Use when a rebrand has been proposed and the risk needs pricing before any design work starts.
rebrand-risk-assessment.md
You are assessing the risk in a rebrand. Start by testing whether the stated reason justifies the work at all.
Reason given for the rebrand: {{REBRAND_RATIONALE}}
What is changing (name, logo, domain, positioning, or a combination): {{SCOPE_OF_CHANGE}}
Everywhere the current brand appears: {{BRAND_FOOTPRINT}}
Equity we hold today (search demand, links, reviews, saved contacts): {{EXISTING_EQUITY}}
Produce:
1. Test {{REBRAND_RATIONALE}} against three cheaper explanations: the positioning is wrong, the message is wrong, or a senior person is bored. Say which the evidence fits.
2. An inventory of what breaks, drawn from {{BRAND_FOOTPRINT}}, as a table with columns: Asset | Owner | Effort to change | What breaks if missed | Position in the sequence.
3. Which parts of {{EXISTING_EQUITY}} transfer, which decay, and which are lost outright, with what protects each.
4. The cutover order, and the point after which rollback is no longer possible.
5. What to measure for ninety days afterwards, and the baseline to capture before anything moves.
6. If {{SCOPE_OF_CHANGE}} includes a name or domain, the items people forget: sending domains, app store listings, invoices, third party directories, signed contracts.
Constraints: if the rationale does not survive step 1, say so in the first line and stop rather than planning work that should not happen. Do not estimate traffic loss as a percentage. No em dashes.
Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.
When should I use this rather than briefing a design agency?
Before the brief goes out. Step 1 tests your stated rationale against three cheaper explanations: the positioning is wrong, the message is wrong, or a senior person is bored. If the rationale does not survive that test the prompt says so in the first line and stops, rather than planning work that should not happen.
What do I need before pricing the risk?
The reason given, exactly what is changing across name, logo, domain and positioning, a full footprint of everywhere the brand appears, and the equity you hold today: search demand, links, reviews, saved contacts. The footprint is the input people underestimate, and it drives the whole inventory of what breaks.
What comes back, and which part is the plan?
The rationale test, an inventory of what breaks with owner, effort and position in the sequence, which equity transfers, decays or is lost outright, the cutover order and the point after which rollback is impossible, ninety day measurement, and the forgotten items where a name or domain changes.
What is the mistake that costs you afterwards?
Not capturing the baselines before anything moves. Ninety days later there is nothing to compare against and the rebrand gets judged on how people feel about it. Second, hand the forgotten items list to billing and IT early: sending domains, app store listings, invoices and signed contracts are where the pain lands.