Customers rarely leave because they dislike a new logo. They leave because they search for the old name and can’t find you, ring a number that no longer works, or get an invoice from a business they don’t recognise and assume it’s a scam.
So a rebrand is mostly a logistics job. The design work is the fun part. The rollout is where the risk sits, and it deserves its own plan with dates and owners.
The order matters more than the speed
You don’t need to change everything on one day. You do need to change things in an order that never leaves a customer stranded between two identities. This is the sequence we use.
Stage 1: Before anything is public (4 to 8 weeks out)
Lock down the legal and technical basics first, because they take the longest and they’re the hardest to undo.
- If the name is changing, register the new business name and check it isn’t already a trade mark in your industry. A quick search on IP Australia’s trade mark pages before you print anything is cheap insurance.
- Buy the new domain, and keep the old one. Never let the old domain lapse. Someone else will buy it, and every old link, business card and email signature will point to them.
- Get final logo files in every format you’ll need: full colour, one colour, reversed (white), and versions for screen and print.
- Write a one-paragraph explanation of the change. You’ll reuse it everywhere, so get it right once.
- Do the touchpoint inventory below and put a name and a date next to every line.
Stage 2: Launch week
This is the week the public-facing items switch over. Do them close together so customers see one consistent story.
- Website goes live with the new branding. If the domain or page addresses change, set up 301 redirects from every old URL to its new equivalent. Google’s guidance on moving a site with URL changes recommends keeping those redirects for at least a year. We keep them indefinitely. Our article on 301 redirects when you rebuild walks through the mapping.
- Google Business Profile name, logo and cover photo updated. The name has to match what you actually use on your signage and stationery, per Google’s guidelines for representing your business. A name change can trigger re-verification, so do it early in the week, not the day before a long weekend.
- Social profile pictures, cover images, bios and handles updated on the same day.
- Email signatures for everyone changed.
- The announcement goes out (more on wording below).
Stage 3: The following one to three months
Physical items take longer, cost more and can usually wait a little, as long as there’s a plan.
- Signage, vehicle wraps and uniforms, scheduled with suppliers in advance.
- Printed stationery reordered as old stock runs out. Don’t bin a box of 5,000 brochures in week one unless they’re actively wrong.
- Directory listings, supplier accounts and industry association profiles updated.
- A check of Google search results for the old name, to see what still shows the old branding.
The touchpoint checklist
Every business is different, but this list catches most of what gets forgotten. Go through it with someone who answers the phone and someone who does the books. They’ll know about touchpoints the owner never sees.
Online
- Website: header, footer, favicon, contact page, about page, social share images
- Website forms, automatic replies and order confirmation emails
- Google Business Profile, Apple Business Connect and Bing Places
- Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok (name, handle, profile image, cover, bio, pinned post)
- Online directories, review sites and industry association listings
- Online booking or quoting systems and their emails
- Email newsletter platform: sender name, template, footer
- Email signatures for every staff member, including on phones
Money and admin
- Invoices and quote templates in your accounting software
- Bank account name, if it’s changing, and the name customers see on transfers
- Payment terminals and receipts
- Terms and conditions, privacy policy and contracts
- Supplier and trade accounts
Physical
- Shopfront and building signage
- Vehicle signage and trailer signage
- Uniforms, caps and hi-vis
- Business cards, letterhead, brochures, flyers, menus
- Stickers, packaging, swing tags, labels
- Site signs and banners
People
- Phone greeting and voicemail message
- What staff say when they answer the phone
- A short internal briefing, so nobody tells a customer “oh, we’re not sure why they changed it”
Once the rollout is done, keeping all of this aligned becomes a habit rather than a project. We cover the systems for that in keeping your brand consistent across web, socials and print.
How to tell your customers
Tell them before they notice, tell them what’s not changing, and keep it short. People care about three things: is it still you, does my booking or account still work, and do I need to do anything.
A short email for a name change might read like this (the business names are examples):
Subject: Same team, new name
Hi Sarah,
From 1 March, Smith Plumbing Services is becoming Coastline Plumbing. Same owners, same team, same phone number.
Your existing bookings and warranties carry over as they are. You don’t need to do anything. Invoices from 1 March will show the new name, and our website is moving to coastlineplumbing.com.au (the old address will keep working).
If you have any questions, just reply to this email.
Thanks,
Dave
And a social post for a visual refresh where the name stays:
New look, same crew. We’ve refreshed our logo and colours, so you’ll start seeing the new vans around Ballina and Lennox over the next few weeks. Still the same number, still the same people turning up on time.
Notice what’s missing: no paragraphs about “our evolution” or “reflecting who we’ve become”. Customers don’t need the backstory. If there’s a real reason that matters to them (you’ve merged with another business, added a service, moved premises), say it in one sentence.
Who to tell personally
Some customers deserve a phone call rather than a bulk email: your biggest accounts, anyone with an open job or long contract, and referral partners who send you work. A two-minute call stops them wondering whether you’ve been sold.
The bit that trips people up: the old name in search
For months, possibly years, some people will still search for your old name. That’s normal and fine, as long as they land on you.
Keep the old name visible somewhere sensible, such as a line on your about page that says “formerly Smith Plumbing Services”. That helps searchers, and it helps Google connect the two names. Keep the old domain redirecting. Update the listings you control and ask the bigger directories to update theirs.
Check in at three months and again at six. Search the old name, the new name and your phone number, and fix anything still showing the old branding.
Your next step
Before you sign off a new logo, build the rollout calendar. If the list above runs to more than a page for your business (and it usually does), that’s a sign to plan the rollout as carefully as the design.
When we take on a rebrand or refresh, the rollout plan is part of the job, and we handle the website switchover too. If you’re weighing one up, it’s worth a chat before the signage is ordered, so get in touch while the calendar is still blank.