Agency guides / Branding & rebranding
Find a branding agency.
Make the right change.
Find a partner for the brand you need to become. Whether you are launching, repositioning or bringing an established identity up to date, start with the challenge and build a shortlist around your project.
Find the right agency for your projectMultiple-choice questions. Relevant agency suggestions. Clear reasons and comparisons, with a creative brief to take into the conversation.
01 / Find your starting point
What needs to change?
A branding agency helps an organisation decide how it should be understood and turn that direction into a recognisable identity. Depending on the brief, that can mean research, positioning, naming, messaging, visual identity and the tools to use the brand consistently.
The useful starting point is the difficulty you are facing. Buyers may misunderstand the offer. Your identity may have stopped reflecting the business. A collection of products may feel like separate companies. Each problem calls for a different combination of skills.
Choose the situation closest to yours below, then use the finder to work through the audience, ambition and delivery needs.
You are launching something new.
Look for a team that can establish a clear proposition before developing the name and identity. Make the first launch tangible: which website pages, sales materials or packaging must be ready, and who will produce them?
The business has outgrown its brand.
A rebranding brief should explain what has changed in the business or its audience. Ask for an assessment of the recognition worth keeping, alongside the positioning, language and design that need to move forward.
People do not understand your value.
Prioritise research, positioning and messaging. If a technical product makes sense to engineers but loses commercial buyers, the agency needs to make the value clear without removing the substance that makes it credible.
Your brands no longer fit together.
Acquisitions, new services and expanding product ranges can create a confusing portfolio. Look for brand architecture experience: deciding what belongs together, what needs distinction and how names and identities express those relationships.
02 / Define the work
A useful scope goes beyond a logo.
You do not need every service. You do need to know which decisions the agency will make and what your team will receive.
Research & positioning
Audience and competitor understanding, the proposition and the reasons to believe it. Ask what the research will resolve and how the findings will influence the creative work.
Naming & messaging
A name where needed, a clear story, message priorities and a usable tone of voice. Establish who handles name screening, specialist clearance and language checks, and what those services include.
Visual identity
The logo, typography, colour, imagery and layout principles, demonstrated in the places your brand actually appears. Request examples at real sizes, from a mobile screen to a presentation or pack.
Implementation & handover
Finished assets, templates, guidance and training. Distinguish a website design concept from a built website, and a packaging mock-up from production-ready artwork. Assign responsibility for each.
If your positioning and identity already work, a content, campaign or website specialist may be the better starting point. The finder covers those disciplines too.
03 / Relevant experience
Different strengths.
Different reasons to shortlist.
These examples show how to connect an agency’s published work or services to a project need. Your own shortlist should follow your requirements.
Phable
Phable’s published services focus on technology businesses, including SaaS, AI and cloud infrastructure, and connect positioning with messaging and content. Consider it when the central challenge is explaining a complex product clearly across brand and marketing.
Ask how the team will build product understanding, and which identity, website and content outputs are included in your scope.
Explore Phable’s services ↗Pentagram
Pentagram’s Mastercard case study describes an identity that retained the familiar intersecting circles while developing a system suited to digital use. It is relevant to a brief that needs visible change without abandoning established recognition.
Ask how the proposed team would identify the assets your audiences recognise and test the identity across your priority applications.
Read the Mastercard case study ↗Landor
Landor documents a simplified LeShuttle name, a new visual identity and brand voice, applied across communications and the travel experience. The example is useful when the name, story and customer-facing materials all need to move together.
Ask who owns implementation across each channel, including physical environments and materials produced by other suppliers.
Read the LeShuttle case study ↗Start with your project.
A well-known case study establishes a contribution to that project. Your appointment still depends on the team, scope, budget and timing available for yours. Use the finder to develop a more relevant set of options, then compare the evidence and questions for each agency.
Build your agency shortlistSources reviewed 17 October 2026. Service descriptions and project credits above link to the agencies’ own publications. The connections to potential briefs are our editorial assessment; fees and availability require confirmation.
04 / Make a confident approach
Give each agency the same problem.
Explain why the project matters now, who needs to respond differently and what must be ready at launch. Include the budget range, decision-makers and any dependencies. Ask each agency to explain its approach against those same requirements, so differences in proposals become useful rather than confusing.
Look for a convincing connection between the problem, the work proposed and the people delivering it. A polished portfolio is a starting point; meeting the proposed team and examining a relevant project will tell you more about the working relationship.
Our branding agency buyer’s guide takes you through references, proposal comparisons and the questions to settle before appointing a partner. You can also explore agency guides by industry.
Before you begin
Questions about finding a branding agency.
Do I need a brand refresh or a full rebrand?
A refresh usually develops an existing identity while retaining its central direction. A fuller rebrand may reconsider positioning, naming, messaging and design. Describe the business problem first and ask agencies to justify the extent of change. A new appearance alone will not resolve an unclear proposition.
Should I choose a specialist or a full-service agency?
Choose around the capabilities your project needs. A specialist can be appropriate for a defined challenge such as naming or visual identity. A broader team can help when strategy, identity and implementation need close coordination. In either case, establish what is delivered in-house, what involves partners and who is accountable.
How much should I budget for a branding agency?
Build the budget around the scope. Research across several markets, a new name and a full rollout involve different work from an identity refresh. Ask for fees by phase and identify excluded production, licences, website development and ongoing support. Share a realistic range early so agencies can propose a workable approach.
Does the agency need experience in my industry?
Industry knowledge can help with unfamiliar products, audiences and buying processes. Also examine the problem the agency solved: simplifying a complicated offer, introducing a new category or coordinating a large portfolio. Ask the team to explain how its experience applies to your situation.
Can the finder help if I do not have a brief?
Yes. The questions help you work through your goals, audience, scope and delivery needs. You receive agency suggestions with reasons and source links, can compare up to three agencies, and can download a creative brief for the next conversation.
Your next step
Find the team for
what comes next.
Turn your project needs into a focused agency shortlist. Understand the reasons, compare your options and approach the right teams with a clearer brief.
Find the right agency for your project