TenTen's insights on brand implementation strategy

Rebranding insights from brand implementation specialists.
With over 100 successful brand launches, we are constantly thinking about perfecting our rebrand practices, brand transformations, and other lessons we share with you here.

THOUGHT

From Buy-in to Build-out: The Implementation Planning Gap

June 6, 2025

Without a comprehensive plan to bridge the gap between leadership approval and on-the-ground execution, organizations risk significant delays, inconsistencies, and lost brand value.

Read more
THOUGHT

The Implementation Gap: Where Most Rebrands Fail

June 5, 2025

Most rebrands fail not in strategy or logo development, but in the critical gap between brand definition and execution. Organizations often invest heavily in creating a brand’s strategy and identity, then discover they have no plan for how that strategy comes to life across every touchpoint.

Read more
implementation, rebranding, branding, planning
THOUGHT

The Five Questions That Predict Brand Implementation Success

February 27, 2025

While organizations invest heavily in brand strategy and design, implementation success often hinges on asking the right questions before creative work begins.

Read more
brand implementation, brand transformation, rebrand, rebranding
Thought
THOUGHT

Understanding rebrand empathy

January 8, 2025

While organizations rightfully invest significant effort in perfecting their brand elements – from strategy and architecture to identity and messaging – successful brand implementation requires equal attention to another critical component: people.

Read more
brand empathy, employee engagement, socialization
Thought
THOUGHT

Brand Implementation: The Often Overlooked Key to M&A Success

November 15, 2024

Effective brand implementation in M&A is a critical value driver that goes far beyond visual identity changes. Companies that treat it as a strategic priority rather than an administrative task can significantly reduce integration costs, accelerate stakeholder adoption, and enhance deal value.

Read more
THOUGHT

Mastering Global Brand Transformations

November 14, 2024
20240919

Eric Holtzclaw interviews Darren Horwitz, founder of TenTen Group, on "The Claw" podcast about global brand transformations.

Read more
THOUGHT

Considerations for Agencies Managing Rebrands

November 11, 2024
20241111

Sharon Toerek hosts Darren Horwitz on the The Innovative Agency as they explore the art and science of successful rebranding. The heart of the discussion centers around Darren’s philosophy of "brand empathy" - a powerful approach that transforms how agencies connect with clients and their audiences.

Read more
THOUGHT

Lessons from 100 Brand Implementation Plans

October 28, 2024

After guiding hundreds of organizations through successful rebrands, we've gained deep insights into what makes these transformations succeed—or struggle. While every organization's journey is unique, we consistently see aspects of brand implementation being overlooked or underestimated.

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

The Critical Role of Rebrand Implementation Experts

October 9, 2024

In the complex world of corporate branding, a crucial yet often overlooked and misunderstood specialty exists - rebrand implementation.

Read more
rebrand implementation, brand implementation
Thought
THOUGHT

One vs. many: selecting an agency strategy for brand transformation

August 12, 2024
20240812

During our discussion with Peter, we dove deep into the topic of agency/workstream management. In particular, we focused on whether to hire a large, lead agency to manage all subspecialties versus contracting with several smaller agencies to fulfill rebrand workstreams.

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

Branding is in the details

July 16, 2024
20240716

Raj Lulla interviews Darren about implementing brands down to the smallest details on the Growing a Fruitful Brand podcast.

Read more
THOUGHT

Brand Implementation for Small & Medium Businesses

July 8, 2024
20240708

John Troman hosts Darren Horwitz on Not Another Marketing Podcast where they talk about a holistic approach to brand change.

Read more
THOUGHT

Managing Expectations in Rebranding Projects

June 24, 2024
20240624

Andy Culligan hosts Darren on This is Your Captain Speaking podcast where they dive into the nuances of brand implementation.

Read more
THOUGHT

Navigating the highest order of brand change

June 24, 2024
20240624

Siegel+Gale brought us in to begin working with The U.S. Army in November of 2021, which was 1.5 years prior to brand launch.

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

The Intersection of Branding and Deals

June 4, 2024
20240604

Corey Kupfer hosts Darren Horwitz on Deal Quest Podcast where they talk about the role branding plays in deal making.

Read more
THOUGHT

The Critical Role of Brand Strategy in Business Success

May 14, 2024
20240514

Mario X. Carrasco hosts Darren Horwitz on The New Mainstream Podcast to discuss the role of rebranding and brand implementation in supporting business strategy.

