Introducing: Elevate Marketing Company's Brand Refresh
It’s hard to believe that Elevate Marketing Co. is celebrating our 4th birthday this year. It seems like just yesterday that we rebranded from Klimb Creative to Elevate Marketing Co, and yet it seems like it’s been so much longer. They say ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ but I think it goes by even faster when you’re launching a new company.
While so much remains the same today as when we first started Elevate, much has also changed. Every year we take some time to look back at all we’ve accomplished over the last twelve months. As I reflect on all that has changed in the last four years, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation for our incredible team and clients. It’s safe to say that Elevate has “grown up”! We’re no longer in our infancy stage as a business and it feels really good!
2021 was likely one of our biggest years of growth. We added a full-timer to our staff (Holly Reed) and added a part-time staff member (Hannah Roslanic). At one point this summer we had five team members! It might not sound like a big accomplishment, but it was to us! Additionally, Victoria Evans moved into more of an account management and business development role. We focused on fine-tuning our roles and responsibilities, which gave us clarity around our day-to-day operations and processes. We invested in our company and team members through hours of training, hiring an accountant, upgrading our laptops, investing in new software to make our jobs easier and our reporting processes better. And that’s just brushing the surface!
Our company is not the same as it was back in 2018. We’re more defined, more focused, more confident and more motivated to help companies grow their businesses. A big change like that deserves recognition. Which is why we are giving ourselves a brand refresh.
What is a brand refresh?
A brand refresh is exactly what it sounds like – refreshing your brand. It differs from a rebrand in the sense that we are not changing major elements of our logo and company name. So, as you can see in our original logo below, we had a mountain icon with our company name below it. In our new logo we're keeping the same element by maintaining a mountain icon and keeping the same brand name. While we're keeping a similar color palette, we're also introducing new accent colors.
Many companies regularly refresh their brands. We see this frequently with healthcare and beauty products that you would find at a drug store. The product remains the same, but the packaging is different. Refreshing a brand keeps your image relevant, fresh and new!
That’s exactly what we’re doing at Elevate Marketing Co. Our packaging and look are a bit different, but at our core, we’re still the same.
What to consider during a brand refresh?
Consider what elements of your brand you want to keep the same, and what elements you want to introduce.
· Icon
· Color palette
· Fonts
· Design
· Logo formats
· Logo versions
· Logo placement
For us, we wanted to maintain a mountain icon, keep a similar color palette, and keep our company name. We wanted to introduce new accent colors for use on our website, marketing materials, and social media content. We also wanted to introduce new fonts. Champagne & Limousines for our heading 1 titles, Buffalo for our accent titles, and Montserrat for our Heading 2 titles and body font.
While I had an idea of what I wanted, I leaned on our graphic designer for guidance with the shades. Our two primary brand colors are navy and teal. Even though the shades are a bit different in our new logo, the colors are still within the same family. It’s not like we went from navy and teal to purple and orange. If we made a drastic change like that, I would consider it a rebrand vs a brand refresh.
Before we got too far in the weeds with the look and the design, we did a quick tally of all the areas we wanted to use our logo – digitally and physically. We created a list of the different formats we would need – like a vertical logo and a horizontal version. We also sent a list to our graphic designer of the various color versions we would need, like a black logo, white logo, and a full-color logo. By preparing a list upfront, we were all on the same page as to what we needed and wanted from our brand refresh.
A fresh look!
We’re very excited about our new brand look! We feel it represents the maturity and sophistication that Elevate Marketing Co has grown into over the years. If you have questions about your brand or are considering a brand refresh, we’d love to assist you!