How do you judge a rebrand?

Across our industry, agencies like ourselves pour so much time (probably too much!) into producing beautifully considered, all singing, all dancing case studies that show our work in its best light. And why not, it’s work we’re proud of, have invested in, and it’s how we win more business.

But ensuring that our vision for the brand is delivered into the world as we want it to be, isn’t always easy. There are many reasons for this. Brand rollout can involve other agencies and teams picking up the work, clients might not be able to invest as much resource (both in time and budget) into the delivery, the interpretation of guidelines can be subjective, and there’s a plethora of other reasons. But essentially, it’s rarely straightforward.

That said, at Thisaway, the delivery of any brand we create is always a priority. We always want our creative to look great but it’s also got to work in practical terms for our clients.

We’re not saying every brand we have worked on looks perfect ‘in the wild’. As creatives we’re rarely one hundred percent happy, and as mentioned previously, there can be mitigating factors. But our approach to every project is to always ensure that the assets, tools, and guidelines we produce for a brand works for them and their teams in terms of practicality of use and also within their budgets.

These principles have never been more visible than in our work for Team GB, and that’s what makes us so proud of the project.

As well as delivering the brand strategy, visual identity and guidelines, we worked on some initial brand rollout that included templates for social media assets. We also produced a set of tailored illustration assets and an additional guideline document for the look and feel of the brands’ fanzones and events.

Seeing the brand come to life in build up to the Paris Olympics and during the Games themselves has been an amazing experience, and the best thing was that in many applications of the brand we weren’t directly involved.

What has given us most pride is seeing that our brand identity was a brilliant solution for the client. The assets we created, and the depth and detail of our guidelines meant that the implementation of the brand by internal teams, agency partners and suppliers, across a huge number of touchpoints was aligned with our vision.

We walked around the fanzones, saw the merchandise in supermarkets, visited Team GB House in Paris, saw the TV coverage of the Athlete’s Village and the visits by dignitaries, and then watched the homecoming party in Manchester. We even saw our brand applied to the iconic Brompton bike! In every scenario, the strength of the brand we created has shone through.

So, everything we’ve been seeing has looked great, but what’s been equally satisfying is seeing how the wider business has ran with our strategic idea, ‘Everyday Extraordinary’.

This idea has been at the core of the brands comms strategy in the months leading up to the Games, and during the Games itself. From content series such as ‘Undercover Extraordinary’ and ‘Sporty AF (And Female)’, to telling the stories of the athlete journeys across their social channels, the brand idea has been intrinsic to so many activations. ‘Everyday Extraordinary’ was even used as the WiFi password at Team GB House. Details, details.

From a commercial perspective, the strategy and point of view we built for the brand has attracted partnerships with the likes of TikTok, British Gas, NatWest, Toyota and many more. For a 100% commercial funded business like Team GB, these relationships are key to ensuring they continue to produce and support world-class athletes moving forward.

Our big takeout from the project, which we’ve seen across many other brands we’ve worked on, is that the brand is only going to be successful if the business believes in it. Our work and thinking can only go so far unless the client is brave enough to run with it and implement it throughout their business. And huge credit must go to the team behind Team GB for doing just that.

It’s been a phenomenal experience working on this project. As we move towards the Winter Olympics in 2026 and then onto LA in 2028, we hope the brand continues to grow and thrive using the foundations we have built.

But in many ways, the hard work begins now. Ensuring Team GB remains relevant to the nation throughout the four year Olympic cycle was key to the initial brief. So the challenge is to engage and inspire the nation, not just during the Games, but every single day.

It’s a big ask, and as for how successful it will be, well, we’ll let you be the judge of that.