Data as of Sep 19, 2026 · Based on 338 AI responses from ChatGPT Search and Google AI Mode · See how Parse measures this
Brands AI recommends here
Named in 12% of answers
Named in 9% of answers
Named in 9% of answers
Named in 9% of answers
Source | Citation share |
|---|---|
 Hard question: do you need a branding agency or marketing agency?https://www.sublimio.com/you-need-a-branding-agency-or-marketing-agency/ | 5.1% |
 How to Choose a Branding Agencyhttps://www.ignytebrands.com/how-to-choose-a-branding-agency/ | 3.1% |
 How to Hire the Right Branding Agency - Mind Digital Grouphttps://www.minddigital.com/how-to-hire-the-right-branding-agency/ | 2.9% |
 How to find the best rebranding agency - Admindhttps://admindagency.com/how-to-find-the-best-rebranding-agency/ | 2.8% |
 How to Choose a Branding Agency: What You Need to Knowhttps://www.awesomic.com/blog/the-ins-and-outs-of-finding-a-branding-agency | 2.6% |
 How to Choose a Branding Agency - JQ Design Labshttps://jqdesignlabs.com/how-to-choose-a-branding-agency/ | 2.1% |
 Choosing a Rebranding Agency: 5-Step Checklisthttps://www.kunocreative.com/blog/5-steps-perfect-agency-for-rebrand | 1.9% |
 How to Know When You're Ready to Hire a Branding Agencyhttps://ellyandnoracreative.com/how-to-know-when-youre-ready-to-hire-a-branding-agency/ | 1.8% |
 What to Look for in a Branding Agency | Clutch.cohttps://clutch.co/resources/what-to-look-for-in-a-branding-agency | 1.7% |
 10 tips on how to choose and hire the best branding agencyhttps://www.martsmounts.com/what-is-branding/10-tips-on-how-to-choose-and-hire-a-branding-agency | 1.7% |
Hiring a branding agency during a rebrand is a high-stakes move. As a Brand Manager, you need a partner who doesn't just make things look pretty, but deeply understands your business strategy, market positioning, and culture. Here is a step-by-step framework to find, vet, and hire the right branding agency for your…
Hiring a branding agency during a rebrand is a high-stakes move. As a Brand Manager, you need a partner who doesn't just make things look pretty, but deeply understands your business strategy, market positioning, and culture.
Here is a step-by-step framework to find, vet, and hire the right branding agency for your transition:
If you'd like, let me know:
I can help you tailor your RFP screening criteria or suggest specific types of questions to ask during the chemistry calls.
No sources cited
A Brand Manager should treat agency selection less like **“Who has the coolest portfolio?”** and more like hiring a strategic partner. The strongest process tests four things: **strategic thinking, relevant experience, chemistry, and executional capability.** The American Marketing Association similarly recommends…
A Brand Manager should treat agency selection less like “Who has the coolest portfolio?” and more like hiring a strategic partner. The strongest process tests four things: strategic thinking, relevant experience, chemistry, and executional capability. The American Marketing Association similarly recommends making the selection process deliberate and structured rather than relying on creative chemistry alone.
Before contacting agencies, define the job.
A rebrand might mean:
Don't simply write: “We need a new brand.”
Write something closer to:
“Our current positioning no longer reflects where the business is going. We need to clarify our differentiated position, develop a new identity and messaging system, and create the tools required to roll it out across our customer and employee touchpoints.” That distinction matters because you want an agency that can solve the business problem, not just redesign the logo. Brand strategy, positioning and identity are related but distinct disciplines.
Don't start with 20.
Look for agencies based on fit, particularly:
Ask trusted peers for referrals. That's one of the more useful ways to understand an agency's communication style and day-to-day client relationship—not merely its public portfolio.
This is probably the biggest hiring mistake.
An agency can have gorgeous work and still be a poor rebrand partner.
For each case study, ask:
What was the business problem? What did the agency actually do? What research informed the strategy? What changed because of the work? What did the client implement? What happened after launch?
You want to hear a coherent chain:
Business challenge → insight → strategy → creative idea → brand system → implementation → outcome
If the agency mostly talks about awards, aesthetics and deliverables, keep probing.