Read more
THOUGHT

Rebranding a spin off with legacy brand elements

April 9, 2024
20240409

Cynthia White is the Brand Operations Manager at GE HealthCare where she led the rebrand migration as GE HealthCare spun off from GE, establishing itself as a separate publicly traded company.

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

Rebranding a 30-year-old business in three months

January 23, 2024
20240123

Lauren Peterson, the Director of Sales & Marketing at B:Side Capital and B:Side Fund, believes that strategic branding and thoughtful outreach are essential for the success of any organization.

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

Business Choreography Podcast: Unleashing the Power of Strategic Branding

January 23, 2024
20240123

Michael Johnson engages Founder Darren Horwitz in a conversation about what it means to help companies “choreograph” brand implementation efforts.

Read more
THOUGHT

Rebranding for future growth

December 4, 2023
20231204

Danielle Ruess-Saltz, a global marketing leader,. illuminates the influence brand can have on investor and customer perceptions

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

Mastering Brand Implementation

November 9, 2023
20231109

Darren joins Kay Putnam to talk about mastering brand implementation on the Brand Gravity podcast. They delve into common underestimations of rebranding and important strategies to consider as companies navigate change internally and externally.

Read more
plan, build, manage, launch & rollout, timelines, employee engagement, celebrations
Thought
THOUGHT

5 critical steps to ensure your acquisition is brand-ready

October 25, 2023
20231025

Planning for an acquisition is much like planning for a rebrand given the degree of organizational change and importance of bringing people along. Will you be prepared by the time the deal closes?

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

Branding and Rebranding

September 26, 2023
20230926

Audrey Strong and Lee Smith host Darren on the Manage Smarter podcast, a fast-paced and humorous discussion of the challenges facing managers from the front lines to the C‑Suite. This short discussion covers a number of topics around rebranding and brand implementation.

Read more
plan, build, manage, launch & rollout, timelines, employee engagement, celebrations
Thought
THOUGHT

Planning for large-scale brand transformation

August 28, 2023
20230828

Liz Olson is a brand and marketing leader with over 20 years invested in answering the question, “What makes a great brand?”

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

Socializing the brand implementation plan early

June 21, 2023
20230621

Ron Brissette is a Director at Slalom, a purpose-led, global business and technology consulting company. Ron has worked on several rebrands on the client side and agency side. During our conversation, Ron discussed how his past experience encouraged him to refine his approach to brand implantation. 

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

Building a transformational brand

May 3, 2023
20230503

Mark Gromek is the Chief Marketing & Underwriting Officer for Builders, a regional leader in property and casualty insurance and trusted partner for builders and small businesses of all kinds since 1992.

Read more
Article
THOUGHT

Understanding the entirety of a healthcare rebrand

March 6, 2023
20230306

Being a part of planning four healthcare rebrands, we asked Ryan Perkins to, "Tell Us About Your Rebrand," learning about the go or no-go decisions he was able to make by understanding the detailed nature of brand implementation.

Read more
Article
THOUGHT

Expediting GE HealthCare's rebrand planning

March 3, 2023
20230303

Having just completed the implementation plan for GE Aviation, we created an implementation hypothesis inclusive of prioritized workstreams and timing as well as resourcing recommendations.

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

Protect the brand you’ve worked so hard to build

January 17, 2023
20230117

Regardless of your brand’s tenure, it’s important to think about what it needs to be successful inside and outside of your organization. This doesn’t mean a rebrand is necessary. At TenTen, we believe there is a lot you can do to protect your existing brand.

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

Celebrating 100 Rebrand Plans

October 10, 2022
20221010

We did it! 100 clients across industries, 100 brand changes and 100 success stories.

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

Deconstructing the masterbrand strategy

August 30, 2022
20220830

For years, organizations have been following the trend of adopting a Masterbrand strategy. However, the opposite trend is starting to gain momentum.

Read more
Thought
THOUGHT

Communicating with employees isn’t a one-way street

July 19, 2022
20220719

How do you encourage employees to listen, learn and care about what leadership has to say about brand change? Read our conversation with Kerri Warner, Global Head of Leadership Development & Engagement at Mastercard to learn about her approach to employee engagement.

