Mixpanel Rebrands to Become the Go-To Platform for Builders
Mixpanel, a data company founded in 2009, firmly established itself as a leader in the product analytics space. Leveraging an event-based data model to help companies understand user interactions, Mixpanel empowers product teams with powerful real-time charts and visualizations. After more than a decade of growth and over 8,000 customers, Mixpanel saw 2022 as the right time to revisit its brand identity.
“We really wanted to widen our vision,” explains Michael Casebolt, Senior Manager of Brand Design at Mixpanel. “We imagine a future where analytics isn’t limited to those in technical roles or teams, but to anyone making decisions and leading organizational change.”
A New Identity for a New Era
The rebrand represents a maturation of the company’s capabilities as the go-to platform for not only technical product teams, but also for product, marketing and data teams. Casebolt explains that there is a lot more involvement and collaboration between marketing, product and data; areas that Mixpanel has been looking to move into.
With its new brand identity, Mixpanel leans into its role by connecting these disciplines to build better products. “It shouldn’t matter what your job title is, or if you have a really technical background or not,” says Casebolt. “How do we make sure that what we offer is beneficial for the wider organization?”
By improving access for non-technical users, the rebrand ultimately aims to achieve the company’s goal of getting event analytics into everyone’s hands: “At the end of the day, what we do is help people achieve outcomes.”
When Mixpanel launched its rebrand in 2022, it invested significant time researching and soul-searching. They explored ideas around world-building and sci-fi, as well as the history of data and analytics. Analyzing past brand iterations and conducting customer research, the team formulated strategies and creative directions internally rather than hiring an external agency.
The Journey to a New Brand Identity
One of the highlights for Casebolt was how the integrated rebrand overhauled Mixpanel’s illustrative style, website experience, messaging framework, and more.
“How we talk and show up to the way that we execute and communicate our product value is important,” he says. “The biggest takeaway was really about how much internal collaboration was involved in helping us build the strategy, from product, marketing, sales, and customer service to our very own customers.”
Getting Creative and Pushing Boundaries
Behind the scenes, he was passionate about building an inspiring creative culture.
“Products can be incredibly technical, but when you’re selling something I find it incredibly interesting to tell compelling stories and try to challenge the status quo,” admitted Casebolt. “At the end of the day, I always want to push and challenge people to do their best work. Build a brand that has meaning and gets people to care.”
Results Meet High Expectations
Despite initial concerns about how the refreshed brand would land, the company has been thrilled with the reception internally and externally.
When influential design blog UnderConsideration applauded the rebrand, Casebolt was wowed. “The ways that team critiqued it and talked about it, from the commentary to the opinions, was incredible!”
He added that customer and industry reactions have also affirmed the new strategic direction. “The way that our industry has engaged and interacted with it was such a nice milestone.”
The Future of the Mixpanel Brand
Building out branded touch points and continuing to challenge assumptions will help Mixpanel on its mission to become the go-to analytics platform for all builders – technical or not.
“I think in this past year we’re starting to see more in-person events after the Covid days,” Casebolt says, with his eye specifically on community building. “It has us thinking about what that looks like for us, how we are going to show up and what we are going to do. We’ve been doing that by having customer and partner forums around the globe.”
With a solid foundation now set, Casebolt believes consistent execution will be key moving forward.
“After launching a rebrand, the work isn’t just done. It’s the beginning of where we are headed.”
