The Strategy-First Approach To Rebranding Your Business With Kehna Kelly

Kehna Kelly is the Team Lead of Creative Services at POD Marketing, a company specializing in innovative branding and marketing solutions for businesses in the eye care industry. With over 10 years of experience in branding and design, Kehna has led creative strategy for brands such as POD Marketing, Free Smile Shop Dental Marketing, and recently spearheaded the successful rebrand of Cleinman. She is known for her unique strategy-first approach, empowering her team of designers, writers, editors, and videographers to elevate the creative experience for clients.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[01:52] Kehna Kelly’s unique journey from kinesiology to branding
[04:07] Types of brand projects creative teams tackle
[04:46] The differences between launching a new brand and rebranding
[05:25] What to expect in a brand overhaul
[06:34] Why a strategy-first approach makes brands stand out
[08:23] Key signs your business might be ready for a rebrand

In this episode…

Sometimes a business outgrows the story it’s been telling. The visuals feel dated, the message drifts, or the brand no longer reflects the experience customers actually have. But how do you know when it’s time for a refresh, and how does a thoughtful rebrand really begin?

According to Kehna Kelly, a seasoned creative strategist, it starts with a clear and honest answer to why. Drawing from her experience leading branding work across many practices, she explains that every successful rebrand begins long before choosing colors or sketching logos. It starts with asking what’s working, what isn’t, and what people truly feel when they interact with the business. For her, the deeper purpose behind the brand becomes the foundation that makes every creative decision more intentional and impactful.

In this episode of the Cleinman Connect Podcast, Kim Carson is joined by Kehna Kelly, Team Lead of Creative Services at POD Marketing, to discuss how a strategy-first approach transforms a rebrand. They break down how to uncover the real “why” behind brand challenges, how to build a brand world that guides design and voice, and how to recognize the signals that it’s time for a brand evolution. Kehna also gives advice on bringing brand experience to life through meaningful touchpoints.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

“I have certainly been creative my whole life.”
“So a big component is, again, how is that brand experienced in other touchpoints beyond just the visuals or the voice and tone.”
“Again, that brand world and experience is really important to know how to live outside of that.”
“I think it’s a good time to kind of ask yourself kind of these questions of what do people say about our brand, and what do I want them to say about our brand?”
“I think one of the things that was a common theme throughout the whole project was really making sure that Cleinman stayed as a client-centered advisor first and foremost.”

Action Steps:

Start with your brand’s core “why”: Understanding the underlying reason for a rebrand keeps decisions focused and prevents superficial changes.
Gather honest internal and external feedback: Listening to what people actually say about your brand reveals misalignment and opportunities for meaningful improvement.
Build a strategic brand foundation before designing: Establishing tone, personality, and experience first ensures visuals and messaging feel intentional and cohesive.
Map out how your brand shows up in real-life touchpoints: Identifying moments that shape customer perception helps you create experiences that reinforce your brand’s values.
Assess whether your offerings or leadership vision have evolved: Recognizing shifts in services or direction can signal it’s time to update your brand to match who you are now.

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is brought to you by Marketing4ECPs!

Working with them is like hiring a full-time marketing professional who knows the industry and understands your goals. Except, instead of one experienced marketer, you get a whole team in your corner.

Whether you’re an optometrist, ophthalmologist, or optician, they can help you grow your business with a plan that’s completely customized for you. Learn more here.

Episode Transcript

Intro: 00:07

Welcome to the Cleinman Connect Podcast, where we discuss marketing, ownership, growth strategies, and everything else surrounding the business of optometry. Cleinman is Optometry’s trusted business partner for over 35 years. Hello, I’m Kim Carson with Kehna Kelly on this episode of the Cleinman Connect Podcast. Past guests of the show include Dennis Evans Jr. of DryEye Rescue and Kate Virzi of Marketing4ECPs. Speaking of Marketing4ECPs, they’re the sponsor for this episode.

Working with them is like hiring a full time marketing professional who knows the industry and understands your goals. Except instead of one professional, you get a whole team in your corner. Whether you’re an optometrist or ophthalmologist or optician, they can work with you to help you grow your business with a plan that’s completely customized to your needs. Learn more at marketing then the number for joining me today is Kehna Kelly, Team Lead of Creative Services at POD Marketing. With over ten years of experience in branding and design, Kehna has led creative strategy across brands like POD Marketing, marketing, Free Smile Shop Dental Marketing and most recently with the Cleinman rebrand.

