How to Navigate a Rebrand with Clare Schmitt
The Dave Gerhardt Show (from Exit Five)
Timeline: realistic rebrand duration
Clare gives timing expectations—typically six to nine months for mid-market rebrands, with exceptions noted.
#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
Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/
***
Brought to you by:
AirOps - The content engineering platform that helps marketers create and maintain high-quality, on-brand content that wins AI search. Go to airops.com/exitfive to start creating content that reflects your expertise, stays true to your brand, and is engineered for performance across human and AI discovery.
Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive.
Convertr - The enterprise lead data management platform that sits between your lead sources and your CRM, automatically validating, enriching, and standardizing every lead before it touches your systems. Check them out at convertr.io/exitfive.
Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand generation agency that helps high-growth cybersecurity, DevOps, and enterprise software companies drive more pipeline through AI SEO, paid media, and go-to-market engineering. Visit compoundgrowthmarketing.com and tell them Dave sent you.
***
Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.
- They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
- Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.
- Visit hatch.fm to learn more
The AI-powered Podcast Player
