of such customer research is down to several different factors:
- How many customers do you have?
- What number of unique customer segments do you have?
- Will you do one-on-one interviews with people, or quantitative surveys?
- How many buyer personas must be developed to get the full picture?
A reboot should also include not only user research but also a brand audit, including both internal and competition audits. This should give you answers to some of these questions:
- How does your brand fit and compare to your competitors?
- What do your competitors do well or poorly?
- What is your brand currently doing great, and not so well?
If you’re already aligned and are winning across the board with all of these things, it’s essential to identify and define those points in order to preserve those components for the new brand iteration. When it comes to the strategic side of this rebranding type, look at the impact it has on psychological matters (what feelings do you transmit, what is your brand personality?). Things like keywording, personality, your USPs, and brand promise are vital to understanding here.
What about the name?
One thing that varies a lot in a reboot, depending on the brand’s status, is whether or not there’ll be a renaming. You have to ask yourself if the current name feels old:
- Did you outgrow it?
- Is it functional in every market as you’re growing?
- Did you have any recent mishaps, leading to bad associations with the name you’re currently using?
Sometimes, you have no choice (business-wise) but to rename it. But it can also be the other way around. If you’ve built a strong trust with your current name, it’s a good idea to keep it. Should you choose to change it, consider your brand identity, who you are, and factor in the competitive landscape. Then sit in brainstorming groups and create suggestions that the whole company can be part of, deciding on a final with a core team defined at a later stage.
3. Brand Overhaul
Roughly $250,000 – $1,000,000+, over 8–10 months.
The largest of the rebranding types, in both complexity and cost, is the Brand Overhaul, best suited for global companies with multifaceted challenges. This often means organizations with enterprise status and worldwide markets. As a result, rebrandings in the Overhaul sense can be very complicated, due to the extent of the organization, and the obvious complication of elements like signage and print in different regions. You will often see a brand overhaul include this:
- Brand Research (Internally)
- Audience Research
- Brand Audit
- Brand Strategy
- Brand Architecture
- Naming & Tagline
- Brand Identity
- Corporate Stationery
- Website
- Copywriting
- Photography & Video
- Marketing Material
- Brand Guidelines
- Brand Rollout
When it comes to a rebranding of this magnitude, you need to do a lot of research. That means serious in-depth audience research spanning your entire clientele. But also, a vast amount of detailed brand research internally through qualitative sit-down interviews, and big questionnaire-type quantitative ones.
Additional rebranding costs often missed
When budgeting for a rebrand, it’s easy to focus only on the visible creative outputs. But there are several hidden or downstream costs that can significantly impact your total spend. Factoring these in upfront ensures you’re not blindsided later in the process.
- Legal: Trademark updates, international filings, and contract revisions can add $5,000 – $50,000+ depending on the markets you operate in.
- Technology: Updating or migrating systems like CMS, DAM, or even your product UI can add $50,000 – $200,000+.
- Change Management & Training: Internal onboarding, ambassador programs, and brand workshops typically cost $10,000 – $50,000+.
- Ongoing Governance: Maintaining your brand through platforms, subscriptions, and ongoing updates should be budgeted at $20,000 – $100,000 annually.
How to budget for a rebrand (plus a checklist!)
Without a marketing budget and plan in place ahead of time, rebranding costs can spiral out of control, and timelines can slip. A well-planned budget keeps you covered for the obvious expenses but also accounts for some of the not-so-obvious costs that come up in the process that can derail ROI.
1. Start with strategy, not design
Your brand strategy and guidelines shape every decision and prevent expensive rework later. Allocate a significant portion of your budget to foundational work before setting budgets for visual identity, marketing campaigns, or rollouts.
2. Map every cost center
Go beyond design fees and campaign budgets. Factor in:
- Legal: Trademark updates, international filings, and contract revisions
- Technology: Website migration, CMS updates, and DAM integration
- Training & enablement: Internal brand training, onboarding materials, and ambassador programs
- Operational changes: New packaging specs, updated signage, and vendor transitions
3. Plan for the rollout phase
Rebrand costs don’t stop at launch, especially if you’re operating in multiple markets or with multiple sub-brands. These situations require ongoing asset updates, content migrations, and brand governance.
4. Build in contingency
Set aside 10–15% of your budget for unexpected needs, including additional creative iterations, regulatory changes, or expanded campaign reach.
