The fine art of sharing branding concepts with your team

Going through a rebrand is always exciting for our clients and sometimes it’s hard to contain that excitement. Folks often want to immediately share with all their friends and family. However, the decision to share “in progress” work shouldn’t be taken lightly. It requires careful consideration and planning, as sharing too soon or without intention can derail the process. 

When considering questions like “Can I share this with my entire staff?” or “Should I show this to my cousin who works in branding?” We often answer, “It depends.” 

Before hitting the “send” button or sharing an invitation to view the work, pause and ask yourself these four key questions:

1. What is the purpose of sharing the branding work? Consider why you are sharing this work. Are you looking for a fresh perspective that your current working group or team might overlook? Is it for fun, buy-in, or are you looking for specific feedback from this person? If so, what is it? 
2. Who are you sharing work with? Pause to check the equity implications of asking specific folks for their feedback. Are you just asking people with positional power (senior leadership or board members) or access to financial resources (board members or funders)?  Is there anyone else you can or should include at this stage?
3. Is now the right time to share? Think about whether now is the best time for sharing those new logos or possible names. Will the person or audience group benefit from seeing the work now, or would it be wiser to wait for another round of drafts before sharing? 
4. What is the plan for addressing feedback? Assess the potential outcomes of sharing the work. Are you prepared to incorporate their feedback, even if it is different from your own or your working group? How much weight should you put on this person’s opinion? Additionally, are there any other stakeholders that should be informed before sharing with this particular individual or group? 

Ideally, before you even start your rebrand, we encourage you to plan out your stakeholder engagement process so that you don’t feel tempted to share without a good plan in place. 

Here are some important tips to consider as you plan: 

• Work on your calendar: Identify good moments for stakeholders to contribute their feedback. Consider when in the process you might provide updates and when you might ask for feedback or approval.
• Map out your stakeholders: Clearly outline all of your stakeholders. Many projects benefit from forming a working group at the beginning of your project to act as your built-in feedback and decision-making group. Aside from the working group, take some time to list out everyone who should be involved or stay informed about the project. 
• Determine stakeholder engagement and roles:  Clarify how you’d like each stakeholder group to engage with your project and when their involvement would be most valuable. Should they be involved from the beginning or is their input more valuable towards the end of the project? If you aren’t sure, you can always ask your stakeholders and align on expectations. There are many models you can draw from like DARCI or RACI to help you organize this information, check out this helpful resource about the MOCHA model from The Management Center for additional guidance. 
• Communications channels: Consider the most appropriate communications approach for each of these groups. Can you leverage existing meetings or share periodic email or Slack updates for example, or do special meetings need to be scheduled? 
• Setting expectations: Lay out your goals for sharing with your stakeholders, the type of feedback you are looking for, and how it will be used. Making sure you are clear with your communication will help you get the feedback you need.

By strategically mapping out your feedback process, you can head into your branding journey with confidence, knowing that you have a clear plan in place and that your stakeholders are fully informed about what lies ahead in the journey.