A good agency should also be willing to challenge the premise of the brief. AIGA's reporting on agency work highlights the value of agencies asking what problem the client really needs to solve rather than simply executing the requested deliverable.
Have a 30–45 minute conversation with the principals.
I'd ask:
That last question is particularly revealing.
A beautiful identity that your organization can't actually use is a bad outcome. Recent AIGA coverage of a rebrand, for example, emphasized designing systems that internal teams could actually operate day-to-day.
Your RFP/brief should contain:
But don't prescribe the solution.
For example:
Bad: “We need a modern, premium, minimalist identity with a new logo.” Better:
“We need to increase relevance with X audience while retaining the trust we've built with Y audience.” The agency should be responsible for determining what the brand needs—not simply validating your preconceived creative direction.
I'd narrow it to 2–3 finalists and ask each to present an approach.
Importantly, don't ask them to spend six weeks developing your entire brand strategy for free.
Instead, ask them to demonstrate:
If budget permits, a paid exploratory exercise can be particularly revealing. The AMA recommends a paid pitch/project with a small number of finalists as one way to understand what it is actually like to work together.
I'd use a simple evaluation matrix.
| Criterion | Suggested consideration |
|---|---|
| Strategic thinking | 25% |
| Relevant experience/case studies | 20% |
| Creative capability | 20% |
| Team & senior involvement | 15% |
| Process & collaboration | 10% |
| Budget/value | 10% |
I wouldn't treat those percentages as universal—they're simply a useful way to prevent “I liked their presentation” from becoming the selection methodology.
And keep the evaluation separate from the creative work itself. You're ultimately choosing a partner who has to navigate research, strategy, internal politics, stakeholder disagreement, implementation and iteration.
This is where you can learn things the pitch won't tell you.
Ask for 2–3 recent clients, preferably someone whose project resembles yours.
Ask the references:
Also ask:
“Who should I speak to if I want the unvarnished version of what it's like to work with them?” That's often more revealing than the official reference.
This is an underappreciated issue.
The people pitching you may not be the people doing the work. The AMA specifically recommends clarifying who the account lead, creative lead and other regular contacts will be, rather than assuming the pitch team becomes your delivery team.
Ask:
“Can you put the proposed team on one slide, including percentage of their time allocated to us?” Then put that team into the contract if they're important to your decision.
Don't compare:
Agency A: $250k Agency B: $180k Agency C: $125k
until you know what you're actually buying.
One might include research, positioning, naming, identity, guidelines, rollout and implementation. Another might be doing identity only.
Compare:
People × time × scope × deliverables × revisions × implementation
Then look at the commercial terms.
Also clarify ownership of:
I'd get particularly interested when an agency:
Watch out for:
I'd run the process roughly like this:
Week 1: Define objectives, scope, budget and selection criteria ↓ Weeks 2–3: Research and shortlist 5–7 agencies ↓ Week 4: Chemistry/discovery calls with 5–7 ↓ Week 5: Invite 3 finalists ↓ Weeks 6–7: Finalist presentations / paid discovery if appropriate ↓ Week 7: Reference checks ↓ Week 8: Select partner + negotiate scope/contract ↓ Week 9: Kickoff
The central principle is: don't hire the agency that produces the most exciting pitch; hire the agency you trust to make the best decisions with you when the project gets complicated.
That's especially important in a rebrand, because the hard part usually isn't producing the new identity—it's getting the organization aligned around why it exists, who it is for, what it stands for, and how that translates into hundreds of real-world decisions.
I'd get particularly interested when an agency:
Watch out for:
I'd run the process roughly like this:
Week 1: Define objectives, scope, budget and selection criteria ↓ Weeks 2–3: Research and shortlist 5–7 agencies ↓ Week 4: Chemistry/discovery calls with 5–7 ↓ Week 5: Invite 3 finalists ↓ Weeks 6–7: Finalist presentations / paid discovery if appropriate ↓ Week 7: Reference checks ↓ Week 8: Select partner + negotiate scope/contract ↓ Week 9: Kickoff
The central principle is: don't hire the agency that produces the most exciting pitch; hire the agency you trust to make the best decisions with you when the project gets complicated.
