Why we rebranded: honouring our past, embracing our future

7th Apr 2025

News Thoughts

For most marketers, the word ‘rebrand’ evokes a whole host of emotions; excitement, anticipation, creativity - all mashed together with a bit of anxiety! But when your colleagues are co-owners, every decision feels even more significant.

With our new brand and website officially out in the world, I wanted to share why we rebranded and some of the reasoning behind the choices we made.

More than a cosmetic change; our new brand is a reflection of our growth

Why did we rebrand? In short, we’ve grown - in more ways than one but it was our transition to employee ownership in 2023 that really highlighted how we’d evolved as a business. People are the driving force behind our success.

We wanted our brand to attract the right people – both future co-owners and clients – who share our values and ethos to help us grow. To do that, we first had to take a step back and truly understand who Zoonou is.

We wanted our new brand to be authentic, real, and sustainable – rooted in who we are. While our old brand served us well, it no longer fully captures who we are, both as a company and as individuals. Our new brand reflects the evolution of Zoonou, built on five core principles:

Human: we’re people working with people, and this is reflected in everything we do. We’re warm and approachable - because building meaningful relationships is at the heart of our business.

Honest: transparency is key to our approach. We build trust through straightforward and open communication.

Positive: we’re optimistic and solution focused. We instil confidence by focusing on opportunities, rather than problems.

Insightful: our expertise speaks for itself, but we go further by sharing that knowledge thoughtfully. We aim to offer clarity and add value to every interaction.

Engaging: we see communication as a two-way conversation. We invite open dialogue and create spaces for collaboration.

Honouring our past and embracing our future

Zoonou was built on strong principles and values - the same ones that continue to underpin everything we do today. That’s why, with each rebrand, it’s never been a revolution but an evolution. We’ve kept what works, made thoughtful tweaks, and added something new along the way. This time round has been no different.

A fresh new colour palette

The first thing you’ll notice is the change in colour. We’ve dropped our blue-purple-green gradient and opted for a vibrant, fresh colour palette. Green now takes centre stage as our primary brand colour, a nod to our B Corp status and Eastbourne roots. We’ve shifted purple to an accent colour and introduced orange, representing employee ownership - a bold visual reflection of the collective spirit that drives us forward.

A digital graphic featuring a series of vertically elongated, rounded rectangles arranged side by side in descending height from left to right. Each shape is a different color: dark green, muted teal, black, off-white, neon green, pastel purple. The overall appearance resembles a colorful wave or bar chart with rounded tops.

Clean, clear, and concise typography

Sometimes the most creative choice is the simplest. We chose Manrope for our brand font because its clean, high-contrast design ensures readability while maintaining a modern and professional aesthetic. Its simplicity and accessibility allow our message to take centre stage.

A letter-perfect logo

We ‘officially’ removed the ‘Z’ from the top of our logo. If you’ve been paying close attention, you’ll have noticed we’ve been playing around with variations in our logo for a couple of years, but we kept coming back to the Zoonou logomark. Other than a slight kerning tweak, we didn’t feel the need to change something that already works!

Creating connections

We felt limited in what we could create with our previous brand, so we focused on expanding our visual assets. This led to a flexible set of graphics inspired by the letterforms of Zoonou. Each shape is connected to another shape – symbolising the importance of our connections with each other as co-owners and the relationships we build with clients.

Various shapes composed of colorful semi-circles, quarter-circles, and rectangular shapes arranged in a grid layout. The shapes are in dark green, light green, orange, and purple.

Bringing our people into sharper focus

We chose two photographic styles that represent connection - through images of our team and local landscapes - along with focused macro shots of testing end products, highlighting our commitment to helping our clients create better software.

Across our blog posts, we’ll use images of local landscapes (we’re lucky to be sandwiched between the seafront and south downs) to bring a consistent thread to our different testing domains.

A collage of six images arranged in a 3x2 grid. Top row (left to right): a group of smiling people in a casual meeting, a hand placing sticky notes on a wall, and a scenic view of a winding river through grassy hills. Bottom row (left to right): a focused woman wearing glasses in a meeting, a coastal path leading to white cliffs by the sea, and a cheerful group of people listening attentively in a well-lit room with large windows and a brick wall.

Loud enough to be heard, but always in harmony with our values

Following our transition to employee ownership we started to shift our tone of voice. You’ll have seen this reflected in the way we use ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’ to express our collective voice. As part of the rebrand, we completed the final pieces of the tone-of-voice puzzle. It follows the same five principles we’ve built our brand on: human, honest, positive, insightful and engaging.

When it comes to our work, we’ve often been a little shy to shout about our past successes. But we're incredibly proud of the work we do, the expertise within our team and the people we work with. Moving forward, we'll be taking more opportunities to shine a confident spotlight on those areas.

And we’re ditching the jargon. Unlike some competitors, we’re avoiding buzzwords and complicated terms. Our communication is clear, human, and straightforward; we focus on clarity and simplicity, making sure everyone stays on the same page.

What this all really means

Rebrands aren’t just about visual updates - they’re declarations of intent. Our new identity represents the Zoonou we’ve become: a different kind of software testing company, one rooted in integrity and driven by purpose and accountability.

Along with the rebrand, we’ve launched a new website that reflects this change. Designed with our users in mind, the new site is modern, intuitive, and focused on showcasing the expertise and passion we bring to every project. We’ve made it easier for people to connect with us, understand our services, and explore the work we do across various industries.

The rebrand and new website are not just about how we look; they’re about how we communicate our values and the way we approach our work. As we continue to grow as an employee-owned company, we’re more committed than ever to putting people - both our team and our clients - at the heart of everything we do.

A personal note from me

It's been an exciting journey (with lots of hard work!) seeing everything come together, and I’m thrilled to finally share it with everyone.

I’m incredibly proud to launch this on behalf of the amazing #TeamZoonou. This milestone is a reflection of our collective efforts, and I’m super grateful for everyone’s support along the way.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on our new brand and website - what resonates with you, what stands out, and how it feels from your perspective. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn to share your thoughts or just say hello!