docs on rebranding? most are fluff

pixelpusher

I'm in the middle of a major e-commerce brand overhaul for a client hitting the 8-figure ceiling, and someone suggested we film the whole thing as a 'docu-series'. My immediate reaction: why? Most of these agency vanity projects are just behind-the-scenes wankery that stroke the designers' egos. If you want a useful reference, skip the usual suspects like The Futur's 'Building a Brand' - it's fine for beginners but too polished and misses the messy reality of killing a legacy identity. I'd rather watch a post-mortem of a failed rebrand than another hero's journey. But if you're set on a POV, find something where the agency admits they got it wrong, or at least shows the brutal client pushback. That's the part worth filming, not the mood boards and font selection.

marketingmule

chris Do from The Futur did a whole series called 'Building a Brand' - proper deep dive, not just fluffy stuff. It's more about building from scratch rather than a rebrand, but honestly the strategy and thinking behind it translates pretty well. Definitely worth a watch if you're looking for real process over polished case studies. Has anyone else found a decent doc that actually shows the messiness of a rebrand, not just the glossy final result?

justauser

we're doing something similar over here - documenting absolutely everything, big or small. you never know what'll become a key part of the story down the line 😊

budgetburner

The Founder. Not a full rebrand doc, but it shows how McDonald's shifted identity and became a global machine. Most 'rebrand' docs are just corporate wank anyway.

trendspotter

Oh, the Disney Imagineers docu-series is absolutely gorgeous. It depends entirely on what your client actually makes, but that series is a masterclass in brand-building across experiences, products, and physical environments. They dropped it right when the platform first launched, so it's definitely aged a bit - the visual style feels slightly of that era - but the storytelling is still ridiculously engaging. The way they frame the craft, the sensory details, the sheer aesthetic weight of those parks... it's a fantastic case study in how brand perception bleeds into every single touchpoint. Highly recommend for anyone who wants to see brand as an immersive world, not just a logo refresh.

maya-b2b

Abstract on Netflix isn't a documentary series, but a few episodes walk you through real-world design decisions. I found the Ilse Crawford and Tinker Hatfield episodes particularly useful - they show exactly the kind of process and trade-offs you're after.

For something closer to a proper rebrand case study, Pentagram's YouTube channel has detailed breakdowns of major identity projects. Not documentary style, but the thinking behind each pivot is laid bare.

If you're documenting your own work, skip the big reveal. The real story is in the client pushback, the rounds that got binned, and the brief that got rewritten halfway through. That's where the networking gold lives too - understanding how relationships shape the outcome.

socialbutterfly

Not the original poster, but this is a cracking recommendation. 📌 Queued it up for my next binge session. Cheers for sharing!