How to Start a Branding Project in January: Your First Four Weeks

Week one: look and listen

• Run a quick brand audit. Gather everything that carries your brand and put it side by side. Our guide to running a brand audit explains how.
• Talk to people. Ask five customers and three team members what they think of your brand and what they would change.
• Write down the problem. What isn’t working? See signs your business needs a rebrand.

Week two: set the goals

• Decide what success looks like. More enquiries, better prices, easier hiring or a new market. Choose measures.
• Agree what must stay. A name, a colour, a founder story, a product people love.
• Name the decision-makers. Who approves, and when are they available?
• Set a rough budget. See our guides to how much branding costs and planning your brand budget.

Week three: write the brief

Use our one-page checklist for briefing an agency. Include who you are, why now, the goal, your audience, competitors, what stays, what is needed, where it will appear, budget, timing and who decides.

Week four: choose a partner

• Make a shortlist of three. Look at their work, process and people. See how to choose a branding agency in London and agency, freelancer or in-house.
• Share the same brief with each and have a conversation.
• Ask how they work, what they need from you and how they handle feedback.
• Choose the team you trust, not simply the lowest price.

What happens next

A typical project has stages: strategy, naming if needed, identity design, testing, guidelines and rollout. Our guide to how long a branding project takes gives an idea of the timing, and the rebrand process shows the order of work.

A word on timing

Do not worry if the weeks slip. Some people take longer to reply and some decisions need more thought. What matters is that each stage ends with something written down and agreed, so that nothing is left to memory.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Skipping the listening stage
• Writing a brief that prescribes the answer
• Leaving key people out until late
• Rushing to a launch date without testing
• Forgetting the cost of rolling out the new brand

Start with a conversation

If you aren’t sure where to begin, talk to us first. We’ll help you work out what you need, with no obligation. Book a free brand consultation or see our branding agency London page.