She leads a team of designers, writers, editors and videographers focused on rethinking how we approach branding and elevating the creative experience we deliver to our clients. Thanks for being here.

Kehna Kelly 01:31

Thank you so much for having me today, Kim. I’m so excited for this. Yay!

Kim Carson 01:34

I’m so excited that you said yes. I want to start off with a question about you. You know, me having a little spiel about you is wonderful and all, but I would like to know about your creativity. You. You are a team lead of creative services where you always creative.

Like how did you get into this role?

Kehna Kelly 01:52

Yeah. So my journey to being in a creative space definitely wasn’t linear. It kind of had some ups and downs, but I have certainly been creative my whole life. So growing up I loved doing art. I loved just creating stuff.

I remember my mom sharing this story where I think I was like 2 or 3 and I was obsessed with like drawing, like little circles. And she said that my grandpa carried it around with him in his pocket for like years because he was, like, so blown away that this three year old was drawing these pretty consistent circles repeatedly. So yeah, growing up, that was always something I really like leaned into. But I always just kind of assumed it was a hobby. So when I was kind of getting towards the end of high school figuring out what I wanted to do for university, I actually started my journey there in kinesiology.

So the other aspect that I was really into growing up was sports. So yeah, towards the end of like high school, I thought, okay, I got to do something in sports that’s like always what I’ve been drawn to. I love doing it. So kinesiology was interesting. But I will say the best part was any kind of class that I had to make anything for.

So I will never forget having this class in sports psychology, and we had about 15 or 20 minutes to do a presentation. And ours was all about superstition. And I remember making this video and spending hours on it. So I was like writing, filming, producing, editing this video together and what the content was in the video, I could tell you I don’t even remember any of that. But going through the kind of production piece, I just remember always being like, I feel like I’m not in the right space being in kinesiology, but being able to be creative.

That’s where I felt like I was really thriving. So I kind of had this lightbulb moment after a couple years in kinesiology that that wasn’t really the path for me. And actually my hobbies needed to switch. I think I got to the point where I’m like, okay, being creative is something that I could make a career out of. And so that’s kind of like what led me to this path here.

Kim Carson 03:51

Well, okay. I’m so happy that you made that switch and that you could be here for this rebrand and that you had that kind of lightbulb moment at Marketing4ECPs, Smile Shop. Cleinman. What type of brand projects does your team handle?

Kehna Kelly 04:07

Yeah. So what’s nice is that we’ve worked with clients that kind of any stage that where they’re at. So whether it’s a practice opening for the first time to practices that have been around for like ten, 15 years and now looking to go through an evolution or anywhere from like practices that are looking for a full transformation. What’s nice is that we kind of can meet them where they’re at in their stage with their brand. So we kind of have something for everyone.

Kim Carson 04:31

Okay. And then so new brands versus rebrands, can you kind of tell us like the difference between those or what happens with somebody when they, you know, decide they need a rebrand or if they need a totally new brand? Yeah.

Kehna Kelly 04:46

So I think every rebrand is going to look slightly different from one client to the next, but rebrands. What’s pretty standard across the board is it’s taking something and now evolving it. So whether it’s taking something that’s kind of been very grounded and rooted and evolving it to feel more modern or updated or it’s like looking to switch it absolutely, completely. So that kind of. Transformational piece where perhaps they’re looking to kind of go from the ground up and really change the perception of their brand.

Kim Carson 05:15

Okay. And if someone were to call your team and enlist your services, what happens next? Like what steps should they anticipate?

Kehna Kelly 05:25

Yeah. So whether it’s going through a rebrand or doing a brand kind of from the ground up, I think it all starts with the same question. So we really want to know why. So what are the current brand challenges that you might be facing. And what are you hoping to achieve by going through this branding process or rebrand process for that matter?

Starting with that kind of baseline helps kind of guide us of like what questions that we need to ask next. We really want to get into the strategic part of the thinking of the brand first before we even start looking at like the design or the colors and, and whatnot. So all of our brands start with a pretty thorough questionnaire. So we want to get into what’s working, what’s not working. What are some like perceptions that people might have of the brand if your brand was a person?

What would people say about them if they weren’t in the room? And yeah, it’s kind of that feeling that they want to evoke when they talk about the brand experience, the brand. So it’s much more beyond like logos and color palettes, but it’s really understanding those nuances of what they feel at their core so that we can bring it to life.

Kim Carson 06:26

Nice. And we have a note here about a strategy-first approach. Can you kind of dive into that a bit. What does that mean.

