Welcome to Archangel's blog - Guest Author: Chloe Pickering of Osara Health
In the fast-paced world of digital startups and scaleups, building a resilient brand is crucial. Working in a scaleup no matter whether you're a founder or an employee, we often become deeply attached to our brand, viewing it as a reflection of our mission and values. However, there are times when rebranding becomes necessary to ensure future growth and align better with the needs of our audience. At Osara Health, we recently underwent a rebrand, moving away from our original identity as CancerAid after 7 years.
We’ll share our reasoning for rebranding later in this article, but first, here are the three key questions we asked ourselves before embarking on this journey:
- What are the key reasons for rebranding?
- Has our ideal customer profile (ICP) changed?
- Are we pigeonholed as something we've outgrown?
After addressing these fundamental questions, other important factors must be considered, including brand identity, the competitive landscape, and implementation. Future proofing your brand is essential.
Case studies show that even the largest companies can get rebranding wrong, as seen with the Gap logo redesign fail in 2010, among many others. Recognising common pitfalls during the rebranding process is essential. Here are a few to avoid when considering whether a rebrand is right for your startup:
- Growing Tired of Your Existing Branding
It’s understandable to feel that something isn’t working and grow tired of your current branding. However, this is not a valid reason to embark on a rebrand. Consistency is crucial in building customer loyalty and brand recognition. Frequent changes can confuse your audience and dilute your brand’s impact. If your branding still effectively communicates your company’s values and resonates with your target market, it’s better to focus on strengthening it rather than changing it out of boredom. Consider asking yourself: Have we asked our customers how they feel about our brand? How much have we invested in marketing?
- Chasing Design Trends OR Changing Personal Preferences
This can sometimes go hand in hand with point number one. Rebranding solely to follow the latest design trends can be a risky move. Trends are, by nature, fleeting and subjective, and a brand built around them may quickly become outdated. More importantly, chasing trends can lead to a loss of brand identity, leaving your audience unsure of what your company stands for. Rebranding should be driven by strategic business objectives rather than personal tastes. Any rebrand should reflect the company’s mission and goals, ensuring that it supports, rather than distracts from, the company’s overarching strategy.
3. Masking Underlying issues
If a startup is facing challenges unrelated to branding—such as poor product quality, operational inefficiencies, or customer service issues—a rebrand won’t solve these problems. In fact, rebranding in an attempt to distract from these issues can backfire, leading to further erosion of customer trust. It’s crucial to address the root causes of any business challenges directly before considering a rebrand.
Twelve Months On: Why We Rebranded, the Challenges We Faced, and the Lessons We Learned
The Why
Engaging our end-user
As a B2B organisation we have two customer groups - those who buy our products and service (enterprise customers) and those who engage with the product and service (our participants). One of the most compelling reasons came directly from our participants during voice-of-customer (VOC) discussions and feedback sessions. We learned that having "cancer" in our brand name was triggering for many. If you haven't personally experienced a cancer diagnosis, it can be difficult to imagine. Participants expressed that they are more than just their diagnosis and believed our brand should reflect the comprehensive support we provide. To provide some context, those facing a diagnosis are often overwhelmed by numerous medical appointments, treatment information, and cancer-related questions. With the reality of their diagnosis already weighing heavily on them, many participants felt consumed by it. What we offer is a program that addresses the holistic side of a diagnosis, helping to manage the myriad other impacts cancer can have on one’s life. Participants expressed that they are more than just their diagnosis and believed our brand should reflect the comprehensive support we provide. This feedback highlighted the importance of a customer-first approach, focusing on the user experience and ensuring our brand name complemented, rather than overshadowed, our mission.
Strategic Reasons
As we expanded into the U.S. market, it became clear that we needed a brand name that could resonate more broadly and position us for future expansion into other disease verticals. We also needed a name that better reflected our evolution into a digital health company. Our product had outgrown its original 2016 direct-to-consumer model and transformed into an enterprise solution. Our new brand had to offer the flexibility to grow and adapt to new challenges while still honouring our core mission.
Notable Challenges
Lesson one: Internal Buy-In Is Crucial for a Successful Rebrand
One of the biggest hurdles was bringing our founders on board with the rebrand. There was an understandable attachment to the original brand—CancerAid was, after all, something they had built from the ground up, a brand associated with the early days of success and notably linked to the achievement of an initial investment from ‘Shark Tank’. However, as our product evolved from a direct-to-consumer app into a clinically-backed program now sold to enterprise customers, it became evident that the brand needed to evolve as well. Convincing the team of this necessity required a clear communication strategy, outlining how the rebrand would align with our long-term goals.
Lesson two: Coordination Across Teams Ensures a Smooth Transition
The rebrand required all hands on deck. For example our health coaches, who were the front-facing role for participants, had to manage questions about how the rebrand would impact access. The development team had to re-prioritise the product roadmap, doing the heavy lifting to ensure a smooth transition. Our customer success team faced inquiries from existing customers. To ease the transition we developed a detailed project timeline, key messaging, and actionable steps for each department. Navigating the different messaging requirements and priorities across teams was a delicate balancing act. A rebrand can only be effective if it’s a team effort, with the entire organisation singing the same tune.
Lesson three: Keep Your External Stakeholders Informed and Involved
Our customers were arguably the most important stakeholders in this process. At Osara, delighting our customers is everyone’s responsibility, so we made sure to keep them informed and involved throughout the transition. This was particularly crucial for our enterprise customers who had just launched our programs within their organisations. We knew that the rebrand might be a 12-month process before we were operating as we envisioned. To ease this transition, we developed promotion toolkits and tailored onboarding strategies to ensure the rebrand was as seamless as possible for both customers and their end users.
Lesson four: Justify the Rebrand to Your Investors with Clear Long-Term Value
A significant challenge was justifying the time, effort, and resources required for the rebrand to our investors. The scale of this project was immense, and we needed to ensure that our investors recognized the long-term value of rebranding. We are fortunate to have very supportive investors who understood and appreciated the importance of this transition and most specifically the strategic reasons for our ‘why’.
Lesson five: Be Prepared to Pivot—Challenges Will Arise
Despite multiple trademark searches clearing our initial new name, we encountered an unexpected block during the United States trademark community consultation process just four weeks before our launch date. This obstacle forced us to pivot quickly and modify our name, posing a challenge that tested our team's resilience. In retrospect, this pivot not only strengthened our commitment to the rebrand but also reinforced our ability to adapt and overcome unforeseen challenges.
Lesson six: A rebrand can help build cohesion within a company, creating a workplace that people are proud to be associated with.
The rebrand has allowed us to reassess and enhance our offerings. It has opened new doors in other regions and product perspectives, setting the stage for Osara Health to become a leader in the digital health space. We’re proud of the brand we’ve built, and we’re excited about the opportunities ahead.
The Aftermath
Continuity and Change
It’s important to note that while we refreshed our brand, the product itself remained the same. Our expansion into the U.S. market continues, and our mission-driven approach remains at the heart of everything we do - to empower those affected by cancer to thrive through clinical expertise, empathy, and human connection. The rebrand provided an opportunity to refine our product stack and introduce new innovations, including our recently launched Version 2.0 app designed to support users throughout their cancer journey.
If you're a startup considering a rebrand, remember that it’s more than just a name change—it's an opportunity to evolve, strengthen your brand, and better serve your customers. I’m happy to share more insights or spend some time discussing our journey. Reach out to me if you’d like to chat!