Hiring a branding agency during a rebrand is a high-stakes move. As a Brand Manager, your job isn't just to pick a creative shop—it's to find a strategic partner who can translate your business goals into a living, breathing identity without alienating your core audience. Here is a step-by-step framework to navigate…
Hiring a branding agency during a rebrand is a high-stakes move. As a Brand Manager, your job isn't just to pick a creative shop—it's to find a strategic partner who can translate your business goals into a living, breathing identity without alienating your core audience.
Here is a step-by-step framework to navigate the search, vet agencies, and secure the right partner:
If you'd like, tell me:
I can help you draft a targeted RFP outline or give you a list of key questions to ask during the chemistry calls.
No sources cited
If you’re a Brand Manager leading a rebrand, I’d treat agency selection less like “find the coolest creative shop” and more like **choosing a long-term strategic partner**. The strongest guidance I found from the World Federation of Advertisers and American Marketing Association points in the same direction: define…
If you’re a Brand Manager leading a rebrand, I’d treat agency selection less like “find the coolest creative shop” and more like choosing a long-term strategic partner.
The strongest guidance I found from the World Federation of Advertisers and American Marketing Association points in the same direction: define the business problem first, assess the actual people you’ll work with, and evaluate partnership fit—not just the pitch or portfolio.
Before contacting agencies, write a one-page rebrand brief answering:
This is crucial because “we need a new identity” and “we need to reposition the company for a new category” are very different agency assignments.
The AMA specifically recommends defining the company's situation, audiences, opportunities and scope before selecting a firm.
Don't start with 20 agencies.
Build a longlist through:
Peer referrals → industry reputation → relevant case studies → agency outreach.
Look for evidence that they've solved your kind of problem, rather than simply having beautiful work.
I'd score agencies on:
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Strategic thinking | 25% |
| Quality/relevance of brand work | 20% |
| Senior talent & actual team | 15% |
| Understanding of your category/customer | 10% |
| Creative ambition | 10% |
| Implementation capabilities | 10% |
| Chemistry/collaboration | 5% |
| Commercial fit | 5% |
Adjust the weights for your situation, but don't let creativity alone dominate the decision.
This is one of the biggest traps.
An agency may show you 10 spectacular identities—but ask:
“Who actually did this work, and who would be working on ours?”
Ask to meet:
Then ask:
“Will these exact people be on our account?”
The AMA specifically warns that the senior “A-team” can appear during the pitch and then be replaced by a different team after winning the business.
A polished pitch is a performance. You're trying to predict what it will be like to work together for 6–18 months.
I'd therefore evaluate how they think, not just what they present.
Give them enough information to understand the challenge, then ask:
“Based on what you've heard, what do you think we're getting wrong about our brand?”
That's a fantastic test.
A good agency should be willing to challenge your assumptions rather than simply repeat your brief back to you.
The WFA's newer agency-selection principles explicitly move toward evaluating relationships and partnership rather than treating selection as a purely mechanical pitch exercise.
Don't make the final choice from decks.
Get the two or three finalists into a room with your core team and spend 60–90 minutes working through the problem.
Give them something like:
“Here's our current positioning, customer research and business challenge. Walk us through how you'd approach the first six weeks.”
You're looking for:
Chemistry is not fluff. It is part of the product.
The AMA similarly recommends considering chemistry alongside scope, budget and agency capabilities.
Don't just ask:
“Would you recommend this agency?”
Ask former/current clients:
That last question can be incredibly revealing.
For a major rebrand, I'd avoid asking six agencies to develop fully formed brand concepts for free.
You're likely to get:
Agency A: the best pitch team
Agency B: the best speculative designer
Agency C: the best presentation
Agency D: the best actual strategic partner
…and accidentally hire A, B or C.
WFA guidance has long suggested that a full creative pitch isn't always necessary; agencies can instead be evaluated through strategic approaches, relevant experience, working sessions and proposed ways of solving the business problem.
If you do ask for substantial strategic/creative work, pay for it. The AMA likewise recommends a paid competitive project when budget permits.
