A rebrand starts with vision: a new identity, a clarified story, a bold shift in how a company shows up in the world. Brand strategy firms help organizations make those leaps with confidence and clarity. And once that vision is approved and celebrated, the real work begins: turning strategy into action.
For CMOs in complex industries like healthcare, finance, pharma, and manufacturing, the leap from brand promise to brand presence involves thousands of operational decisions and countless opportunities for misalignment, delay, or cost overruns. This is where BrandActive comes in. We don’t define the brand or the brand identity. We bring it to life – efficiently, consistently, and at scale.
This blog explores why the most successful brand transformations happen when strategy and implementation work hand in hand and how organizations like Bristol Myers Squibb and FM Insurance made it happen.
Strategy sets the direction. Implementation gets you there.
There’s no substitute for a strong brand strategy. That’s where purpose is refined, messaging is clarified, and a new identity takes shape. Our clients work with incredible brand strategy partners to build bold brands designed for tomorrow’s markets.
The thing is, launching a brand is not the same as designing one.
Once the identity is approved, organizations face an entirely new set of challenges: how to update thousands (or even tens of thousands) of branded touchpoints, coordinate internal stakeholders across silos, align with legal and regulatory requirements, and do it all within a fixed timeline and budget.
It’s not uncommon for clients to assume that their agency or internal team can manage rollout. But what many discover is that implementation requires a completely different skill set. It’s not about creative vision. It’s about operational precision.
That’s the moment a rebrand implementation partner becomes indispensable.
When to start thinking about implementation? Sooner than you think.
Many organizations assume rebrand implementation starts once the new brand is approved – after the big reveal, the internal rollout, and the celebration.
But the most effective transformations start earlier. In fact, the best time to bring in BrandActive is before the brand is finalized and often even before a deal closes or a name is chosen.
Why? Because decisions about naming, brand architecture, and vendor selection carry real operational and financial consequences. By engaging early, we help clients and their strategy partners scope the scale of change, model costs, and identify timing considerations before they become roadblocks.
That means more strategic decisions from the start. More realistic timelines. Smarter sequencing. And significant cost savings. We operate at a strategic level, working in parallel with brand strategy partners to ensure the brand you build can be implemented smoothly, efficiently, and confidently.
FM Insurance: A master brand made real
Take FM, a 200-year-old mutual insurance company serving a quarter of the Fortune 500. After decades of operating with a decentralized brand structure, FM partnered with their brand strategy firm to unify its many regional and business unit identities into a single, modern master brand. The strategy was visionary. And the path to execution was anything but straightforward.
With more than 5,500 employees and operations across the globe, FM’s brand lived in over 16,000 individual touchpoints – from signage and websites to legal documents, ID badges, training materials, and fleet vehicles. None of these assets were centrally governed, and the entire transformation had to remain confidential until launch.
FM brought in BrandActive to orchestrate the rollout. We began by conducting in-depth discovery interviews, auditing physical and digital assets, and building a phased roadmap for implementation. High-impact items were prioritized for Day 1 conversion. Mission-critical materials were slotted for the immediate post-launch window. The rest were sequenced over time, ensuring the rollout didn’t overwhelm internal resources.
We partnered closely with FM’s internal brand team to develop signage prototypes, manage vendor strategy, accelerate asset conversion, and guide change management. Within five months, new signage was installed at 50+ offices. Asset conversion throughput increased fivefold. The project launched on time, under budget, and with internal teams empowered to carry the brand forward.
As FM’s VP of Brand put it:
“BrandActive became more than a vendor — they operated as an embedded, highly supportive extension of FM’s internal team.”
Bristol Myers Squibb: Doing more with less
For Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), the rebrand was part of a larger transformation following the acquisition of Celgene. With a new identity developed by their strategy agency, BMS turned to BrandActive to manage the global implementation including signage updates at over 180 facilities, each with its own set of regulatory, cultural, and logistical challenges.
What made this project especially complex was the lack of baseline data. BMS had no centralized record of past signage costs, and their unique material choices made estimating and vendor bidding difficult. On top of that, the rollout had to take place during the COVID-19 pandemic, with global supply chain constraints and strict installation protocols.
We started by conducting a global asset scope and working with BMS to create standardized sign guidelines and prototypes. We then led a competitive RFP process, helping them identify a more capable vendor who could take on a broader scope for significantly less cost.
The result? A rebrand that came in at $5.7 million, down from an original estimate of $15 million, a 62% savings. Installations were 90% complete within one year, and fully finalized by 18 months.
The Hidden Costs of Late Planning
Delaying planning for your rebrand implementation or involvement of an implementation partner can result in:
- Naming decisions that trigger complex legal or CMS updates
- Missed opportunities to align timelines with operational cycles
- Duplicated spend across vendors, regions, or teams
- Budget surprises that derail launch plans
We’ve helped clients lower rebrand budgets by up to 40% — simply by identifying what could be retired, done in-house, or phased more strategically.
The earlier we’re involved, the more value we can unlock.
Bringing clarity to complexity
Rebranding is never just a marketing initiative. It touches nearly every part of the organization, legal, compliance, procurement, operations, HR, IT, facilities. Each group holds pieces of the brand, and each faces unique challenges when rolling out a new identity.
In healthcare, for example, a brand change must comply with CMS regulations and provider-based billing rules. This means signage transitions, EMR updates, consent forms, and public awareness must all align with regulatory expectations. Missteps can delay reimbursement or even jeopardize certification.
We’ve worked with healthcare systems like Corewell, Endeavor, and Intermountain to plan brand transitions that meet CMS requirements without disrupting care or overwhelming internal teams. In some cases, this has included installing temporary signage to bridge the gap between legal name change and full asset conversion – a strategic decision that balances compliance with cost and timing.
These are the kinds of details that brand strategy firms and marketing departments don’t typically handle, and shouldn’t be expected to.
Strategy partners are our partners
We work alongside brand strategy firms — not in place of them. Their expertise in positioning, identity, and storytelling sets the foundation for everything that follows.
Our role is to take that vision and make it operational. To translate brand intent into real-world execution. And to do it in a way that reduces risk, improves outcomes, and builds internal alignment.
When we partner early with brand strategy firms, we create a seamless experience for the client — from strategy to execution, from concept to completion.
The right partner makes the difference
If you’ve invested in a new brand strategy, you already know the importance of clarity, consistency, and creativity. But bringing that strategy to life requires just as much care and a different kind of expertise.
Depending on your situation, you could be investing tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in brand change. The cost of getting the implementation right is only a fraction of that and the impact of getting it wrong is far greater.
That’s where we come in.
We help organizations navigate the complex journey from brand decision to brand deployment. We don’t do strategy. We don’t do creative. We make it real with precision, agility, and respect for the brand you’ve built.
Whether your brand is changing due to growth, M&A, or strategic repositioning, we can help you move from vision to execution with confidence.
Let’s talk
Are you planning a rebrand or working with a brand strategy partner now? We’d love to connect and explore how we can support your journey. Get in touch here.
