A brand refresh is the last resort that Marketing uses in the ongoing battle with Sales. There is a scripted dance that happens. Sales will demand that Marketing do something to improve lead generation. Sales demands that “we need more leads!”. Marketing responds that Sales should do a better job with the leads that Marketing sends them.

Sales will counter that the leads that Marketing sends them are terrible. They will persist in demanding action. Marketing will respond by doing something to show they are being proactive. This is all a predictable pattern that occurs over and over again. 

Sometimes what Marketing will do is a “brand refresh”. This is where Marketing changes the font, logo and color scheme of the brand. Often this is putting “lipstick on a pig”. 

A brand refresh does nothing to address the underlying foundational issues. Foundational issues can include improper target market selection. There can also be weak messaging or a bad value proposition. More serious issues can involve a product that is missing key features and functionality. None of this gets addressed by changing the color scheme. The quantity and quality of leads does not improve when you change the corporate fonts.