Given the transformations in consumption habits and the accelerated digitization over the past five years, the business world needed to adapt to new marketing rules. Branding was one of the areas most impacted, especially with the growing demand for authenticity, contemporary aesthetics, and real connections with the audience. According to a survey by the agency Topham Guerin, 74% of global companies have undergone some type of rebranding since 2020, mainly motivated by changes in positioning, mergers, or visual repositioning in the digital environment.
To avoid losing relevance or space in the market, companies have been investing in rebranding strategies that go beyond the visual; they seek to translate purpose, behavior, and brand experience. “Rebranding has evolved from being an aesthetic issue to becoming a business decision. Today, brands that do not revisit their identity and purpose run the risk of losing connection with the audience,” says Pedro Assis, CEO of Walks Brand.
To contextualize the necessary actions, Assis, founder of Walks Brand, an agency specialized in branding for e-commerce and retail, points out the main mistakes that, when reassessed, can transform the identity of your brand and generate genuine connection with today’s consumer.
1. Ignoring the ESG agenda
The transparency of social and ecological actions has become one of the main requirements for choosing a brand. If your company does not have a social role or acts in bad faith with the public, it is necessary to reconfigure your strategy. By aligning your brand with the social or environmental causes of the ESG agenda, a stronger, especially sentimental connection is established with your customer, attracting their trust and respect.
2. Cluttered Visuals
Visual pollution is in need of urgent rebranding. With the new market demand, customers desire simple, modern, and clear communication, so a visual change is necessary. Minimalism has now taken over and is going beyond just aesthetics. Many brands are leaving behind their old logos and adopting a strategy that translates maturity, clear positioning, and a more fluid and memorable visual experience.
3. Very institutional language
A brand with overly institutional communication, distant from the language of content creators and new digital narratives, raises a red flag. Today’s consumer connects with companies that have a voice, a face, and an opinion, and influencers are the most powerful shortcut to this closeness. A good rebranding understands this logic and repositions the brand to be relevant, engaging, and present in the right conversations, with the right people.
“We are living in the era of the creator economy, so brands that do not adapt to the language of influencers lose direct connection with their audience. Rebranding needs to go beyond aesthetics: it is mandatory to reposition the company as an active voice in the cultural conversations that shape consumption today,” explains Pedro Assis, CEO of Walks.
4. Lack of storytelling
Companies that struggle with engagement face a dilemma of figuring out if the product is not interesting or if the way it is communicated is lacking. Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to start a rebranding because it creates a narrative capable of touching the audience’s emotions and generating true connection. In a market saturated with generic messages, brands that evoke feelings become memorable and, more than that, create lasting bonds with their consumers.
5. The “energy” of the brand is low – internally and externally
A strong brand inspires both its employees and its customers. If there is demotivation or lack of clarity about the brand’s direction internally, and externally engagement is low, comments are neutral or negative, and the overall perception is of stagnation, the “vital energy” of your brand is compromised. A rebranding can reignite internal passion and regain market enthusiasm.
