A brand refresh costs $1,200 if all you need is a cleaner version of the mark, and $6,000 or more if the name and the story need work too. The more of the brand that is out of date, the higher the price.
What does each piece cost?
A brand covers the name, the colors and type, the way you sound in an email, the website, and the Google listing people see first. A refresh fixes the pieces that drifted. Here is what each one costs with me:
- Logo tune-up, $1,200. Same mark, cleaned up. New files, fixed spacing, a version that holds up small on a phone.
- Refreshed identity, from $2,500. The mark plus colors, type, and a one-page guide so the sign shop and the web person get it right.
- Naming and full brand, from $6,000. A new or adjusted name, the identity, and the voice: how you describe what you do in one sentence, and the words you stop using.
- Website fix, $1,500 to $3,000. The site you have, brought up to the new brand, faster and readable on a phone.
- New website, from $6,000. When the old site cannot carry the new brand.
- Google Business Profile set up right, $600. The listing most customers see before the website.
Anything over $3,000 can be paid by the month while the work runs, no interest.
Which pieces do I pay for first?
The ones customers see most. For a local business that is usually the Google listing and the website, ahead of the mark. For a company that sells to other companies it is usually the voice: the sentence on the home page and the first paragraph of the proposal.
If you are still deciding whether to refresh or start over, refresh or start over has the three questions that settle it. If the mark is the only question, what a logo costs covers it on its own.
What does a big refresh look like?
Go East was an agency with about 50 staff. I renamed it Thread and rebranded it. A rename is the biggest version of this job, because the identity and the voice both hang off the name.
What makes a refresh cost more?
- Too many decision-makers. Five people approving the color adds weeks. Name one person who decides.
- Printed stock. Signs, trucks, and uniforms cost more to replace than the design does. Plan the rollout before you pick the change.
- Skipping the voice. A new look on old words reads like the same company in a new shirt.
When should I not refresh?
When customers recognize you and the business has not changed. That recognition took years to build. If sales are down for some other reason, a new identity will not fix it. Tell me what is going on, on the start form or the branding page, and I will tell you whether branding is the problem.
Answered by Jared Lukes, Minneapolis. Twenty-five years in brand, UX, and technology, currently holding fractional AI and technology seats at three companies. About Jared.