PODCAST · arts
A Change of Brand
by Blake Howard
A Change of Brand, produced by Matchstic, is a podcast about the world’s most loved consumer companies and their rebrand glory, drama, or disaster. In this series we will go deeper than color palettes and typography, talking with brand leaders and agency creatives to retell the story behind the change. Getting into the nitty-gritty, we learn about their leading-edge work, creative process, and approach to change management. Regardless of fame or fail, our mission is to tell these stories to educate and inspire others facing a change of brand.
Episodes
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Inside the Studio: Matchstic
We wrap up our "Inside the Studio" mini-series and pull back the curtain on Matchstic, a US-based brand consultancy with 20+ years of experience. We sit down with Creative Director Brit Blankenship and Messaging Director Cameron Lebrechet to explore what makes an ideal client, the mantras they…
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Inside the Studio: Motto
In this bonus episode, Blake sits down with Sunny Bonnell, co-founder of Motto, a brand transformation agency helping visionary leaders in the tech and innovation space. Sunny shares Motto’s 20-year evolution from a small Southern startup to a 50-person agency known for aligning leadership,...
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Inside the Studio: Smith & Diction
Is it possible to build a successful agency by giving away your process? In this bonus episode, we go inside the Philadelphia-based studio Smith & Diction with co-founders Chara and Mike Smith. Known for breaking agency norms, they’ve built a reputation by sharing their process and…
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Amazon with Arthur Foliard
Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, home to a vast catalogue of categories and sub-brands. But as the company expanded, its brand architecture became increasingly fragmented. To bring clarity and cohesion, Amazon turned to Koto. Executive Creative Director Arthur Foliard shares how he...
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Walmart with Tosh Hall and David Hartman
Walmart is one of the largest retailers in the world. With 4700 stores, thousands of fleet vehicles, and countless assets online, there’s no chance a rebrand could be an overnight flip of the switch. It would have to be an evolution. Tosh Hall, Chief Creative Officer at JKR, and David Hartman, VP...
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Utah Mammoth with Ben Barnes
How many projects require three brands to be developed within a year? For Utah’s newest professional sports team, they needed visuals for the announcement of getting a hockey team, the temporary Utah Hockey Club, and finally the Utah Mammoth. Ben Barnes, Senior Brand Director at the Utah Jazz and...
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Jaguar with Laura Ries and James Morris
One of the most sensational rebrands of 2024 was Jaguar, the British luxury car brand that seemed to leave their legacy on the side of the road. While the uproar of negative reactions felt unanimous, a few brave souls dared to call it genius. In this episode we hear from brand positioning expert...
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Manischewitz with Lisa Smith
Manischewitz is a beloved staple in any Jewish pantry. However, both the brand and the Kosher food market were on the decline. Can a rebrand not only lift them both back up, but rekindle joy and connection too? Lisa Smith, former Executive Creative Director at JKR, speaks to how she and her team...
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Branding in the Age of AI with Teemu Suviala
AI has been making waves across industries–and for much longer than we think. It’s weird, messy, and maybe magic. As innovation accelerates, can the branding world truly embrace AI without losing the human touch? Teemu Suviala, Global Chief Creative Officer at Landor, takes a deep dive into AI's...
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Herman Miller with Garrett Corcoran
Changes don’t have to be drastic to be delightful. Sometimes all it takes is a little rearranging and refining, like furniture design legend Herman Miller, which unveiled their first rebrand in almost 25 years. Take a seat as Garrett Corcoran, Design Director at Order, shares how he and his team...
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Humane World for Animals with Bethany Lesko
With a muddled awareness, misperceptions, and slowing donation growth, the Humane Society of the United States knew that after 70+ years it was time for a change–and that started with the name. But renaming takes courage. Bethany Lesko, Partner at Lippincott, shares how she and her team…
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New York City FC with Milo Kowalski and Justin Au
As New York City FC approached their 10th season, the club set its sights on cementing its place among the city’s most iconic teams. But in a city of strong opinions, it wouldn’t be easy. Soccer supporters are famously passionate and loyal, while New Yorkers take spirited to another level. Milo...
