Behind the Scenes with the Splunk Brand Refresh

Splunk had just celebrated its 20th anniversary. The business was growing. Customers were loyal. So why would we consider refreshing our brand? 

The answer is simple, if you aren’t growing, you’re declining. Just like people, brands need to adapt and grow so they stay relevant. For us, part of our growth was reaching new audiences and launching new products. Which meant as brand stewards, we needed to update our brand to better connect with these new opportunities. This included an update of our brand platform to provide a vision of where we were going. And connecting that story to give a reason why to our visual expression. 

But where do you start with a brand refresh? Chances are, you already have a core base of hard-working brand elements. How do you decide what to keep and what to adapt? We didn’t want a complete rebrand. We only wanted to find the gaps and refresh the necessary elements. 

For us, it started with a brand audit. We created a massive Figma board with all the art, stories, brand assets, and customer experiences we could find. We unearthed old brand decks that explained the details of the last rebrand years earlier. We interviewed Splunkers who had been with the company for decades. We asked customers what they love about the brand and what didn’t matter. Then we sifted through all that information to understand what was working and what wasn’t. 

Fortunately for us, we realized there were many brand elements we didn’t need to change at all. Elements such as our logo, our main brand font, our gradient brand color shouldn’t change. And, of course, our commitment to geek culture and our signature nerdy black t-shirts. Our customers told us in so many words to not mess with those. So we listened. 

But the brand audit also uncovered a handful of gaps. We had two main audiences with differing opinions about the brand. Practitioners who were fans and executives who were neutral. We were seen as a younger startup company and not always a serious enterprise contender with executives. Our brand architecture and product offerings needed cleaning up. And we didn’t have a consistent brand story.  

In short, we needed to mature our brand to be seen as a premium brand, while staying true to our Splunky history. And we needed to connect our “why” to all of our brand decisions. The following story shares all the steps we took to complete a brand refresh for Splunk.

Finding Our Single Message 

Security and observability are very complex topics. It’s easy to get deep into very technical details and product features. Certainly, there’s a time and place to discuss this level of detail. From a branding perspective, we first wanted to figure out our highest-level message. 

Thanks to the foresight of many talented people at Splunk, this process had already begun a year earlier. By the time we kicked off our brand refresh, a ton of work and research had already helped us land our company purpose. Our purpose is our highest-level story, our reason for being, our messaging stake in the sand. For Splunk, our purpose is to help other companies be resilient.  

This is a message that resonates with our audience. They want to be safe from cyber attacks. They want to make sure all their systems are working. They want to be able to quickly see issues in code or other technical problems and be able to resolve them immediately. That is what it means to be resilient. To be able to bounce back quickly and adapt. To have complete visibility across your digital landscape with integrated security and observability in one platform. 

And that’s what we do at Splunk. We are the key to enterprise resilience.  

With our purpose firmly in place, our next step was to review the rest of our brand platform. Because we needed to be crisp on what our company stood for — our Why. 

We updated our brand promise based on our new purpose. Our promise is to help you be ready for anything. It’s the link from what we offer to what’s in it for you. No matter what comes your way, we provide the tools you need to handle it. 

Next on the list was our brand attributes. A few words that describe who we are as a brand. These attributes are critical in establishing our brand voice and personality. We’re really lucky that we have a single word that describes who we are as a brand—Splunky. 

But what does Splunky mean? Even without a definition you would probably imagine words like fun, playful, and human. Which are all in the right direction. But we also want to make sure that the definition of Splunky isn’t too silly or irreverent. Or we may not connect with our executive audience. We want Splunky to still be professional while remaining playful. 

Here are our brand attributes that essentially describe what it means to be Splunky: 

Fearlessly Geeky. We thrive on geek culture and we’re proud of it. We love to nerd out on all things security and observability. And we want to share this knowledge with everyone. 

Contagiously Curious. In an industry full of fear, we see a bright future. We look for unexpected solutions and inspiring others.  

Refreshingly Real. We are approachable and down to earth, but we’re still professionals. We have passion, but we’re still pragmatic. And we cut past the corporate bull to give it to you straight. 

We feel that these three attributes quickly summarize who we are. They are the definition of Splunky. Fearless geeks who know their stuff and are real people—with a positive perspective about the future. Splunky is something that both practitioners and executives can get behind. It’s quirky without being silly. Unexpected, not irreverent.

Becoming a Premium Brand

Once we landed our brand platform, we looked for brand principles that would guide the rest of our story. As part of the audit, we also looked at other premium brand examples and competitors. We sifted through stories and websites and advertisements and brand guidelines. We landed on three principles that helped drive the rest of our brand refresh. 

