The Evolution of a Branding Agency's Brand

We may be branding specialists, but that doesn’t mean that we got our brand exactly right on day one. In fact, our brand has changed a lot throughout the years. But we’re glad that the brand we created in 2010 doesn’t match our company today. It means that we’ve grown. And as we’ve evolved, so has our brand. 

To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we’re taking a look at how our company has changed - and why our brand needed to change with it. We’ll also take a deep dive into what you can learn about branding from our own evolution. Are you ready for this?

Logo

As you can see, our logo has gone through quite the transformation. There hasn’t been an owl in sight since 2012, and our fonts have changed dramatically. But you will notice that our colors have remained consistent, and so has our name. 

Why we made these changes

Believe it or not, we weren’t always a full service creative agency. HDco began as an Etsy shop that created custom wedding invitations. We’ve been a design company from day one, but our business model has completely changed. And as our offerings evolved, so did our logo. The original logo had a “solo-preneaur” vibe, and we eventually needed a refined model that looked a little more professional. 

Key takeaways 

• Make changes, but not so drastic that your company becomes unrecognizable. 

• When it comes to changing your name, be cautious. Yes, we dropped the owl, but we kept the “Hoot Design Company.” If our name had been “Wedding Invitation Specialists,” we would have reevaluated that once we stopped, well, specializing in wedding invitations. But because our name still fits our company today, we kept it. We recommend staying true to your name when possible. When you change your name, you lose all of the equity you built with it, and you run the risk of confusing your customers. Altering your visuals reduces that risk.

Social Media Content

These three posts show that a rebrand does not always mean that you are creating an entirely new identity. Typically, a rebrand is a series of tweaks to a brand that’s already in place. These social media graphics have similar (or the same!) messaging - what’s really changed is the aesthetic. You can see that the fonts, logos and colors are different, but the idea behind each post is not. 

Why we made these changes 

When we gave our brand a face lift, we used the new and improved brand standards in each and every post. We kept our overall messaging the same, but updated the look. Consistency is key! 

Key takeaways 

• Whenever you update your brand, use your new look in everything that you do. It may have been tempting to repost the same “Be the type of person you want to meet” graphic that we had already made. However, because it was in our old brand, we were adamant about updating the graphic. Posting content in your old brand cheapens the new one and confuses customers.

• Changing your brand doesn’t mean that you have to drastically change your strategy or your company’s voice. Rebrands can be a series of small changes that add up to big improvements. 

Holiday Posts

We love the holidays, so we’ve posted a holiday graphic every year since we started using Instagram. But no two graphics are the same - they all have very different looks and feels, depending on what our brand looked like at the time. But you will notice that, no matter what, each holiday post is branded. 

Why we made these changes 

Our holiday posts changed  because our brand changed. In 2015 we were targeting solo-preneuers, so we shared kooky content to appeal to them, which is where the Santa emoji came in. But as we grew we started targeting bigger businesses, and we switched our content to attract a more sophisticated clientele. That’s why we cooled it with the Santa emojis post-2015. 

Key takeaways 

• Your brand doesn’t change for the holidays. Notice that our Christmas posts never once featured green. Why? Because green is not part of our brand. All holiday posts should stay true to your brand standards, no exception. 

• It is okay to change your brand’s voice. We mentioned before that it’s not always necessary to change your brand’s voice, but sometimes, it is! It’s okay to tweak how you speak to customers as your customers change. That’s why we stopped posting ultra-kooky content when we started targeting bigger businesses. 

Website Content

Blogging is one of the best things you can do for your website - and for your business. We’ve known this for years, so we have plenty of blog content on our website. But if you pay close attention, you’ll notice that our blogs have gone through quite the evolution. 

Naturally, our graphics changed along with our brand. When we were targeting solo-preneurs, we used quirkier graphics - like an emoji girl holding the poop emoji in her hand. What! Now that we’re going after bigger businesses, we use more sophisticated graphics with professional photography. 

Our content has also changed. We cuss less in our copy, and while we still use our distinct voice, it’s less in-your-face than it was in our emoji-heavy days. We also cut out the GIFs - a staple in our old blog posts. While most of our old blogs are still on the site (Why the Psychology of Color is Bullshit is actually our most popular post) we did take down a few that no longer fit our brand (Sloths Explain How to Win at Clients, we’re looking at you). 

Why we made these changes

We changed our blog content to reflect what HDco is today: a professional, full-service agency with both a growing team and client list. We now want to appeal to companies, not just solo-preneurs, so we altered our content strategy to reflect this. 

Key takeaways 

• Content is important, no matter what your brand is. Be sure that the content you produce matches your current brand voice.

• Don’t be afraid to tweak your old content if it doesn’t reflect your current brand at all. We keep old content live if it drives traffic to the site, and edit the copy as needed. However, if it no longer serves a purpose, we’re comfortable deleting it. 

All this is to say…

We changed our brand because our clients changed, thus changing our business. We’ve evolved from a one-woman Etsy shop to a marketing team of account managers, designers, writers, strategists and digital specialists. We no longer work exclusively with individuals, but with entire teams. Our bread and butter isn’t brides or solo-preneurs, but established companies across the country. We rebranded HDco to reflect where we’re at currently, and where we see ourselves going. 

Does your company’s brand reflect where it is today and where you want it to go? If not, let us know. We’d love to work with you to rebrand your business.