6 B2B Rebranding Examples That Illustrate Its Potential
The B2B rebrands that actually move the needle have one thing in common: they're not primarily about aesthetics. They're about clarity. A business that suddenly becomes clearer about who it's for, what it specifically does better than competitors, and why that matters — will find that the right rebrand almost markets itself.
At Huddle, we've delivered B2B rebrands across professional services, technology, property, and finance. The pattern is consistent: the clients who get the most from the process are the ones who are willing to be honest about what wasn't working before.
Here are six examples — two from our own portfolio, four from companies who did it publicly and well — that illustrate what B2B rebranding can achieve when it's done right.
The potential of a B2B rebrand
The potential of a B2B rebrand is truly immense, both in terms of what it can do for a business, and the new opportunities it can open up. As more than just a new logo, by taking the time to think carefully about the potential of your brand experience, your brand positioning, and your wider visual identity, companies have the opportunity to truly create something special.
In fact, 77% of B2B marketing leaders say branding is critical to growth, and even back in 2020, 84% of marketers attested to brand awareness becoming their top business objective. For B2B companies, fresh new branding has the potential to open up new customer segments, innovate products and services to provide better customer value, and ultimately drive brand equity.
There's an important caveat, though: a rebrand without a new strategy is just redecorating. The B2B companies that get the most from rebranding are those that have genuinely changed something about their position — their focus, their audience, their service model — and are using the rebrand to communicate that change. When a rebrand just updates the visual layer without changing the substance underneath, it rarely produces lasting commercial results.
How do I rebrand a B2B business?
A strong new visual identity is an important part of any B2B rebranding effort. It encompasses all of the visual elements that represent your brand — from logos and fonts to colours and imagery. It's essential to ensure consistency so that customers and prospects maintain brand familiarity across all platforms.
However, a new brand identity is not the only aspect of a true rebranding strategy. A great rebranding process will hit all touchpoints — ensuring that your brand promise, core values, and brand messaging are all well-defined and reflected in everything.
Ultimately, a successful rebrand should be focused on delivering value to businesses through an improved brand experience. Grab a free Blandscape™ scorecard and get some input from the experts.
6 B2B rebranding examples that illustrate its potential
Slack
In Slack's 2019 rebrand, the B2B communication software company released their new logos, before releasing this statement: 'Over the next few months, you'll see all the other visuals around Slack aligning around this new direction... It's still us. We're still Slack. But more consistent and, we hope, more instantly recognizable.' As we've noted in our Guide To Brand Management, this cross-platform consistency is exactly what makes a great B2B rebranding example.
The comprehensive and consistent rebrand resulted in some backlash, but as the company had solid reasoning for their rebrand and a strong brand strategy to back that up, it eventually paid off. Now we're all used to the new Slack, and we can't imagine it without the new, fresh identity.
Future Platforms (Huddle case study)
Advanced electronics and technology company Future Platforms approached Huddle's branding experts when they were in need of a visual identity refresh. Neither their brand identity nor their website was reflective of their core values and vibrant product quality, and they needed their credibility and position as industry leaders to shine through.
With a new brand identity much more aligned with their business expertise and establishment in the industry, a redesigned logo and reimagined colour palette, followed by a UX and UI overhaul of the website, Future Platforms were ready to take their business to the next level. Since launching the brand refresh, the company has received nothing but positive feedback from clients — a win-win in our eyes.
Dropbox
Dropbox and Collins: Dropbox rebrand (Copyright © Dropbox, 2017)
In 2017, Dropbox unveiled a complete rebrand in conjunction with design studio Collins, offering the most drastic change to the company's visual identity in its decade-long history. The rebrand featured a shift in typography to Sharp Grotesk, vibrant illustration collaborations and edgy portraits, and a cleaner, simpler logo icon. Dropbox used their rebrand to highlight that they were more than just a file-storing solution, repositioning their value proposition to their target audience.
LD Communications (Huddle case study)
Leading events sector PR and communications agency LD Communications works with some of the most well-known household names and brands. However, their old website was not reflecting the professional authority and experience they desired to portray.
Huddle's branding experts developed a customised website design that better embodied LD Communications' premium positioning, integrating icons into its layout and reworking the UX and UI to emphasise premium quality — all within a swift timeline so that it could be live in 6 weeks.
The specific challenge with LD Communications was that their reputation in the events industry significantly exceeded their visible brand presence. Agency and brand clients who already knew them were confident in the partnership; new clients encountering them for the first time were less so. The rebrand closed that gap. The new website now functions as a credential — it conveys the same level of professionalism that LD Communications delivers in practice. A crisp, authoritative presence that immediately establishes why their clients choose them.
Zendesk
When tech giant Zendesk rebranded in 2017, they unveiled a modern design that needed to capture the brand's innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. Working with branding agency Collins, they developed a new logo with an updated colour palette, font choice, and style of illustration.
Zendesk's rebranding efforts paid off, as their new logo and imagery quickly resonated with audiences. Their press release included a friendly nod to the previous logo, showcasing commitment to long-term users. The updated colour palette and font choice added dynamism and professionalism, while the illustration style demonstrated their commitment to innovation.
tech giant Zendesk rebranded in 2017, they unveiled a modern design that was eye-catching, needing to capture the brand’s innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. Working with branding agency Collins, they developed a new logo that featured an updated colour palette, font choice and style of illustration.
"The new version of Zendesk has more colours, individual product identities, and a super sweet logomark. We’ve also expanded the conversations we have to focus more on human relationships, not just software. Lastly, we have retired the lotus flower and the Mentor, who is now living out his days, fat and happy, in an old mascot retirement home."
Zendesk's rebranding efforts paid off, as their new logo and imagery quickly resonated with audiences. While they changed their primary icon, incorporating modern elements to create a design that was both recognizable and refreshed, their press release featured a friendly nod to the previous logo, showcasing Zendesk's commitment to its long-term users.
The updated colour palette and font choice added a sense of dynamism and professionalism, while the choice of illustration demonstrated Zendesk's commitment to innovation. By delivering a rebrand experience that was both relatable and modern, Zendesk were able to successfully connect and engage with current and potential customers alike.
VibeIQ
VibeIQ is a revolutionary American tech company that helps brands rapidly launch their products with user-friendly apps and an extendable cloud platform. Huddle delivered a modern brand makeover — providing a new logo, style guidelines, visual assets, and an updated WordPress website.
The new colour palette and modern font choices captured VibeIQ's mission of establishing meaningful customer relationships — timeless, modern, and progressive. The brand refresh delivered exactly that.
Closing thoughts
Whether you're launching a product or service from scratch, modernising an existing one, or simply refreshing your brand identity, the key is staying true to your values — and being specific enough about what you do and who you're for that the rebrand actually changes something in the market.
Huddle's services provide bespoke solutions that ensure your rebranding project is tailored to your needs and objectives. Contact us today for a consultation and let's get started on transforming your brand.
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