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PayPal with Andrea Trabucco-Campos
Rebranding any global brand is a challenge, but especially in fintech where trust is non-negotiable. How do you approach rebranding a financial giant like PayPal? Andrea Trabucco-Campos, Partner at Pentagram, reveals how trust wasn’t just a goal for the brand’s audiences, but was a guiding...
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Bonus: Best and Worst Brand Writing of 2024 with Carissa Justice
We’re stepping into the overlooked and underappreciated world of verbals to reflect on the best (and worst) brand writing of 2024. From one-off campaigns to full verbal identities, which brands made this year’s naughty and nice lists? To weigh in on the good, the bad, and the missed opportunities...
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Pepsi with Mauro Porcini
When Pepsi’s overly philosophical rebrand launched in 2009, it was a real head scratcher for average consumers and design aficionados alike. While their 125th anniversary provided an opportunity for change, how do you even begin to rebrand such a global company like Pepsi? In this masterclass on...
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EA Sports FC with Nils Leonard
When EA Sports and FIFA parted ways in 2023, there was just one minor problem: the popular soccer video game’s brand was entirely wrapped up in the FIFA name. Nils Leonard, Co-Founder of Uncommon Creative Studio, shares how he and his team approached creating a FIFA-less brand that honored the...
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Twitter vs. X with Armin Vit & Jason Cieslak
Twitter’s overnight transformation into X is still a mystery. What would cause a brand to take such extreme measures as to shed its identity completely? And what lessons, if any, can we take from this massive Change of Brand? Co-hosts Blake Howard and Tracy Clark go head to head in our first ever...
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Reddit with Natasha Jen
With their rising success and a cult-like following, Reddit had ambitions of enhancing their global presence. But would the desire for change push too far for fans? And would their beloved mascot, Snoo, become a casualty? Natasha Jen, Partner at Pentagram, demonstrates how it’s possible for a...
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RISE with Gavin Hurrell
The cannabis industry is basically the Wild West. In an emerging market, how do you execute a rebrand for a dispensary while juggling state-by-state regulations and varied public perception? Gavin Hurrell, Creative Director at Turner Duckworth, shares how he and his team approached their work for...
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Are Script Logos Dead? with James Bowie & James Edmondson
In 2023, we saw Eddie Bauer and Johnson & Johnson retire their widely recognizable script logo for a basic sans serif type, causing a sweep of panic in the design community. Are all script logos doomed? To find out whether this is an actual trend, we consulted type experts James Bowie, Fast…
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U.S. Army with Matt Egan and Jason Miller
You thought your clients were tough? Try having a branch of the military as a client. To combat their brand and recruitment challenges, the U.S. Army enlisted the help of Siegel+Gale, a partner within Team DDB. Matt Egan, Managing Director, Strategy and Jason Miller, Creative Director at...
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LG with David Stevens and Tom Carey
LG is an electronics giant with one of the most instantly recognizable logos. But with decades of brand equity in their smiling icon and “Life’s Good” tagline, how do you signal a shift in the marketplace without throwing away everything you’ve built? David Stevens, Executive Strategy Director…
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Formula 1 with Mike Reed
Once F1 was acquired by a mass media company in 2017, they faced a crossroads that many legacy brands face: How can they honor their storied past while attracting a new, more global audience? In our most requested episode yet, we’re zooming in on verbal identity with Mike Reed, Co-Founder and...
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Glassdoor with Deanna German
After Glassdoor’s acquisition of Fishbowl in 2023, they enlisted the help of Deanna German, Creative Director at Koto, and her team to reposition them as more than just a workplace insight platform, but a place for community conversation. The catch: Glassdoor requested an open design process,...
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Minecraft with Harry Elonen
As a highly successful and ever-expanding company, the Minecraft brand began spawning major inconsistencies as it was built over time; block by block. But in 2022, they released a brand update that tidied up the logo system and individual identities for their ever-growing amount of sub-brands,...
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Nokia with Lee Coomber
Despite being known as a B2C telecom giant turned dying star, Nokia’s focus has been on developing B2B network technology for the past decade. For Nokia’s first major rebrand in 45 years, it was crucial to be seen as the digital innovator they are, not the mobile phone company they were. In this...