This is particularly important in a larger company.
Brand/marketing should own strategic and creative fit.
Procurement should help with:
The WFA recommends bringing procurement into the process early while treating it as a strategic partner rather than simply a cost-cutting function.
The goal isn't:
“Who is cheapest?”
It's:
“Which partner gives us the greatest probability of creating a successful brand, at a commercially sustainable cost?”
Ask each finalist for:
And crucially:
“What assumptions have you made in arriving at this price?”
Two agencies quoting $500k may be proposing completely different scopes.
My final decision would probably look something like:
40% — Strategic capability
Can they understand the business and create a differentiated positioning?
25% — Creative quality
Can they turn the strategy into a distinctive, ownable brand?
20% — People & chemistry
Do we trust and enjoy working with the actual team?
10% — Delivery capability
Can they get the brand into the real world?
5% — Commercials
Is the relationship economically sensible?
I'd deliberately keep price low in the weighting unless the budget is genuinely constrained.
🚩 Beautiful portfolio, weak strategic thinking
🚩 Can't explain why their previous work succeeded
🚩 Senior people disappear after the pitch
🚩 They immediately start designing before understanding the problem
🚩 Every case study follows the same visual formula
🚩 They agree with everything you say
🚩 They can't articulate their point of view on your category
🚩 Vague scope and surprisingly low initial estimate
🚩 High turnover on the account
🚩 References are oddly difficult to obtain
🚩 They're selling capabilities rather than demonstrating relevant outcomes
🚩 They treat the rebrand as a design project rather than a business transformation
At the end of the process, ask yourself:
“If the strategy we developed together turns out to be wrong, do I trust this team enough to tell me?”
If the answer is yes, you've probably found something much more valuable than a good branding agency.
You've found a good brand partner.
And that's increasingly the direction the industry is moving: the WFA's 2025 agency-selection principles explicitly emphasize long-term partnership, stakeholder alignment, the quality of the relationship and the people involved—not simply the mechanics of running a pitch.
If you're actually about to run a rebrand agency search, I can also give you a practical 6-week agency selection process, including the RFP/brief, shortlist scorecard, interview questions, pitch structure, and a weighted evaluation spreadsheet template.
Hiring a branding agency during a rebrand is a high-stakes move. As a Brand Manager, you aren't just buying a logo; you're `buying a strategic partner to steer your company's identity`. Here is a structured, step-by-step roadmap to finding and hiring the right agency for your rebrand: ### 1. Define Internal Alignment…
Hiring a branding agency during a rebrand is a high-stakes move. As a Brand Manager, you aren't just buying a logo; you're buying a strategic partner to steer your company's identity.
Here is a structured, step-by-step roadmap to finding and hiring the right agency for your rebrand:
Before you brief a single external agency, you need your own house in order.
A vague RFP attracts vague responses. Be specific about your challenges so agencies can show you relevant thinking.
Look beyond Google search results. Find agencies that have solved problems similar to yours.
Review the longlist responses and narrow them down to a tight shortlist of 3 agencies. Look for:
Instead of traditional dog-and-pony show pitches where agencies guess at your brand, pay them a stipend (kill fee) for a half-day collaborative workshop.
Make your decision based on strategic alignment, chemistry, and transparent pricing.
If you'd like, tell me:
I can help you tailor specific interview questions or a scorecard to evaluate your shortlist.
No sources cited
A Brand Manager hiring a branding agency should treat it less like hiring a design vendor and more like selecting a strategic partner. The strongest agencies help clarify **why the company exists, who it serves, how it competes, and how that strategy becomes a consistent experience**—not just create a new logo.…
A Brand Manager hiring a branding agency should treat it less like hiring a design vendor and more like selecting a strategic partner. The strongest agencies help clarify why the company exists, who it serves, how it competes, and how that strategy becomes a consistent experience—not just create a new logo.
A practical hiring process:
Start with a clear internal brief:
Why are we rebranding?
Business transformation?
New market?
Merger/acquisition?
Reputation problem?
Outdated identity?
Lack of differentiation?
What must change?
Positioning?
Messaging?
Naming?
Visual identity?
Customer experience?