Read more
build, manage, employee engagement
Thought
THOUGHT

What Kellogg’s should be thinking about as they split into three companies

July 14, 2022
20220714

Starting with a sound business strategy is always paramount, but what does this mean for the pending new brands? Given that we geek out on brand change, here are the top 3 things Kellogg’s should be considering as they launch and implement their new brands.

Read more
plan, launch & rollout, resourcing, timelines, budgeting, employee engagement
Thought
THOUGHT

Why financial services brands are changing in a world of fintech

June 27, 2022
20220627

With new fintech market entrants and surging M&A activity in the financial services space, the future of the industry is continuously evolving. A few important questions get us thinking about the role of brand during an organization’s adoption of fintech.

Read more
plan, manage, launch & rollout
Thought
THOUGHT

Going beyond brand guidelines to engage and educate internal audiences

June 8, 2022
20220608

You’ve worked diligently on creating a new brand and now you’re finally ready to launch and roll it out. Now is a good time to ask, “Are guidelines enough to engage and educate my organization around brand change?”

Read more
manage, launch & rollout, employee engagement
Thought
THOUGHT

Refresh or rebrand? Take a closer look at what your business needs.

May 6, 2022
20220506

As your industry changes, do you get the sense that your brand is tiring, or perhaps not working as hard as it could? Fortunately, rebranding is not the only path to achieving brand and business goals.

Read more
plan, manage, resourcing
Thought
THOUGHT

Common Underestimations of Rebranding

April 18, 2022
20220418

After 100 plans we’ve learned a lot about what organizations commonly underestimate when it comes to brand change.

Read more
plan, launch & rollout, resourcing, timelines, budgeting, employee engagement
Thought
THOUGHT

Building consensus when it comes to rolling out higher education brands

March 30, 2022
20220330

Higher education institutions garner the utmost loyalty from their constituents. That’s why changes to their brands must be purposeful and thoughtfully implemented – this starts with building consensus.

Read more
plan, launch & rollout, timelines, employee engagement
Thought
THOUGHT

When to announce your new brand name before revealing the logo

March 7, 2022
20220307

Is it right or wrong to announce the name of your brand before revealing the logo? This question turns out to be exceptionally triggering for business executives. There are several reasons why it can be the right choice to announce the name first, then follow with logo.

Read more
plan, launch & rollout, employee engagement, celebrations
Thought
THOUGHT

The Most Complex Brand Implementations of 2021

February 23, 2022
20220223

In 2021, some big names rebranded after years of repping their old symbol. We celebrate these complex rebrands.

Read more
build, launch & rollout, timelines
Thought
THOUGHT

New Brand, New Logo…Now What?

January 19, 2022
20220119

Your organization has determined it needs to undergo a rebrand. “Now what?” It’s never too late to start planning. We recommend asking a few questions to get the ball rolling.

Read more
plan, build, manage, launch & rollout, resourcing, timelines, budgeting, employee engagement
Thought
THOUGHT

How much does it cost to implement a rebrand?

December 2, 2021
20211202

As part of the brand implementation planning process, we help clients arrive at a budget to provide leadership with a clear picture of cost.

Read more
plan, launch & rollout, resourcing, budgeting
Thought
THOUGHT

Three branding questions every PE firm should ask

November 22, 2021
20211122

An organization’s brand is one of the most valuable assets, which is why it’s imperative that brand be aligned to long-term business goals and growth strategies.

Read more
plan
Thought
THOUGHT

Who does the work?

October 26, 2021
20211026

Rebranding happens alongside your day job. Which raises the question, “who does the work leading up to launch and beyond?”‍

Read more
plan, launch & rollout, resourcing
Thought
THOUGHT

Your employees need to be your biggest champions. Why you need to give them more than a new logo.

February 2, 2020
20200202

Logo’d give-aways are fun and a great way to showcase your new brand. But, how you involve, educate and inspire employees to be active ambassadors of the brand is just as important as updating your logo and changing over marketing materials.

Read more
employee engagement
Thought
THOUGHT

How to increase brand consistency by understanding the needs of your brand users

May 12, 2020
20201205

It’s no longer enough to say, “here are the guidelines” and expect consistent use of the brand at every experience. Successful brands create a dialogue with their brand users.

