A successful brand lift: change as little as necessary. And no more.

And a few more words about what a good lift truly is. It’s not always about making a brand look more contemporary. It should solve a specific problem: improve the clarity of the brand identity, adapt it to new communication channels, streamline the offering, or ensure that the image reflects what the company has actually become over the years.

The US Open is an example of a brand that didn’t need to change its core meaning.

For years, the tournament used a distinctive motif of a flaming tennis ball. The symbol effectively connected tennis with the movement, speed, and energy of the event. The problem, therefore, wasn’t the idea itself, but rather the changing environment, design, and trends.

The previous logo, which had been in use for about 20 years, consisted of an illustrative flaming ball, thin serif typography, and a red arc. With the growing importance of digital, this design became increasingly difficult to use.

In 2018, to mark the 50th anniversary of the US Open in the Open era, a new identity was unveiled, created by Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv.

The most important decision was what remained unchanged.

The flaming ball was retained. The symbol was simplified and reduced to a more concise form. The typography was also changed, but the brand’s core visual code remained.

This is a good example of a shallow facelift for a strong brand asset.

The core remains, but the way it’s presented changes.

The US Open continues to convey speed, energy, and spectacle. The new identity (brand overhaul) doesn’t attempt to redefine the brand from scratch. Its primary goal is to ensure that existing signals function better on mobile screens, in social media, on television broadcasts, on apparel, and in tournament signage.

This approach, of course, carries its risks. The more synthetic a logo becomes, the easier it is to strip it of some of its individual character. This is especially important for sports brands, as the brand identity should not only function technically well but also convey the emotions, tradition, and atmosphere of the event.

In the case of the US Open, however, the fundamental decision was very clear: to retain a recognizable theme and adapt it to the modern communication environment.

Transforming from a global brand to an international brand (with Polish roots), we present the history of the Marathon brand. It demonstrates that a successful facelift begins with a decision about what should not be changed.

The first major rebranding of the brand was carried out in 2009. Its goal was to distinguish the company in the transportation and logistics market by creating a distinctive visual system. Formula 1 style served as inspiration. Design materials highlighted qualities such as reliability, speed, high work ethic, and the importance of teamwork – values ​​that resonate well with the world of motorsport.

A distinctive set of codes was created: a black and yellow color scheme, dynamic graphic elements, the symbolism of the finish line flag used to build the logo, and arrows and lines referring to transport routes. The identity was consistently transferred to the entire vehicle fleet, employee uniforms, consumables, and the company’s office space.

At the time of the first, deep facelift, the brand had 21 trucks for international transport.

After more than a decade, the brand found itself in a different place – it expanded its fleet to 300 trucks and built a Logistics Center. The company developed new services (including a dedicated e-commerce hub), and as it grew, its audience and communication needs changed. This development led to another identity change in 2021.

And here, a very good decision was made.

The name was not changed. The logo was not changed. The distinctive color scheme was not abandoned.

The project’s goal was clearly defined as “evolution, not revolution.” The brand retained key messages established over the years, while the key visual, slogans, and the way the digital and vehicle identification functioned were modified.

Marathon wanted to move away from an overly strong motorsport aesthetic and give its communication a more professional and technological character. One of the goals was to more strongly present the company as a partner for large e-commerce clients and to expand its communication beyond just transportation.

If a brand has built recognizable assets over the years, a facelift shouldn’t begin with “erasing” them. First, it’s worth asking whether they can be used differently.

The W.Legutko story illustrates a different kind of successful transformation. Improving a single identity element or refreshing the key visual wasn’t enough. It was necessary to streamline the entire way the brand looks, communicates, and functions within the organization.

At the same time, the starting point was preserving the company’s family roots and history. The brand was founded over 30 years ago by Dr. Wiesław Legutko, and at the time the project began, it had a strong market position and a very good product reputation. The ambition was to take the next step: building an image that reflected the company’s position and future development plans.

