When's it time to rebrand? Reflecting upon Wayflyer's journey.

At Wayflyer, our rapid growth journey has been exhilarating and enlightening. From our early days as a startup focused on staying in the game, we've now reached a stage where we can look beyond survival, towards making a significant impact in the world. This shift has led us to a crucial question many startup founders eventually face: when's it the right time to invest in building and possibly rebranding your brand?

Understanding the 'why' behind your brand

The essence of your brand lies in its why. It's crucial to clearly articulate why your brand exists in the first place. A brand's purpose should be easily understood, memorable, and most importantly resonate with your customers. If your customers can't grasp the why of your brand, they'll likely overlook its value and they certainly won’t remember you.

As we engaged with our customers and our own team at Wayflyer, we realized our narrative had drifted from our core why we’re in business to become a repetitive what we offer. This misalignment was a clear indicator that it was time to revisit and revitalize our brand story.

Evaluating the visual identity

A brand's visual identity is more than just colors and logos. It's a visual storyteller for the brand's values and mission. During our review, we acknowledged that our initial visual elements, while functional, lacked depth and distinctiveness. They were placeholders, adequate for our early stage but insufficient for the next stage we were entering.

The realization that our visual identity didn't accurately reflect Wayflyer's ethos was a significant moment. It signaled the need for us to invest in a more intentional and impactful visual representation, one that embodies what Wayflyer stands for.

Wayflyer's new visual identity

Our visual identity (literally) leans into the themes of growth, energy, and partnership. The logo, with its progressive, angled lines forming a dynamic W, shows forward movement and high-potential, encapsulating our commitment to fostering growth in our clients. We’ve complemented this with a stronger color palette centered around our existing (but slightly tweaked) green and giving it a clean black and white background to sit in.

We’ve also chosen to take a stronger stand on photography and to use it as a way to show what we’re passionate about. In our early phase, generic, stock photography was enough to get by on, but we felt now was the right time to invest in setting a creative direction for our photography. This direction is one that celebrates the products of the brands we’re funding and showcases some of the details which we love about them and get us excited. Collectively, the brand's visual elements seek to reinforce our identity as a growth-oriented, reliable, and client-focused business.

Key Takeaways for Startup Founders

1. Assess your brand story: Regularly revisit your brand narrative. Ensure it aligns with your original mission and resonates with your audience.
2. Visual identity matters: Your logo, colors, and design elements should be more than just aesthetically pleasing. They should be an asset to your brand's story and help differentiate you in the market.
3. Growth signals change: As your startup grows, so should your brand. The branding that worked at the launch phase might not be as effective as your company evolves.
4. Consistency is key: Ensure that your brand message and visual identity are consistent across all platforms and touch-points.
5. Invest in brand building: Recognize that building a brand is an investment, not an expense. A strong brand adds significant value to your business by increasing awareness and consideration, helping to reduce the cost of marketing your business.

Wayflyer's journey to rebranding wasn't just about changing logos or tweaking colors. It was about rediscovering our core why, aligning our story with our mission, and ensuring our visual identity authentically represented who we are. For fellow startup founders, remember that your brand is a living entity. It should evolve as you grow, always reflecting the essence of your mission and the value you bring to your customers.