As ad giants merge and markets shift, agencies turn to brand refreshes

In an industry poised for the mega-merger of IPG and Omnicom, agencies are increasingly rethinking their identities. In April, FCB Group India rebranded itself as FCB India, renaming its sub-brand as FCB Neo in the process. Earlier, in February, Omnicom Group’s media agency OMD Worldwide unveiled a new positioning — “We Create What’s Next”—and a revised red logo. BBDO has also refreshed its brand this year, adopting a new visual identity.

Read More: FCB Group India rebrands to FCB India, unveils a unified agency identity

The moves are part of a broader wave sweeping the agency world, as firms reposition themselves to stand out in a competitive market and prepare for a digital-first era. MullenLowe introduced its new identity and positioning in 2023, seeking to unify its presence across 57 markets with a logo resembling an octopus.

Agencies including Leo Burnett Orchard, m/Six, Ogilvy, Mindshare, Madison World and Havas have also undertaken brand refreshes in recent years.

“When I was active in the advertising circuit, it was a common joke that the consumer is not bored with the brand, the brand manager is,” said Meenakshi Menon, founder of GenSxty Tribe, a platform for senior citizens. Menon noted that brand managers often pursue refreshes to present clients with something new.

“In today’s day and age of rapid tech advances, there’s a need for agencies to be seen as being with the times in order to be relevant,” said Prathap Suthan, managing partner and chief creative officer at BangInTheMiddle, an ad agency.

(Image Source: Drupal)

(Image Source: Web)

Suthan added, “Today, there are different verticals in agencies. While an agency can always offer advertising at the big picture level, there are also strengths required in different areas, especially digital, social, experiential, and virtual reality.” He emphasized the need for legacy agencies to adapt to clients and audiences, saying, “When working with a brand that is only 10 years old, a 110-year-old agency, despite its experience, has to be as young as the brand and the audiences that it is catering to.”

Krishna Iyer, director of marketing at MullenLowe Lintas Group, noted the distinctions between refreshes at ad agencies and media agencies. “For an ad agency, a refresh is like rewriting its own brand story—new narratives, fresh creative energy, and a redefined promise. Media agencies focus on evolving their tech, automation, and data-driven capabilities,” he said.

(Image Source: The Branding Journal)

(Image Source: The Branding Journal)

At Madison World, which undertook its first brand refresh in nearly 25 years, the process was driven by internal and external changes. “The challenge was to come up with a fresh, future-focussed identity, while maintaining our values that have held the agency in good stead over the years,” said Lara Balsara Vajifdar, executive director of Madison World.

For agencies, a successful brand refresh can serve as a proof point for clients, Iyer explained. “If we can rethink and reposition our own brand in a cluttered, competitive environment, imagine what we can do for yours.’’ He added that “a refresh showcases an agency’s ability to think ahead, challenge norms, and craft a distinct identity—something every brand aspires to. MullenLowe’s 2023 refresh, for instance, wasn’t just about a new look; it was a statement about redefining creativity in a digital-first world, embracing ‘Challenger Thinking’ as its core DNA.”

Menon identified two types of refreshes: “one was a simple refresh by introducing a new logo or tagline” and another driven by “structural changes, driven by ownership changes.”

(Image Source: The Branding Journal)

(Image Source: The Branding Journal)

Indeed, ownership transitions often prompt rebranding. In 2018, WPP merged Y&R and VML to form VMLY&R, and in 2023, merged VMLY&R with Wunderman Thompson to create VML. KV Sridhar, global chief creative officer at Nihilent, noted that such changes can reshape a company’s philosophy.

“When Chaitra became Leo Burnett, it adopted all the processes of the latter. That is the correct way of rebranding, or brand refresh,” said Kiran Khalap, co-founder and managing director at Chlorophyll Brand and Communications Consultancy.

Yet brand equity can be fragile. Sridhar pointed to Ulka, which lost some of its brand equity after multiple mergers and name changes, despite retaining the FCB Ulka name in India.

(Image Source: YouTube)

There are risks to rebranding, Iyer noted, as agencies may alienate long-term clients and employees or be dismissed as “just another agency with a new coat of paint.” Poorly executed refreshes can be costly, as illustrated by GAP’s short-lived 2010 logo change and Tropicana’s packaging redesign in 2009, both of which triggered consumer backlash.

“The lesson? A refresh must be more than skin-deep—it has to resonate,” Iyer said.

There are also tensions between global consistency and local relevance. “A one-size-fits-all approach can dilute local equity, making it crucial for agencies to strike a balance between global consistency and regional relevance,” Iyer explained, pointing to MullenLowe’s decision to retain market-specific identities such as MullenLowe Lintas in India.

Suthan, however, argued that agencies should remain focused on the quality of their output. “An agency is known for its work, and not much attention is paid towards its logo or its name. If agencies can deliver great looking work for the current age and today’s audiences, they are as good as anybody else.”

For some, mergers and rebrands are a way to signal new capabilities to clients. “When such mergers take place, it makes sense to refresh the brand to inform the marketplace about the change,” said Gowthaman Ragothaman, founding chief creative officer at Aqilliz, a digital marketing platform.

But there are operational challenges that come with these shifts, Sridhar warned, including changes in resource pools that may affect client relationships.

As agencies prepare for a future defined by technological change and the demands of a younger, digitally native audience, the wave of brand refreshes underscores a shared goal across the industry: to remain relevant, distinct, and ready for what comes next.

Read More: OMD Worldwide undergoes brand refresh