Internal culture alignment?
What does success look like?
Increased awareness?
Better sales conversations?
Stronger employer brand?
More premium perception?
Market differentiation?
A lot of failed rebrands start with “we need a new look” when the real issue is strategic clarity.
Look for agencies that have:
Not necessarily your exact industry, but similar challenges:
A good agency should be able to show different strategic solutions, not the same visual style applied repeatedly. Ask:
A portfolio should demonstrate thinking, not just attractive executions.
Ask to see:
A beautiful presentation mockup is not proof that a brand works in the market.
The best agencies can explain a disciplined path such as:
Be cautious if an agency wants to start with:
before understanding the business problem.
A common mistake: senior people sell the project, then junior people deliver it.
Ask:
Good questions:
The agency should be willing to challenge assumptions, not simply validate leadership opinions.
A strong proposal should include:
Make sure ownership of final assets, files, and usage rights is explicitly defined in the contract.
Example:
| Criteria | Weight |
|---|---|
| Strategic thinking | 30% |
| Relevant experience | 20% |
| Team quality/chemistry | 20% |
| Creative quality | 15% |
| Process and timeline | 10% |
| Cost | 5% |
Cost matters, but choosing the cheapest agency for a major rebrand often creates expensive fixes later.
Avoid agencies that:
Before hiring, ask:
“If we removed all the design work from your proposal, would there still be strategic value?” If the answer is no, you may be hiring a design studio when you actually need a branding partner.
For a Brand Manager, the ideal agency is one that can translate business strategy into a brand system that employees can use, customers can understand, and the market can remember.
“If we removed all the design work from your proposal, would there still be strategic value?” If the answer is no, you may be hiring a design studio when you actually need a branding partner.
For a Brand Manager, the ideal agency is one that can translate business strategy into a brand system that employees can use, customers can understand, and the market can remember.
As a Brand Manager navigating a rebrand, hiring the right external partner can make or break the transition. You aren’t just buying a new logo; you are hiring a strategic partner to redefine your market position, internal culture, and long-term equity. A structured, phased approach helps you secure the ideal branding…
As a Brand Manager navigating a rebrand, hiring the right external partner can make or break the transition. You aren’t just buying a new logo; you are hiring a strategic partner to redefine your market position, internal culture, and long-term equity.
A structured, phased approach helps you secure the ideal branding agency:
Before you look outward, secure alignment inward.
If you'd like, let me know:
I can help you draft a targeted RFP outline or give you a list of key interview questions to grill the agencies with.
If you’re the Brand Manager leading a rebrand, I’d treat agency selection less like **“who has the coolest portfolio?”** and more like hiring a **strategic partner who can solve a business problem**. A strong process looks like this: ## 1. Define the job before you look for the agency
If you’re the Brand Manager leading a rebrand, I’d treat agency selection less like “who has the coolest portfolio?” and more like hiring a strategic partner who can solve a business problem.
A strong process looks like this:
Get your internal team aligned on:
Don't start with “we need a new logo and website.” Start with the problem. Current agency-selection guidance strongly emphasizes defining the business challenge and desired outcomes before prescribing deliverables.
I'd look for agencies based on relevance, not fame.
Look at:
A beautiful portfolio isn't enough. The agency needs to demonstrate how it thinks and who will actually do the work.
This is an underrated step.
Have a 30–45 minute conversation with the prospective agency and give them enough context to understand the problem. Then watch what they do.
Good sign: They ask questions you hadn't considered.
For example:
“Why do you believe the current brand is failing?” “Which audience's perception matters most?” “What evidence do you have that this is a brand problem rather than a product, positioning, or sales problem?” “What would you want to learn before recommending a strategic direction?” Bad sign: They immediately start showing you logos and telling you how they'll make the brand “bold, modern and disruptive.”
You're hiring them partly for their ability to diagnose the problem, not merely execute your proposed solution.
Your RFP should tell agencies:
Importantly, don't over-prescribe the answer. If you tell five agencies exactly what strategy, identity and deliverables you want, you're mostly testing who can follow instructions. Leave room for them to challenge your assumptions.
This is probably the single most important part.
