HootsuiteCopied

Hootsuite helped invent social media management, and by 2022 its brand looked like it. The company said in its launch release that it had created the category and led customers through it for nearly 14 years. Yet chief marketing officer Maggie Lower told Adweek that while 200 million businesses use social media, only 5 percent use a management tool, compared with 53 percent of small and mid sized businesses that have email marketing software. In her words, the company had not even scratched the surface of what was possible.

The rebrand was the response. Adweek reported a refreshed logo revealed with a 30 second spot, and described the platform as embracing a starker version of its owl mascot. The headline of Hootsuite's own release framed the work as breaking free from a sea of sameness, a jab at the interchangeable look of business software. Chief executive Tom Keiser said that after nearly 14 years defining the industry, it was time to rethink the brand to reflect Hootsuite's position as social experts, trusted partners and joyful mentors, and that the company did not just get social, it was social.

Owly is central. The company appointed the mascot its Chief Connection Officer, giving it a larger role as a friendly, approachable and expressive guide for brands using social media. The idea is that the bird personifies the new identity and gives people something to engage with rather than a corporate mark to scroll past.

Lower set out the attitude: social rewards bravery and creative courage, it can be intimidating, and Hootsuite wants to supply the education and expertise of the first mover, while championing the power of social for good. Hootsuite said the rebrand activation was built in house across its creative, social and functional teams, and positioned the launch as a signal encouraging other brands to stand out and join the social conversation authentically.

Making the mascot a character rather than a logo is the right instinct for a company that sells personality on social platforms. Owly had always been the most memorable thing about Hootsuite, and letting it move and emote gives the brand a voice that a wordmark cannot. The Chief Connection Officer title is a bit of LinkedIn whimsy that will age fast, and the sea of sameness complaint is itself a familiar line in rebrand releases. But for a category leader that had blended into its own category, getting louder and stranger was a reasonable bet.