5. Use systems to contain costs
Centralized platforms, such as a digital brand hub, help you avoid duplication of effort, reduce rework, and maintain brand consistency at scale. The more complex your rebrand, the greater the ROI from having these systems in place.
Pro tip: Use this Rebrand Budget Checklist to capture every potential cost, so no one is blindsided halfway through the process.
The ROI of rebranding
Increased brand equity
A strong, cohesive brand can command higher prices, attract premium customers, and foster increased loyalty. When Tiffany’s was acquired by LVMH in 2021, the company went through a refresh, aiming to modernize its image but still honoring its legacy. The brand’s refresh reinforced Tiffany’s cultural relevance and exclusivity, while attracting a younger audience.
The company was able to increase demand among premium and luxury buyers, enabling higher prices and solidifying brand loyalty across generations.
Improved market positioning
Rebranding enables brands to differentiate themselves in crowded markets, appeal to new customers, and stay relevant in evolving industries. Consider Old Spice’s rebrand in 2010. With its rebrand, the company adopted a new logo and new advertising that was witty, modern, and more culturally relevant.
After the rebrand, Old Spice’s market share increased from 3% to 6% and sales revenue tripled by 2017. Old Spice successfully attracted a wider range of customers and built long-term loyalty. Younger consumers started identifying with the brand, which further refreshed the company’s image and made it aspirational.
Enhanced team alignment
One of the most significant risks in a rebrand is misalignment, when teams work with outdated assets or siloed tools. Tietoevry avoided this by using Frontify’s brand portal to centralize guidelines, logotypes, templates, and rollout instructions, giving employees and partners one reliable source of truth.
The impact was immediate: engagement “exploded” as the portal replaced SharePoint, with 50+ editors managing content and thousands of employees accessing updated materials. Even global vendors could quickly find assets, reducing bottlenecks and ensuring a consistent rollout across 90 countries.
How the right DAM simplifies the rebranding process
Rebranding costs don’t end at rollout; they compound if teams don’t adopt the new identity. That’s where Frontify comes in: to prevent long-tail inefficiencies.
Centralized brand management
During a rebrand, scattered assets and outdated files can derail campaigns. Frontify gives marketers a single source of truth where every brand-approved asset, template, and guideline lives in one place.
When Bang & Olufsen rebranded, they replaced scattered apps with a unified hub that organized both new and legacy visuals, audio files, and metadata. With centralized access and permissions, teams and external partners could instantly find the right version, cut down on duplication, and keep every touchpoint on-brand. Frontify turned what could have been a messy transition into a streamlined, flexible rollout.
Live brand guidelines
Static PDFs can quickly become outdated during a rebrand when assets and rules evolve daily as decisions are made. Frontify replaces PDFs with live, interactive guidelines that update in real time and are instantly accessible to anyone who needs them.
When Borussia Dortmund launched its refreshed identity, a core team of 35 used Frontify to share updates, gather feedback, and manage rollout across dozens of external partners. With controlled access and ready-to-download assets, everyone from designers to vendors worked from the same playbook, eliminating delays and reducing the risk of outdated or misused materials.
Collaborative workflows
Rebrands demand close coordination between internal teams and external agencies — something traditional folder systems can’t deliver. Frontify streamlines collaboration with role-based permissions, approval workflows, and real-time feedback, so everyone stays aligned without bottlenecks.
When Kia reinvented its brand identity, Frontify gave employees and partners a shared space to access assets, exchange feedback, and shape campaigns together. Instead of scattered tools and siloed processes, Kia’s teams and agencies worked in sync, boosting ownership and connection to the new brand.
Scalable solutions for growing brands
As companies expand, managing multiple brands or regions often leads to fragmented processes and inconsistent execution. Frontify scales alongside growth by giving global teams a shared home for guidelines and assets that adapts to complex brand architectures.
During its global rebrand, Kuehne+Nagel replaced scattered intranet folders with Frontify, enabling over 35,000 employees across 100+ countries to access consistent brand materials. With one platform that supports multi-brand and multi-region needs, they achieved alignment worldwide, turning a once fragmented ecosystem into a unified, scalable brand system.
The future of rebranding
The future of rebranding is shaped by AI, sustainability, and smarter brand governance. With Frontify’s AI-powered Brand Assistant, teams can easily stay on brand in real time—whether they’re designers or not. By combining innovation with accessibility, Frontify helps brands evolve confidently and consistently.
Ready to see how? Book a demo and discover how Frontify equips teams with tools to execute a successful rebrand with confidence.
