Modern-day marketing and advertising have become overrun with companies fighting to get consumer attention. Some tactics are clean and straightforward, some try too hard to be clever, and many try to rip off the success of others. In many cases, considerations for the core customer get lost or misguided based on the medium, to name but a few examples I often see in the wild: Social media icons placed on out of home media (billboards, bus shelters, magazines) that do nothing more than to say to the customer: "we're on Facebook." Congratulations, so are every other company. Long URLs on advertisements that very few people will recall 30 seconds later. White text on a bright background (or dark on dark, etc.) makes for hard to read ads as people (or moving objects with the advertisement) pass or maybe impossible for colorblind people.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending New York Advertising Week. Advertising Week is an organization that puts on conferences around the world for marketing professionals to learn from the industry’s best (commonly mistaken for AdWeek, the magazine!).

Change can be scary a thing, especially when it comes to your business. So when do you know if it’s the right time to change or tweak your brand identity? Should you make minor adjustments or do you require a complete redesign? A brand refresh could include anything from a logo update to a complete overhaul of the look and feel, new website, imagery, colours, communications, or consumer interaction. There isn’t a one “right” answer for every company, but there are some indicators that will help let you know it’s time for a refresh.