Instead of asking only:
“Show us three relevant case studies.” Ask:
“Walk us through the problem, what you believed was actually happening, what you discovered, what strategic decision you made, and how that ultimately changed the business.” Then ask:
This shifts the evaluation from “Do we like their work?” to “Do we trust their thinking?”
Don't let the agency pitch you with the CEO, Chief Creative Officer and Strategy Director—and then hand you over to an account manager and junior designers.
Ask:
“Who exactly will work on our account, and what percentage of their time will we get?”
Then meet the actual:
The chemistry between your team and theirs matters enormously because a rebrand involves months of ambiguity, debate and iteration.
I'd create a weighted scorecard before the final presentations.
For example:
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Strategic thinking | 25% |
| Relevant experience / portfolio | 15% |
| Understanding of our business | 15% |
| Creative quality | 15% |
| Team & chemistry | 10% |
| Process & project management | 10% |
| Implementation / rollout capability | 5% |
| Cost/value | 5% |
That weighting is deliberate: strategy + understanding should outweigh aesthetics and price.
Otherwise, the most charismatic presenter or prettiest deck tends to win.
Don't just ask:
“Were you happy with them?” Ask previous clients:
That last question is particularly revealing.
🚩 They talk almost exclusively about logos, colors and visual style.
🚩 They show lots of famous work but can't explain the strategic decisions behind it.
🚩 They give you a “strategy” before they've learned anything meaningful about your business.
🚩 Their proposal is suspiciously generic.
🚩 The team in the pitch isn't the team doing the work.
🚩 They promise an enormous amount of work on an implausibly short timeline.
🚩 They avoid discussing budget until late in the process.
🚩 They're unwilling to tell you what they don't think you need.
🚩 Everyone on your side loves the presentation, but nobody can articulate what problem the proposed brand solves.
That last one is especially dangerous.
For many rebrands, the best partner isn't the agency with the biggest name. It's the one where:
Your problem is important enough to get senior attention + the agency has enough expertise to handle the complexity.
A smaller specialist studio may give you substantially more senior involvement than a huge agency where you're a relatively small account.
After all the presentations, get your team into a room and ask:
“If we discovered tomorrow that our logo wasn't changing at all, which agency would we still trust to help us solve the underlying business and brand problem?” The answer is often your agency.
Because a great rebrand isn't fundamentally about getting a new logo. It's about making the business mean something more valuable, distinctive and credible to the people you need to win.
If you're actually about to run the selection process, I can also give you a Brand Manager's agency-selection scorecard + RFP structure + 15 interview questions you can use immediately.
After all the presentations, get your team into a room and ask:
“If we discovered tomorrow that our logo wasn't changing at all, which agency would we still trust to help us solve the underlying business and brand problem?” The answer is often your agency.
Because a great rebrand isn't fundamentally about getting a new logo. It's about making the business mean something more valuable, distinctive and credible to the people you need to win.
If you’re the Brand Manager leading a rebrand, **don’t hire the agency with the prettiest portfolio. Hire the agency that best understands the business problem you’re trying to solve.** A good agency should be able to take you from **business challenge → customer insight → positioning → brand idea → identity →…
If you’re the Brand Manager leading a rebrand, don’t hire the agency with the prettiest portfolio. Hire the agency that best understands the business problem you’re trying to solve.
A good agency should be able to take you from business challenge → customer insight → positioning → brand idea → identity → rollout, rather than simply giving you a new logo and color palette.
Before talking to agencies, align leadership on five things:
This prevents the classic situation where the CEO wants "a more premium brand," marketing wants a new visual identity, and sales wants better messaging—and everyone discovers the disagreement after the agency has been hired. Internal alignment is consistently recommended as the first step.
Don't start with "Who are the famous branding agencies?"
Start with:
Who has solved a problem sufficiently similar to ours? Look for agencies with evidence of:
I'd deliberately mix the shortlist: perhaps 1–2 large agencies, several highly relevant mid-sized firms, and 1–2 specialist/boutique agencies.
And don't be overly impressed by a giant logo wall. Ask to see the actual case study: what was the business problem, what research did they conduct, what strategic decision did they make, what changed, and what happened afterward?
