How to Navigate a Rebrand with Clare Schmitt
The Dave Gerhardt Show (from Exit Five)
Separating category education from brand training
Clare advises distinct category versus brand training and tracking market narrative adoption including AI search.
#333 | Dave is joined by Clare Schmitt, a seasoned marketing leader and a member of our CMO community, to walk through what it actually takes to lead a rebrand at a mid-market B2B company. Clare shares how she partnered with her CEO to drive a full rebrand, from hiring a naming agency and running an RFP, to managing a small decision-making council, rolling out the new brand across every department, and measuring success post-launch. If you're a marketing leader thinking about a rebrand, this episode is a practical, top to bottom playbook from someone who just did it.
Timestamps
- (00:00) - Why rebrands come up and what this episode covers
- (02:58) - Clare's role at Piedmont Global and how the rebrand got started
- (05:13) - Should you hire a naming agency? What it costs and what they actually do
- (08:41) - Running an RFP and why they chose Focus Lab
- (09:27) - Why the CEO has to own the rebrand go-to-market
- (11:03) - Keeping the decision-making council small and who was in it
- (19:09) - How to get CEO buy-in: framing a rebrand as infrastructure, not a marketing initiative
- (21:46) - Timeline: how long a rebrand actually takes ($50M+ companies)
- (23:28) - The rollout: project management, execution, and building the website internally
- (25:25) - Measurement, post-launch QA, and tracking whether your narrative is sticking
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