How to Navigate a Rebrand with Clare Schmitt — The Dave Gerhardt Show (from Exit Five)

#333 | Dave is joined by Clare Schmitt, a seasoned marketing leader and a member of our CMO community, to walk through what it actually takes to lead a rebrand at a mid-market B2B company. Clare shares how she partnered with her CEO to drive a full rebrand, from hiring a naming agency and running an RFP, to managing a small decision-making council, rolling out the new brand across every department, and measuring success post-launch. If you're a marketing leader thinking about a rebrand, this episode is a practical, top to bottom playbook from someone who just did it.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Why rebrands come up and what this episode covers
(01:40) - Clare's role at Piedmont Global and how the rebrand got started
(03:55) - Should you hire a naming agency? What it costs and what they actually do
(07:23) - Running an RFP and why they chose Focus Lab
(08:09) - Why the CEO has to own the rebrand go-to-market
(09:45) - Keeping the decision-making council small and who was in it
(15:25) - How to get CEO buy-in: framing a rebrand as infrastructure, not a marketing initiative
(18:02) - Timeline: how long a rebrand actually takes ($50M+ companies)
(19:44) - The rollout: project management, execution, and building the website internally
(21:41) - Measurement, post-launch QA, and tracking whether your narrative is sticking

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