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Bolt with Arthur Foliard
Bolt, an online check-out platform, debuted its first brand refresh in 2023 and ended up sparking a larger conversation around originality. Are the logos being designed today really that new, or just an echo of something that has come before them? Arthur Foliard, Creative Director at Koto, shares...
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Baskin-Robbins with Ryan Brazelton
Despite being associated with cherished childhood memories, Baskin-Robbins began to feel frozen in time. Domestically the brand felt dated, but in international markets the line was out the door. Baskin-Robbins needed to create a signature that was strong enough to be global while domestically...
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Going with Eric Ng and Andie Wexler
A name change is one of the most extreme versions of change for a brand. So when travel company Scott’s Cheap Flights decided to depart from the founder’s namesake, people questioned why such a successful brand would bother with a name change at all. The 2022 rebrand was led by DesignStudio, and...
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City of Florence with BT Harman
(Not so) lovingly referred to as the Florence Fiasco, the city of Florence, Alabama’s 2022 rebrand often tops the list for the worst logo launch in recent history. But it’s not just the logo that caused an uproar - the entire rebrand process became a local scandal full of lies, cover-ups and...
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Visa with Rob Duncan
Around 2020, Visa wanted to reposition their brand for the digital economy and become more purpose driven. However, this story is more about honesty and how direct an agency can be with a client. Rob Duncan, Partner and Creative Director at Mucho, shares that there is a right balance between…
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Kraft Mac & Cheese with Terry Sieting
Despite the success of selling over one million boxes of macaroni and cheese, Kraft wanted to position their signature pasta dish as a timeless comfort food for all people while creating a more contemporary look. In this episode, we catch up with Terry Sieting, Senior Designer at JKR to get the...
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Zapier with Michael Jeter
Brands don’t exist in a vacuum. Sometimes world events change the way the world will look at your brand. And a change is needed. As bay-area tech startup Zapier prepared to launch its brand refresh, a new symbol making headlines would create a moral dilemma. Michael Jeter, former Creative…
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Instacart with Daniel Renda & Kevin Byrd
We’re kicking off Season 4 with a closer look at Instacart, which has been the leader in grocery delivery services since its early start-up days. But after about 10 years in the market, their brand was feeling a bit stale. Or wilted. In 2022, they started to dangle a new logo and look and feel…
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Bonus: Naming Wins and Fails with Rob Meyerson
Name changes are possibly one of the hardest things a brand can endure. With over a million trademarks filed annually with the United States Patent and Trademark office, but only 170,000 English words in common use today, names are only going to get more creative - for better or worse. In this...
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Bugatti with Juan Barrios and Linda Marquardt
There aren’t many automotive brands mightier than Bugatti. So when the manufacturer of multi-million dollar supercars handed the keys to the brand over to Head of Strategy Linda Marquardt, Associate Creative Director Juan Barrios, and their team at Interbrand, it was a big moment. In this…
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Sprite with Chris Garvey
Sprite is one of the world’s most popular soft drinks, with a style you can spot a mile away. But despite its signature look, the refreshing soda needed to find a way to stay fresh with a young new audience. In this episode, we go behind the scenes with Chris Garvey, Executive Creative Director…
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M&Ms with Kristie Malivindi
M&Ms has a lot going for it — cute, memorable characters, a wide range of flavors, not to mention a storied brand over 80 years strong. But how could Mars Inc. expand the candy brand’s identity beyond its sweet core elements? Kristie Malivindi, design director at Jones, Knowles, Ritchie, catches…
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PBS with Bogdan Geana
Retooling an American institution is no easy task — just ask Bogdan Geana, partner at Lippincott. On the heels of a milestone 50th anniversary, Public Broadcasting Service tapped the Lippincott team to create a refreshing evolution for the PBS identity, from brand voice to ensuring its signature...
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Why Sports Rebrands Are So Hard with Jon Contino
For decades, some of America’s most beloved sports teams played with imagery trading on outdated, offensive racial stereotypes. It wasn’t until very recently — with the public calling foul and sponsors pulling their support — that some sports brands relented and rebranded. In this episode of A...