Your RFP should explain the problem, not your preferred solution.
For example, don't say:
"We need a new logo, new website and new brand guidelines." Say:
"Our company has expanded from X to Y markets, but our current positioning doesn't communicate our differentiation. Awareness is strong among existing customers but weak among prospects. We need to determine whether our positioning and identity should evolve and create a brand system that supports our next stage of growth." Then ask the agency to tell you what they think you actually need.
A strong rebrand RFP typically includes company context, business objectives, target audiences, current challenges, scope, timeline, budget range and evaluation criteria.
This is probably the single most important part.
In finalist presentations, ask questions such as:
You're trying to see their thinking under uncertainty, not their ability to produce a beautiful pitch deck. Recent agency-selection guidance makes this same distinction: case studies matter, but methodology, leadership alignment, team composition and post-launch adoption reveal much more about whether an agency can actually partner with you.
This is a huge one.
The people who sell you the agency are often not the people who do the work.
Ask:
"Who specifically will be our strategy lead, creative lead, account lead and day-to-day team?" Then ask those people questions.
You want to discover:
Chemistry isn't fluff. A rebrand can involve months of difficult conversations, subjective decisions and internal politics. You need people you can trust when you disagree.
Don't let the loudest executive or most impressive presentation decide it.
I'd use something like this:
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Strategic thinking & understanding of the problem | 25% |
| Relevant experience / quality of case studies | 20% |
| Quality of proposed team | 15% |
| Creative capability | 15% |
| Collaboration / chemistry | 10% |
| Approach & process | 5% |
| Commercial value | 10% |
Score each agency independently before discussing the results as a team.
Weighted scorecards are useful because they force the team to compare agencies against the same criteria rather than getting seduced by a particularly charismatic pitch.
Don't just ask:
"Did you like working with them?" Ask the former client:
That last question can be extraordinarily revealing.
🚩 They jump straight to visual design. If the first conversation is about logos before understanding the business, that's a problem.
🚩 Every case study looks beautiful but tells you nothing about the business result.
🚩 They can't explain their methodology clearly.
🚩 The senior people pitch, then disappear.
🚩 They agree with everything you say. A good strategic partner should be willing to challenge you.
🚩 Their proposal is essentially a generic deck with your logo pasted onto it.
🚩 They promise an extraordinary amount of work for an implausibly low fee.
🚩 They won't give you access to references.
🚩 They treat "brand" as synonymous with "visual identity."
At the end, ask yourself:
"If I give this agency a blank sheet of paper, do I trust them to discover something about our business that we don't already know?" That's the difference between hiring a vendor and hiring a brand partner.
And one more thing: don't choose the agency you think will give your CEO the coolest presentation. Choose the agency you believe will make your organization make better decisions.
If you want, I can also give you a practical Brand Manager's agency-selection process—including a 1-page RFP template, shortlist criteria, interview questions, and a weighted scoring sheet you can actually use with agencies.
Hiring a branding agency during a rebrand is a massive pivot point. As a Brand Manager, your job isn't just to buy a shiny new logo—you are hiring a strategic partner to help architect the future of your company's market perception. Here is a step-by-step framework to find, vet, and hire the right branding agency for…
Hiring a branding agency during a rebrand is a massive pivot point. As a Brand Manager, your job isn't just to buy a shiny new logo—you are hiring a strategic partner to help architect the future of your company's market perception.
Here is a step-by-step framework to find, vet, and hire the right branding agency for your transition:
Before you brief a single agency, you need internal alignment. Agencies can smell dysfunction, and a muddy brief leads to expensive, unfocused proposals.
Don't invite 15 agencies to pitch; it’s a waste of their time and yours. Curate a longlist of 4 to 6 agencies through peer recommendations, industry awards (like AIGA or D&AD ), and case study research on platforms like Behance.
Narrow it down to 3 finalists for formal presentations or workshops. At this stage, evaluate across three critical dimensions:
Once you select your partner, set the relationship up for success with a transparent contract structure:
If you'd like, let me know:
I can help you draft a high-impact RFP template or tailor specific interview questions for your agency shortlist.
No sources cited
