8 Stakeholders Who Should be Involved in Every Rebrand

A rebrand is one of the most consequential initiatives a company can undertake. Done well, it clarifies who you are, sharpens how you compete, and aligns the organization around a shared direction. Done poorly, it becomes a surface-level refresh that creates confusion internally and fails to move the market.

Two of the most common mistakes we see are a lack of the right voices in the process and/or the hard questions not being asked.

From our perspective as a brand agency, successful rebrands are built by marketing leaders who intentionally involve a cross-section of stakeholders and subject matter experts early on. Not to design by committee but to uncover truth, pressure-test assumptions, and ensure the brand can actually live in the real world.

Here are the 8 stakeholders every marketing team should involve in a rebrand and the questions that matter most.

1. Executive Leadership

This one is obvious, but often mishandled. Executive leaders shouldn’t just “approve” the brand. They should help shape its ambition. Their role is to:

• Articulate where the business is going
• Clarify strategic priorities
• Ensure the brand reflects long-term vision, not short-term tactics

When leadership is engaged early, the brand becomes a strategic asset, not a marketing exercise.

Questions to ask:

• Where do you believe the company must be in 3–5 years to win?
• What do you worry our market misunderstands about us today?
• What can we no longer be if we’re going to reach our next phase of growth?
• If this rebrand is successful, what will it change about how we’re perceived?

2. Product or Solution Leaders

Your product leaders are closest to what you actually sell. And how that might be evolving. They help ensure the brand promise aligns with real capabilities and future roadmaps. They provide insight into:

• Differentiation that actually matters
• Where the product is headed (not just where it’s been)
• How innovation should show up in the brand story

Without this input, brands often overpromise, or miss what truly sets them apart.

Questions to ask:

• What truly differentiates our product today and what will differentiate it tomorrow?
• Where do customers get the most value from what we’ve built?
• What claims would you be uncomfortable making and why?
• How do you expect the product portfolio to change in the next few years?

3. Sales Leadership

Sales teams live at the intersection of brand, buyer reality, and revenue pressure. They hear objections, patterns, and confusion firsthand. Sales leaders can help answer:

• What buyers consistently misunderstand
• What messaging actually opens doors
• Where the current brand helps or hurts credibility

Involving sales ensures the brand doesn’t just sound good, but sells well.

Questions to ask:

• What objections come up most often in sales conversations?
• Where does our current messaging fall flat or feel unclear?
• What competitors do prospects most often compare us to—and why?
• What do buyers respond to emotionally, not just rationally?

4. Customer Success or Account Management

Customer-facing teams understand why customers stay, expand, or churn. They offer a critical post-sale perspective that’s often missing from brand conversations. They bring insight into:

• What customers value after the deal closes
• Where expectations break down
• Language customers naturally use to describe value

This perspective helps anchor the brand in lived experience, not just aspiration.

Questions to ask:

• Why do customers stay with us long-term?
• Where do customers feel surprised (positively or negatively)?
• What do customers say we do better than anyone else?
• Where does our brand promise create expectations we struggle to meet?

5. Customers or Users

Whether through interviews, advisory boards, or research, customer input is essential. Not to ask customers to design the brand, but to validate what resonates. Customers help you understand:

• How your brand is actually perceived
• What trust looks like in your category
• Which promises feel credible—and which don’t

Strong brands aren’t built for customers without listening to them.

Questions to ask:

• How would you describe us to a peer in your own words?
• What made you choose us initially?
• What nearly stopped you from choosing us?
• What would disappoint you most if we changed it?

6. Marketing and Communications Leaders

Your internal marketing team will carry the brand forward long after the rebrand launches. Involving stakeholders such as the CMO, director of PR, and VP of communications will ensure the strategy can be operationalized across channels. They help assess:

• How the brand will scale across campaigns and content
• What tools, systems, and guidelines are needed
• Where complexity needs to be reduced

Questions to ask:

• What parts of our current brand are hardest to execute consistently?
• Where do we overcomplicate our story?
• What guidance or tools are missing today?
• How should this brand scale across products, campaigns, and regions?

7. HR or People Operations

Brand doesn’t stop at the market and your customers. It lives inside the company. HR leaders help connect brand values to culture, hiring, and employee experience. HR’s role in a brand refresh includes:

• Translating brand values into behaviors
• Aligning employer brand and corporate brand
• Supporting internal rollout and adoption

Questions to ask:

• What values do we reward in practice (not just on paper)?
• Where does culture align with our stated brand, and where doesn’t it?
• How do candidates describe us today?
• What kind of employees do we need more of to grow?

8. Legal or Compliance

Often brought in too late, legal teams are essential for protecting the brand long-term—especially in regulated or global industries. They help ensure:

• Names, claims, and language are defensible
• Trademark risks are addressed early
• The brand can scale without legal friction
• Early collaboration prevents costly rework down the line.

Questions to ask:

• Are there words, claims, or categories we need to be cautious about?
• What naming or trademark risks should we consider early?
• Where have we encountered brand-related issues in the past?
• What regions or markets present unique compliance challenges?

Rebrands Succeed When the Right Voices Are Involved

The goal isn’t to include everyone. It’s to include the right stakeholders with the right questions, so the brand is strategic, credible, and built to last.

At Speak!, we’ve led rebrands for technology companies navigating growth, transformation, and category change. We know how to lead complex stakeholder engagement, extract real insight, and turn it into a brand that’s clear, confident, and commercially effective.

If you’re considering a rebrand and want a partner who knows how to guide the process, not just design the outcome, we’d love to talk.