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US Open with Sagi Haviv
Everyone loves a comeback story, especially in sports. The US Open is the “big show” for tennis players and spectators alike, its brand is seemingly untouchable. In fact, its identity remained essentially unchanged since 1997. That is until the renowned Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv served up a…
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CVS Health with Howard Belk
With business booming and its national footprint expanding like wildfire, CVS seemingly had it all. But the pharmacy giant wanted to make a more meaningful impact on the future of health, from removing all tobacco products from its shelves to solidifying its name (switching from CVS Caremark to…
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London 2012 Olympics with Sairah Ashman
The Olympic Games have come to represent the best of the best — incomparable athletics, state-of-the-art facilities, host cities that pull out all the stops, and of course, outstanding branding. In 2012 London hosted the Summer Games and wanted to capture the world’s attention with an identity…
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Maker's Mark with Jared Britton
Although its identity wasn’t on the rocks, iconic bourbon brand Maker’s Mark needed to better connect with the Millennial crowd. We spoke with Creative Director Jared Britton at branding firm Turner Duckworth, who worked directly with the distillery founder’s grandson to refresh a brand that’s…
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Uber with Amanda Munilla
From a logo emulating its sleek black cars to an abstract representation of “bits and atoms,” Uber’s brand identity has taken a few detours over the years. We catch up with Amanda Munilla, strategy lead at Wolff Olins, to get the inside track on how the global branding agency created the latest…
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Bonus: Best and Worst Brand Launches with Armin Vit
The launch tactics of a rebrand can make or break the success of the change. In this bonus episode, host Blake Howard and Brand New’s Armin Vit have a casual nerding-out as they each share their best and worst rebrand launch examples. Brands covered in this episode: London 2012 Olympics by Wolf...
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Sweetgreen with Tom Wilder and Sanuk Kim
In the final episode of Season 2, we learn how Sweetgreen, a brand raising the bar on fast to-go and good to eat food, found a way to keep it real with a reimagined brand identity. COLLINS Creative Director - now turned Sweetgreen Executive Creative Director, Tom Wilder - and COLLINS Senior...
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Carnegie Hall with Jennifer Kinon
Carnegie Hall, the renowned 130-year-old music venue and pride of New York City, conducted a brand refresh in early 2020. All was going seemingly well until the pandemic stole the spotlight and shuttered the Hall’s doors for nearly 12 months. Jennifer Kinon, co-founder of Champions Design, gives…
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Tripadvisor with Matt Van Leeuwen
Just like traveling, the creative process can be an adventure where not every journey is the same. Tripadvisor's 2020 refresh is no exception, and Matt van Leeuwen of Mother Design serves as our tour guide for this Change of Brand that veered off the beaten path. Matt led the work, which had…
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Kia with Michael Keller
How can a brand go from bargain to beauty? In this episode, Michael Keller of Blackspace, gives us a look under the hood of the recent KIA rebrand and how his work redefined what it means to be an automobile manufacturer of the future. To see the change of brand for yourself, visit...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A Change of Brand, produced by Matchstic, is a podcast about the world’s most loved consumer companies and their rebrand glory, drama, or disaster. In this series we will go deeper than color palettes and typography, talking with brand leaders and agency creatives to retell the story behind the change. Getting into the nitty-gritty, we learn about their leading-edge work, creative process, and approach to change management. Regardless of fame or fail, our mission is to tell these stories to educate and inspire others facing a change of brand.
HOSTED BY
Blake Howard
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does A Change of Brand have?
A Change of Brand currently has 68 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is A Change of Brand about?
A Change of Brand, produced by Matchstic, is a podcast about the world’s most loved consumer companies and their rebrand glory, drama, or disaster. In this series we will go deeper than color palettes and typography, talking with brand leaders and agency creatives to retell the story behind the...
How often does A Change of Brand release new episodes?
A Change of Brand has 68 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to A Change of Brand?
You can listen to A Change of Brand on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts A Change of Brand?
A Change of Brand is created and hosted by Blake Howard.
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