The short answer
A good rebranding agency starts by asking whether you need a rebrand at all. Before anyone shows you a logo, it wants to know what changed in your business, writes the scope down and explains how the new brand will reach every touchpoint, including your website. If the name changes, it tells you who checks that the name is available as a trademark with Colombia's Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (SIC) and as a domain.
To choose between agencies, compare three things: how concrete the proposed diagnosis is, which deliverables the proposal actually lists, and whether the published work shows complete rebrands or only visual pieces.
First, decide what kind of change you need
Many companies look for a rebranding agency when the job is smaller or different. What changes decides the budget, the timeline and the kind of team you need.
- Rebrand. Position, identity and sometimes the name change across every touchpoint. It fits when the offer, audience or company structure has changed (a merger, a new market) and the current brand can't carry it.
- Brand refresh. The expression changes: logo refinement, typography, color, imagery and templates. The name and promise stay. It fits when people understand your offer but the identity looks dated or inconsistent. See brand refresh.
- Brand repositioning. Market position and messages change; visuals only if the new position needs them. It fits when buyers misunderstand what you do or compare you with the wrong alternatives. See brand repositioning.
A new logo on its own is a redesign, not a rebrand. If an agency proposes a full rebrand without asking what changed in your company, that tells you something about how it works.
What a rebranding agency should deliver
Agencies name their deliverables differently, but a complete rebrand should cover these stages, each with its own sign-off:
- Diagnosis and research. A map of the current brand (audiences, offer, names, visual assets, website, channels) and evidence of what customers understand today. The output is a decision: what changes, what stays and why.
- Positioning and messaging. Who the brand is for, what it's compared with and why it's the better choice, turned into a message hierarchy your sales team can use.
- Naming, if the name changes. Options with decision criteria and an early availability check as a trademark and as a domain. See brand naming.
- Identity system. Verbal and visual identity tested on your company's real applications, not only on presentation mockups.
- Guidelines and files. Usage rules, editable source files and priority templates, so your team doesn't need the agency for every piece.
- Rollout plan. What changes, in what order and who does it: website, profiles, sales documents, invoices, signage, packaging.
If the proposal stops at step 5, ask who owns step 6. Without it, the new brand lives in a PDF while the old one stays on your website.
How to read a portfolio when you need a rebrand
A portfolio of good-looking logos doesn't tell you whether an agency can change the brand of a company that already exists. Look for:
- The before and the why. The previous brand, what was wrong with it and what was deliberately kept. If you only see the after, you can't judge the thinking.
- Rollout beyond the logo. Website, documents, signage, product. A rebrand is tested in use, not in the presentation.
- New brand or existing brand. Creating a brand from scratch and changing one that already has customers, recognition and search traffic are different jobs. Ask which case studies are which.
- Who did what. Ask which part of each case the team you'd work with actually did, and whether any result was measured.
Questions to ask before you hire
- How do you decide whether I need a rebrand, a refresh or a repositioning?
- What does the diagnosis include, and who supplies the evidence: you or my team?
- Who does the day-to-day work, and who only presents it?
- How many revision rounds does each stage include, and on which real applications will you test the identity?
- If the name changes, who runs the trademark search and who does the legal review?
- Does the rollout include the website? If the domain changes, who plans the redirects?
- Which files do I receive at the end, in which formats, and what does the contract say about usage rights?
- What does the schedule look like, and which approvals depend on my team?
Red flags
- You see logos before anyone understands the business.
- The proposal promises "full branding" without a list of deliverables.
- A new name is presented with no word about trademark availability.
- The price isn't broken down by stage, so you can't phase or compare it.
- There's no plan for the website or for the traffic you get from Google today.
- Sales results or Google rankings are guaranteed.
How to compare rebranding proposals
Don't compare headline prices: two proposals with the same title can cover very different scopes. Ask every agency for the same breakdown and put them side by side.
| Item | What to look for | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnosis | Named sources: interviews, a review of the current brand, customer evidence | "Research" with no method or deliverable |
| Positioning | A positioning statement and a message hierarchy | Just a tagline |
| Naming | Criteria, options and trademark and domain checks | Names with no availability check |
| Identity and applications | Directions tested on your real materials and a closed list of applications | Generic mockups and "all necessary pieces" |
| Guidelines and files | Usage rules, editable source files, templates and written usage terms | A PDF with no editable files or clear terms |
| Website | A defined website scope, or one explicitly quoted separately | The website isn't mentioned |
| Migration and SEO | A URL inventory and redirect plan if the domain changes | No mention of search |
| Revisions and approvals | Number of rounds and who signs off each stage | "Unlimited" changes with no process |
| Schedule | Dates per stage and what depends on your team | A single delivery date |
Colombia specifics: trademark and domain
If the rebrand changes the name or the logo, check and protect both before you announce them.
Trademark registration with the SIC
In Colombia, trademarks are registered with the SIC. Its basic trademark information page (in Spanish) says:
- Signs perceptible by the senses can be registered, such as words, images, shapes and sounds, provided they are distinguishable from trademarks already registered or applied for.
- A lawyer isn't required to file. An individual can apply directly, and a company through its legal representative or an appointed agent.
- The application lists the goods or services under the Nice International Classification and can cover several classes.
- The application is published in the Industrial Property Gazette, and anyone with a legitimate interest has 30 business days to oppose it. The right is secured once the resolution granting the registration is final, not when the application is accepted.
- A registration lasts 10 years from the grant. Renewal is filed in the six months before it expires, with a six-month grace period afterwards.
To check before you decide, the SIC's search page points to its SIPI database of trademarks registered and pending in Colombia, plus international databases if you sell abroad. For protection in other countries, the SIC describes the Madrid Protocol route, where each designated country decides whether to grant protection.
The SIC also runs free industrial property orientation sessions on using the database and filing, and states that they don't include legal advice or run searches for you. A search shows what exists; deciding whether your name is distinct enough from a similar mark, and which classes to file in, is a call to make with a trademark lawyer or industrial property agent.
Ask each agency when this check happens in the naming process. The sensible answer is before anyone designs an identity around the name.
The .co domain
According to the official .CO registry, .co was originally assigned as Colombia's country code domain, Colombia's ICT ministry (MinTIC) oversees its policies, and domains are registered through accredited registrars, not directly with the registry. Check the domain and social handles at the same time as the trademark, and secure them before the announcement. Keep the old domain: you need it for redirects.
Protecting search rankings through a name or domain change
A rebrand that changes the domain is also a website migration. Google's guide to site moves with URL changes comes down to this: map every old URL to its new address with permanent server-side redirects (301 or 308), keep them generally for at least a year, and submit a Change of Address in Search Console. It also says to "expect temporary fluctuation in site ranking during the move."
One detail matters for rebrands: Google recommends making changes one at a time, for example moving to the new domain first and changing the layout afterwards. If your rebrand brings a new name, domain and website together, ask the agency how it will sequence them or manage the risk. The full process is on our website migration page.
How Dardo can help
Dardo is a three-person studio in Bogotá, founded in 2026 and led by its founder, Nicolás Cerón. You work directly with the people doing the work, in English or Spanish. On a rebrand, we start by deciding the scope, and sometimes the answer is a refresh or a repositioning. Our estimate separates research, strategy, naming, identity, applications, website work and rollout, so you can see each part. If the name changes, domain and trademark questions get assigned owners, with review by a qualified trademark lawyer, and the migration is planned alongside the website.
To be clear: our published case, A medio tono, covers naming and a website for a new school, not the rebrand of an established company. If you're comparing agencies, tell us what needs to change and we'll send a scoped proposal you can set beside the others.