Inside the Strategy Behind The Modern Social Rebrand

Rebranding is listening, questioning, refining and returning to the center of who a brand really is. At Fredhall Assembly, this is the work we live for as an Austin creative agency that blends strategy, research and storytelling. The Modern Social, a social media agency based in St. Louis, entered this transformation with us. The rebrand began with one essential question: how does the world experience The Modern Social compared to how The Modern Social wants to be known?

Phase One: Research That Leads to Truth

We never start with visuals. We start with data. As a full service Austin branding agency and digital strategy partner, our work depends on clarity and evidence, not assumptions.

We launched structured client surveys and interviews that captured real feedback from the agency's clients. This gave us an honest portrait of The Modern Social's strengths, emotional impact, and tonality. We pulled the natural language people used when describing the brand and studied the patterns. This step is what shapes our insight mapping process and what allows us to design a brand system that is grounded. This is where the foundation formed.

Phase Two: Visual and Verbal World Building

We studied the brand’s current perception and its future potential. We identified what needed to evolve, what needed to stay, and what identity could carry the agency into the future. In the world of social media, personality and point of view decide who breaks through. The outcome was a voice that feels distinct and unmistakably theirs.

We built multiple moodboards and style exploration options to test where the identity could live visually. We experimented with typography, color emotion, photographic tone, copy, texture and layout. Every creative choice had a reason. Nothing was random.

The brand now has a system forming around it, not isolated assets. A system that is scalable, recognizable and rooted in strategy.

What This Rebrand Is Really Proving

A strong rebrand is not reactive. It is strategic. It starts with listening, builds through research and lands through disciplined creative execution.

The Modern Social rebrand is still in progress, which is the beauty of the process. Real brand building is not a reveal. It is a journey of exploration and refinement. The decisions we make are shaped by psychology, data and lived human experience.

For any brand entering a rebrand or preparing to build something new, this is the standard. Fredhall Assembly develops brands with intention, strategy and taste. As an Austin creative agency specializing in branding, content production, and digital marketing we guide clients through the full journey from research to execution. If you are ready for a rebrand that is rooted in insight, built to scale and supported by a creative team that understands cultural relevance, we would love to connect.