This is important because a good facelift doesn’t have to mean breaking with the past. In the case of W.Legutko, the brand name, a direct reference to its founder and history, was retained, but the entire visual layer was redesigned.

The W.Legutko name remained unchanged, but the logo was redesigned. A signet ring directly referencing the world of plants was introduced, with the letter “L” embedded in its shape, and the descriptive form “We’ve been growing since 1992” (a reference to the company’s dynamic growth and focus). The new identity was based on a change in color (one of the key signals of any brand). Green was introduced, naturally associated with the category, and purple, intended to further distinguish the brand from the competition. Other brand signals were also changed, such as the slogan “Ground that grows healthily” (carrying multiple meanings – ground = earth, growing healthily = emphasizing the importance of plants in human life and the quality of W.Legutko’s products, i.e., seeds). The photography was intended to strongly connect the brand to nature – vegetables were to be presented as “straight from the field,” dirty, imperfect, but therefore healthy and genuine.

In a well-executed facelift, the logo doesn’t function as a standalone element. It becomes the starting point for building consistent brand language and signals at subsequent touchpoints.

W.Legutko had over 4,000 SKUs, and products previously operated in series built according to different principles. Some series began to resemble sub-brands or even independent brands, and some products could appear in different lines. This made it difficult to manage the offer and navigate it for consumers.

Therefore, the packaging change didn’t involve simply slapping a new logo onto the old system.

The entire portfolio logic was rebuilt.

Most products began to function in a monolithic model, with a repeatable layout of branding elements. The assortment was divided into main sections and categories, and special product types – for example, seeds on a belt, disc, or coated products – were treated as subcategories.

On the packaging, the complex structure was translated into a more user-friendly system: color-coded categories and subcategory labels.

This perfectly illustrates the difference between a redesign and a systemic facelift.

A design shouldn’t just improve the product’s appearance. It should improve the way the customer understands the offer.

If the project had ended with the logo and packaging, it would be difficult to call it such a profound change.

In parallel, the brand’s digital operations were redesigned and the #ZDROWOROSNA CSR campaign was implemented. A company website was created, separating B2B and B2C communication, and W.Legutko’s presence on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn was redesigned with an interesting content creation concept.

The #PIEKNIEROSNA and #ZDROWOROSNA communication platforms were created, leveraging the company’s expertise to create informative and educational content. The latter also developed into a social and educational program aimed at children.

The brand began to be built not only by its appearance, but also by what it says and what role it wants to play for its audience.

W.Legutko also highlights an element often overlooked in rebranding presentations. The change in identity resulted in a shift in the organization’s workflow and a shift in the team’s perception of the brand.

W.Legutko is therefore a good example of a deep lifting bordering on a full rebrand: the brand’s story didn’t need to be rewritten from scratch. A modern system was needed that would allow the brand to tell this story coherently on a completely new scale.

At first glance, the US Open, Marathon, and W.Legutko seem very different.

The US Open retained the brand’s main symbol—a flaming tennis ball—but simplified its form and changed its typography. The facelift was primarily intended to improve the functionality of the logo and adapt it to modern communication channels.

Marathon underwent profound changes—developing a completely new brand identity and its signals, from the logo through its complete visual identity. Only the color black was retained as a perceptual link for customers.

W.Legutko saw the most extensive changes. The logo was changed, a new KeyVisual was created, and the brand’s colors and virtually all functional elements, including the packaging, were completely overhauled.

However, they all share one commonality.

The scope of the change was driven by the problem the brand sought to solve.

The US Open didn’t need a new identity. It needed a simpler and more functional way to utilize the existing, recognizable symbol.

Marathon needed a new opening to showcase its aspirations.

W.Legutko wanted to demonstrate its strength and market position.

And this is precisely where the line between a facelift done for effect and one that makes business sense is drawn. Each of the above examples had a different business goal, which was achieved thanks to, among other things, brand development.