Simplicity

Great brands focus on simple stories that express their value and connect with audiences. They don’t try to sell everything and the kitchen sink. Less is more. Our visual expression was very bohemian. We had layers of collaged images and textures. We also had dozens of sub brands. As part of the refresh, we simplified our brand look and focused the resources and energy of all our products and programs up to the main Splunk brand, eliminating extra sub brands.

Consistency

Leading brands maintain a consistent image, messaging, and quality across all brand moments. They minimize complexity. For us, this required a refresh of our naming architecture and ensuring a consistent Splunky experience—from a black t-shirt to our website to our events.  

Storytelling

Great brands don’t sell products, they sell experiences. And not just in ads and videos. For us, storytelling meant connecting our story to every brand element. We wanted to know the “why” behind every choice—from color and photography to icons and design. 

With these brand principles in mind, and our brand platform in hand, we tied everything together in a simple brand manifesto.

Splunk is the light at the end of the tunnel.

Threats can come from anywhere.
Suddenly your system is down, and you don’t know why.
Could be an IT issue. Or engineering. Or a security attack.

The reality is that we all want to be resilient.
But we’re often dealing with the unknown.

Not knowing where the next threat or risk is hiding.
 

Fortunately, you’re not alone.
Because Splunk helps you see everything. 

We shine a light on unexpected issues. 

We illuminate the unknown so you stay resilient. 
We bring meaning and insight so you can resolve issues quickly.

In an industry of fear and darkness,
we are a beacon of hope. A guide. A partner.
We stand for possibility. Not uncertainty.

Positivity. Not problems.

Because we don’t just shine a light on your data. 
We help make sense of it.

With Splunk, you’ll always know where to take your next step.
You’ll always be ready for anything.
It’s our job to help you see everything. 
To be resilient.

And make it safely through the darkness.

Giving Meaning to Our Visual Expression

Not only did this manifesto connect our product offerings to the story of resilience, but it also connected the emotions of our brand attributes. We help companies be resilient. But what we also offer is hope. Most security companies focus on fear. But part of our Splunky attitude is to focus on the possibilities. A bright future. 

This also tied into the origin of our name. Splunk comes from splunking or exploring in a cave. Searching through the dark to find answers. We just refreshed that story to be more about the light at the end of the tunnel. To focus on the feeling of hope. After all, that’s what our customers are buying. Not just software that helps them quickly isolate problems and fix them. We want to stand for the confidence that no matter what, with Splunk, you will always make it through the unknown. 

With that story, we now had an emotional connection to our visual expression. 

Our Splunk brand colors are a gradient from warm pink to orange and yellow. When it was created, it was all about standing out from the usual blue brands of our industry. But now that gradient has a story. It’s the color of candlelight. A warm glow that represents a feeling of calm and hope.  

Our photography style is epic black and white photography. Why? Because it now represents the contrast of light. When you are searching through the unknown, not everything is clear. Black and white photography makes you focus on the subjects that matter.  

With black and white photography as a base, we introduced a new brand element into our visual expression to bring focus to our brand gradient. We call them light trails. They are streaks of light in our brand gradient that represent Splunk. At times these light trails are surrounding or protecting things and represent security. Or they bring focus to specific details or elements of a design, representing observability. Light trails are a design element that creates ownable visuals that bring differentiation to Splunk.  

Finally, we added other design elements that tie back to our brand manifesto. We use shadows, glows, and light leaks in the corners of images to represent the contrast of light and possibilities.  

Beyond all the color and contrast, we also simplified our design system dramatically, so that it tied back to our brand principle of simplicity. Our refreshed visual expression still feels like it’s coming from the same brand but feels more mature and progressive. We kept the value of our brand with its unique colors and personality, while filling needed gaps in the story behind it all. 

Here’s a collection of content to contrast our old look…   

With our new refresh.  

How it All Comes Together

When it comes to making sure a world-class brand is modern and fresh, you certainly don’t have to start over. You can take advantage of all the great value you already have in your brand, like our timeless logo, unique brand gradient, and our Splunky personality that our customers appreciate. 

And then simply find the gaps or opportunities where your brand needs to adapt. For us that included a new brand purpose, updated brand attributes, and a new brand story that tied together what we offer with why we do it. Once we had the why behind it all, we were able to give meaning to all the rest of our visual expression. Now our gradient, our photography, and our design principles all tie together.  

We don’t choose a design element because we just like it or think it looks cool. We chose it because it all ties back to an emotional connection between our brand and our audience. And now we’re able to create experiences that are unique and ownable so we can differentiate our company.  

At the end of the day, a brand lives in the minds of our customers. As our marketplace changes, so do the needs and dreams of our customers. As stewards of a brand, we need to make sure our brand stands for the right things and connects with what our customers believe in.  

Sometimes that means keeping certain brand experiences consistent for decades. And sometimes that means giving your brand a refresh, even when business is booming.