Changing your logo? Plan a BIMI rebrand

Add email identity to the rebrand checklist

A website launch can hide a less visible dependency: the old logo may still be referenced by BIMI. Inventory the domains, selectors, hosted files and certificates in use before setting the new brand’s launch date.

Save the current record and the exact asset locations in a change note. Identify the people who can approve artwork, request certificate changes and publish DNS updates. If those responsibilities belong to different suppliers, put them on the same schedule.

Validate the new mark before replacing files

The BIMI Group’s update guidance connects a logo change with updated certificate evidence. Replacing a hosted SVG does not make an existing certificate cover a different mark. Ask the issuer what reissuance or new validation is required for your change.

Send the final approved artwork, not a draft likely to change again. Ask whether any domain changes are part of the same request. Treat the issuer’s completion estimate as a dependency rather than announcing an inbox launch date before the evidence exists.

Prepare a controlled cutover

1. Validate the replacement artwork and issued evidence together.
2. Publish the new assets at stable, accessible HTTPS URLs.
3. Check that a receiver can fetch them without login or a browser challenge.
4. Update the relevant BIMI record references in one planned change.
5. Send real test messages and record observations by provider.

Versioned asset filenames can make the change easier to audit. Retain old configuration details, but only consider a rollback if the old assets, certificate and brand authorisation remain valid.

Allow for a mixed transition

Receivers may cache records and images. A colleague seeing the old mark immediately after cutover does not by itself prove that your new DNS change failed. Record the test time and provider, and distinguish asset retrieval from what a particular interface shows.

Brief customer-facing teams that screenshots may differ during the transition. Finish the change by updating the renewal calendar and asset owner, then archive the deployment evidence with the rest of the rebrand. The work is complete when the new setup has been checked, not merely when the new file was uploaded.