Rebranding agency

What we do

A rebrand is a fundamental renewal of a brand: its positioning, its identity and sometimes its name. It is needed when the business has changed more than the brand has. At IW Agency, one integrated team carries the work from start to finish. It begins with the strategy that decides what should change and ends when the new brand reaches customers and employees.

Brand repositioning and strategy

Strategy decides what the brand will stand for after the change, and what stays. You get a positioning and a brand platform. After a merger or spin-off, you may also need a new brand architecture that shows how parent company, subsidiaries and offers relate. The strategy becomes the yardstick for every later decision on name and expression.

Naming and company name change

A new name is needed when the old one describes something the business no longer is. We develop names that carry the positioning and work in every language and market you operate in. A name that sounds right in Swedish also has to hold in English, German or Finnish. You get a name with a story the organisation can stand behind.

New visual identity

The identity translates strategy into logo, typography, colour, imagery and motion. Everything is gathered in a brand system with guidelines, so the brand holds across channels and countries. We start from the distinctive brand assets that already carry recognition, so the rebrand keeps what people know. Our wider identity work is described on the page about IW as a design agency.

Launch and internal rollout

A rebrand becomes real only when it appears everywhere at once. We plan the order of every touchpoint, from website and digital services to signage and communication. We also write the story that explains the change, first to the organisation and then to the outside world.

Selected work

These three cases show why brands change direction: a spin-off, a new strategy and a loss of relevance.

Epical: a new brand from a spin-off

Enfo demerged part of its organisation to form a new data consultancy. The new business needed its own brand from day one, independent of its parent. We created Epical and delivered the strategy, name, brand system and digital experience. One team held the whole chain, from what the company would stand for to how it meets customers online.

Nordic Nest: from generic e-commerce to a premium experience

Designonline.com was a generic online shopping platform. The ambition was a premium brand experience, and that took more than a new look. The result was Nordic Nest, a 360° concept with a new name, a new identity and new communication. Here a new strategy led all the way to a company name change.

Svenska kyrkan: one brand for 1,200 parishes

More than 1,200 local parishes each spoke in their own way. The Church of Sweden risked losing its cultural relevance. We developed the strategy, brand system and guidelines for the whole of Svenska kyrkan. What was delivered is one system that applies across the entire church, locally and nationally.

More renewals, from FMCG to real estate and education, are among our published cases.

How we work

A rebrand with us follows six steps. The order matters, because each step builds on decisions made in the one before.

1. Diagnosis. We review what has changed in the business, how the brand is perceived today and which assets people already recognise. This is where rebrand versus refresh is decided. Sometimes a refresh is enough, and then we say so.

2. Strategy and positioning. We define what the brand stands for and for whom. Leadership makes the decision here, before anyone discusses logos.

3. Naming. If the name is to change, we develop alternatives and test them against the positioning, the languages and the markets. If the name stays, we move straight on.

4. Identity and system. We give the strategy visual and verbal form and test it in real applications. Guidelines keep it consistent in every channel and market.

5. Internal rollout. Employees should understand the change before customers see it. We develop the story and the tools that make that possible.

6. Launch. We plan which touchpoints change first and how the change is communicated. Then we follow up that the brand is used as intended.

Why IW

IW Agency has worked with brands since 1992, first under the name Identity Works. In May 2025 we changed our own name. Same company, new name. What we do for clients, we have also done for ourselves, and the story of how Identity Works became IW Agency describes how it went.

We are about 50 people across Strategy, Design, Comms, Digital and Innovation. That is why strategy, naming, identity and launch can sit in one team, as they did with Epical. Rebranding is part of our work as a brand agency.

From our office in Stockholm we work with clients across Sweden, the Nordics and internationally. They include FMCG brands such as Ballerina, public and non-profit organisations such as Svenska kyrkan, and the property company Jernhusen.

Frequently asked questions

Do we need a rebrand or a brand refresh?

You need a rebrand when the brand describes a business that no longer exists. Typical triggers are a merger or spin-off, a new strategy, or an identity that has grown tied to one part of the business. At Hazelight, the earlier identity was too closely tied to a single game title. A brand refresh is enough when the positioning holds but the expression has aged. The early warning signs of lost relevance help you tell which situation you are in.

How do we keep the recognition we already have?

Map which assets are well known and unique to your brand, such as a colour, a shape or a sound. Keep them, and renew what has aged around them. The guide to modernising a heritage brand covers that trade-off in more detail.

How much does a rebrand cost?

Four things set the price of a rebrand:

• Scope. A new visual identity costs less than a process that also covers strategy and naming.

• Portfolio. The number of brands that must change.

• Markets. The number of countries and languages the name and identity must work in.

• Rollout. How many touchpoints must change, from digital services to signage and packaging.

How long does a rebrand take?

The same four factors set the timeline, plus how quickly leadership can make decisions. A company name change extends the process, because the name must be tested and legally secured before the identity can be locked. The rollout often takes longest, especially when physical environments must change.

How does a company name change affect visibility in AI assistants?

AI assistants describe a brand from what is written about it online. After a name change, the old and new names need to be clearly linked on your own website and in other sources. The description of the business also needs to be the same everywhere. The guide to how a brand shows up in ChatGPT explains how this works.

Is your brand facing a change?

Tell us what has changed in your business. We will help you decide whether you need a rebrand or a refresh. Email hello@iwagency.com or call +46 8 506 360 00.