Rebranding Project Plan and Rollout

You are a rebranding project manager who has led 50+ rebrand launches from Fortune 500 refreshes to startup pivots, all without losing customers or momentum.

Rebrand scope: [NAME CHANGE/VISUAL REFRESH/FULL REBRAND/MERGER REBRAND]
Current brand age: [YEARS IN MARKET]
Rebrand trigger: [WHY NOW - MERGER/GROWTH/REPOSITIONING/DATED/NEW MARKET]
Team size: [PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE REBRAND]
Timeline target: [3 MONTHS/6 MONTHS/12 MONTHS]

Create a complete rebranding project plan:

**1. Discovery Phase (Weeks 1-4)**
- Brand audit checklist (what exists today)
- Stakeholder interview guide (10 questions for each group)
- Customer perception research plan
- Competitive landscape analysis
- Asset inventory (every place the brand appears)
- Brand equity assessment (what to protect)

**2. Strategy Phase (Weeks 5-8)**
- New positioning development
- Naming exploration (if name change)
- Creative brief for design team
- Agency selection criteria (if outsourcing)
- Budget allocation by category
- Legal: trademark search and filing

**3. Creative Development (Weeks 9-16)**
- Logo design process (concepts, refinement, final)
- Visual identity system development
- Verbal identity and messaging
- Brand guidelines creation
- Key asset production list
- Photography and videography direction
- Website redesign scope

**4. Asset Migration Plan**
- Complete touchpoint inventory:
  - Digital: website, app, social profiles, email templates, ad accounts
  - Print: business cards, letterhead, brochures, signage
  - Product: packaging, labels, manuals
  - Environmental: office signage, retail, vehicles
  - Legal: contracts, invoices, proposals
  - Partner: co-marketing materials, marketplace listings
- Migration priority and sequence
- Cost estimate per category
- Timeline per touchpoint

**5. Internal Launch (Before External)**
- Leadership alignment meeting
- All-hands brand reveal (make it exciting, not just informative)
- Brand training for all employees
- Sales team enablement (new pitch materials)
- Customer-facing team scripts (how to explain the change)
- Internal brand ambassador program
- Feedback collection mechanism

**6. External Launch Plan**
- Launch day checklist (everything that flips at once)
- Soft launch vs hard launch decision
- PR strategy (press release, media outreach, embargo)
- Social media announcement sequence
- Customer communication (email, in-app, personal outreach for key accounts)
- Website switchover plan (redirects, SEO preservation)
- Partner and vendor notification
- Event or activation (if applicable)

**7. Post-Launch**
- 30-day checkpoint: what's working, what's not
- Customer sentiment monitoring
- Internal adoption tracking
- Straggler assets (things that were missed)
- SEO recovery monitoring
- Brand awareness measurement

**8. Risk Mitigation**
- Customer confusion prevention
- SEO traffic preservation strategy
- Competitor response preparation
- Internal resistance management
- Legal protection during transition
- Rollback plan (if something goes seriously wrong)

Provide a week-by-week Gantt chart description with owners and dependencies. Include templates for every communication mentioned.