Read more
build, manage, employee engagement
Thought
THOUGHT

TenTen Implements Summit Health Rebrand

April 26, 2021
20210426

From the merger of Summit Medical Group and CityMD was born a new brand, Summit Health. And we were honored to play a role managing implementation planning and execution, creative production, sign design and template generation.

Read more
plan, build, launch & rollout, celebrations
Thought
THOUGHT

Speaking Brand Implementation

April 15, 2021
20210415

Douglas Spencer hosts TenTen Founder, Darren Horwitz, on Spencer Brenneman’s podcast, Messaging on a Mission. Focused on making a difference in the world through telling stories, Spencer Brenneman sought out Darren’s advice on what it takes to implement a rebrand.

Read more
plan, build, manage, launch & rollout, timelines, employee engagement, celebrations
Thought
THOUGHT

Designing a Visual System that “Redefines Live”

May 14, 2021
20210514

In Freeman’s pursuit to “redefine live,” the leader in global events focused on modernizing their brand. Having first established a new logo, a set of primary colors and font family, we then partnered with their internal creative and marketing teams to extend the visual design system.

Read more
build, launch & rollout
Thought
THOUGHT

The value of a brand implementation plan

August 18, 2021
20210818

Important decisions require a great deal of effort, which almost always benefit from a solid plan of attack. Think about building a house. There is a proven and methodical process to building a house that generates the best result – and we think about brand implementation in the same way.

Read more
plan, launch & rollout, resourcing, timelines, budgeting, employee engagement
Thought
THOUGHT

The time it takes

September 20, 2021
20210920

When’s the ideal time to start thinking about brand implementation? On our road to 100 rebrands, we’ve seen it all. From those who get an early jump on implementation planning, to those who need to launch as soon as possible and seek to understand what’s viable.

Read more
plan, launch & rollout, timelines
Thought
THOUGHT

Having a well defined brand activation plan increases efficiency, consistency and savings

April 22, 2019
20190422

Changing your brand is a powerful way to transform your business. However, transformation can come with high costs to both your budget and your brand’s equity. Based on years of experience we have learned, time and again, that a few key activities upfront will save your budget, strengthen your work

Read more
plan, resourcing, timelines, budgeting
Thought
THOUGHT

Why credit unions should invest in their brands

March 9, 2019
20190309

Credit Unions have seen tremendous growth over the past decade but are facing a challenging problem with their member base—it’s dominated by an older age group that will only decrease in numbers with time.

Read more
build, manage, resourcing
Thought
THOUGHT

There’s more to launching a brand than launching a logo

March 9, 2019
20190309

When going through a rebrand, people often mistakenly think that once a logo is ready, they’re ready to launch. Whether it be from excitement or anxiety, they want to launch quickly. However, what many fail to realize is that there’s a lot more to launching a brand than just debuting a new logo...

Read more
plan, launch & rollout, employee engagement
Thought
THOUGHT

Optimizing your brand without breaking the bank

April 14, 2020
20200414

Maybe you’ve seen the show, “Love It or List It” on HGTV. It’s a simple premise; two hosts (she an interior decorator and he a real estate agent) compete to win over a couple’s choice in either staying in the house they currently own by remodeling it or moving to a new dream house.

Read more
manage, resourcing, budgeting
Thought
THOUGHT

TenTen turns five!

June 2, 2020
20200602

While our attention has obviously been focused on more serious issues, we wanted to take a brief moment to enjoy our birthday and share our appreciation. We feel so proud of where we are and so fortunate to have had the support of our families, our friends, our colleagues and our clients.

Read more
celebrations
Thought
ARTICLE

Rebranding Demystified

June 8, 2021
20210608

At TenTen, we understand that your rebrand represents much more than just a new logo. It’s a moment of great transformation for your organization. But that doesn’t mean you need to break the bank getting there.

Read more
plan, resourcing, budgeting, employee engagement
ARTICLE

Implementation 101: Rebranding made easy

March 15, 2021
20210315

At TenTen, we understand that your rebrand represents much more than just a new logo. It’s a moment of great transformation for your organization. But that doesn’t mean you need to break the bank getting there.

Read more
plan, launch & rollout, resourcing, timelines, budgeting, employee engagement
Celebrations
Budgeting
Timelines
Resourcing
Launch & Rollout
Manage
Build
Plan
Employee Engagement
Scroll Up
hello@tentengroup.com
©TenTen 2015–2024
About
Work
Approach
Insights
Terms
Privacy