Kehna Kelly 06:34

Yeah. So I think what’s cool is through this questionnaire we get to learn a lot about a company up front, but then it will lead into a conversation where we have a consult to kind of realign. So some of those questions up front again of those like what’s working, what’s not working where what’s cool is that once we’ve assessed those questions, we now go ahead and build out a brand strategy of how we can see those things come to life. So a big component is, again, how is that brand experienced in other touchpoints beyond just the visuals or the voice and tone. We had a client who was really focused on like love and community with their brand, and so some of the things that our team cooked up in terms of how that brand can bring that feeling of like love and community to them is like, what if every time someone stopped by for like an eye exam or whatnot, they got a little coffee on us at a local place down the street from them?

We had another client who wanted a really concierge like feel to their practice, and so they were actually located on the third level of a professional building. And so some of the ideas the team brought up were like, what if each person that comes for their appointment is greeted at the the base of the building and brought up and kind of have that like touch point. So again, that brand world and experience is really important of how that can live outside of that. And I think building that foundation first really helps. Now move on to the next part of like the visuals, the voice and tone, the mood boards.

So once you’ve kind of created this brand world and you feel it and believe it, it’s a lot easier when you get into looking at concepts to have that feeling attached to it.

Kim Carson 08:09

I want to ask, how does somebody know that they need a rebrand? You just wake up one day after having the same kind of image for 15 years and just, you know, a light bulb goes off or how does that kind of come about? Yeah.

Kehna Kelly 08:23

So I think every company is going to go through this process again a little bit differently, but there’s some really common ones that it might be kind of the signs that you might be approaching the time for a rebrand. So a really popular one is if there’s like a turnover in like senior leadership, a natural evolution comes with that, that sometimes the successors in place have a different vision of where they want to see that brand. Another one is if like the services or offerings have changed. So sometimes it happens kind of organically and naturally through brands life where they change what they’re offering, they’re changing their services. But if you’ve kind of now done a change of most of yours, a majority, it might be time to look at rebranding to see how you’re coming across in those senses, I mean, it doesn’t happen too often, but every now and then there might be some negative connotations lingering with a brand signaling that it could be time for a rebrand.

And then I think, lastly, a real important one that it might be time for a rebrand is kind of listening to what people are saying about your brand. So whether it’s at networking events or sending out surveys with your clients coming in and kind of getting that pulse check, almost listening to that social proof of like what’s being said about your brand. If there are things that are being said, whether it’s reviews or in surveys or at networking events, and you’re thinking that doesn’t really feel or ring true with what I feel about what our brand should be. I think it’s a good time to kind of ask yourself kind of these questions of what do people say about our brand, and what do I want them to say about our brand? So those are some of the like high level or like popular ones that come up that might signal it’s time.

But it certainly doesn’t end at those ones. There’s like plenty of reasons that people could go through a rebranding process.

Kim Carson 10:02

Okay. And I have one final question for you. And before I ask it, I will point people to Cleinman where they can hear more of these episodes if they would like. But my final question for you, Kehna, is why rebrand Cleinman?

Kehna Kelly 10:16

Yeah, it’s definitely a fair question. So when you and the Cleinman team approached us looking to go through this process, I think one of the things that was a common theme throughout the whole project was really making sure that Cleinman stayed as a client centered advisor first and foremost. So bringing that professionalism to Cleinman clients to make sure that they know that they’re setting themselves up for the right kind of success. And so we wanted to make sure we didn’t lose that throughout the rebrand, but we also felt there was kind of a need to evolve past what it currently was. So we introduced a new stylized C, and it gives a subtle nod to the eye care industry while still providing a flexible foundation for the brand as it evolves.

As for the colors, we wanted to make sure that we kept the blue and yellow. I think there’s a lot of recognition that comes with seeing those colors with Cleinman, so we didn’t want to lose that, but we wanted to make sure that we created a palette that felt more refined and intentional, and really gave that nod to that performance driven experience and service that Kleiman provides to their clients.

Kim Carson 11:18

Well, amazing. Thank you. I am so very excited to have everybody see the new Cleinman brand and see all the hard work that you and your team have done. Yeah, I’m just very excited to share it with everybody. So thank you for coming on the episode today.

Yeah.

Kehna Kelly 11:33

Thank you so much for inviting me.

Kim Carson 11:34

Yay! I’m glad that you said yes. So if you would like to get more episodes of the Cleinman Connect Podcast, you can at Cleinman.com. And thank you so much for listening today. Thank you for listening.

Outro: 11:50

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Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

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Resources mentioned in this episode:

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