4 tips for rebranding across a decentralized organization

Creating a recognizable identity can be a complex job during a rebrand.

This was a challenge facing the University of Georgia’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Over 18 months, the department worked with marketing partners and campus stakeholders to develop a sub-brand that could unite the college without erasing the identities of its individual programs. Their work recently won PR Daily’s 2026 Marketing Award in the “Rebrand or Refresh” category.

“The process included extensive outreach with departments, advisory groups, students, faculty, staff, and alumni…producing brand guidelines, training resources and experiential activations,” said Kyle Martin, senior director of communications and content strategy at UGA’s Franklin College. “These resources helped establish a consistent identity across the college.”

The team’s process shows how communicators can bring consistency to a large or decentralized organization.

Find an idea that connects everyone

Franklin has programs that span arts and humanities to physical and social sciences. The team needed an idea broad enough to represent all of them.

They found it in a small part of the college’s existing name: the “and” between “arts and sciences.”

The concept became a way to talk about connection rather than individual departments. The team also created a “spark” graphic that could be used across different materials to symbolize curiosity and collaboration, he said.

Organizations with many different teams or products don’t necessarily need to force everyone into the same story.

Look for a common idea that explains what those different pieces accomplish together.

Build the brand with people

The Franklin team spent much of its 18-month process gathering feedback through every department and stakeholder. This research helped the team come up with a design and messaging that felt both holistic and inclusive, Martin said.

Having that feedback and participation is critical when communicators need people across an organization to adopt a new identity, he said.

“It affirms the power of collaboration and shared purpose,” said Dean Anna Stenport. “Our sub-brand reflects who we are as a college — curious, creative and deeply multidisciplinary.”

For other organizations, it’s critical to bring people in early. Don’t wait until launch to introduce stakeholders to a new brand. Bringing them into the process sooner can uncover resistance, but also give people a stake in the finished product.

Make consistency easy

Franklin backed the new identity with over 100 customizable templates, training resources and a centralized web hub. The college also offered hands-on training to help departments put the system into practice, Martin said.

That turned the rebrand into something people could use in their everyday work.

Communicators should make it as easy as possible for teams to follow the brand. Templates, examples, training and easy access to assets are critical to smooth the transition.

Show the brand through real stories

Franklin made its identity tangible through stories about double and triple majors, study-abroad experiences and research that spills into multiple degree programs.

That gave the “and” concept evidence, Martin said.

It also helped the college use the same narrative for multiple goals, including recruitment, fundraising, student engagement and curricular promotion, he said. After its rebrand, the college gained a 24.8% increase in brand awareness along with widespread adoption across departments.

A brand idea becomes stronger when audiences repeatedly see people demonstrating it, Martin said. Instead of continually explaining what an organization stands for, communicators should find employees, customers, students or other stakeholders whose experiences prove that message.

That meant creating more than a new look, Martin said. It created a system that gave hundreds of different programs a clearer way to show how they fit into one larger story.