Rebranded last week. Absolutely disagree.
I sat with my OG design and branding for a good while. I really liked it. I thought it was a great idea before going for it. 3 years later, I had a few reasons for changing my branding:
1) It didn't seem to resonate with viewers. Too many people asked "What does a world hopper even mean" โ Other people not getting your branding is a bigger set back than changing it. To me world hopper seemed obvious. But it wasn't to everyone apparently.
2) I had a strong tie to rollerblading. I called my viewers Bladers! I thought it was cool. And then it turned into Bladders because people would misread it. And that was less cool. Even when we as a community agreed on a new one, the joke never died completely and I was tired of it.
3) I had changed as a person and my original branding did not resonate with me anymore. I sat on the idea of rebranding for a few months, talked it over with a couple people, and really thought about it before making the change.
Not only was it a nice chance to fix the things I didn't like about how things had turned out from my original branding, but it was an AMAZING opportunity to upgrade all of my assets now with a new, more experienced view into what I wanted to do and how I wanted to present myself.
Not to mention this new model design I think reflects me and my personality more than it ever has before. Every time I use it I see it and I smile and go fuck yeah - That is well and truly me.
And if we're talking numbers? Yeah my numbers have been higher since rebranding. So. No setbacks at all. I gave my community a big heads up, I warned them, and we turned it into a whole event.
Nothing will set you back more than being unhappy with who/what you are, your content, and the representation of yourself that you've chosen through your branding.
When you rebrand as a VTuber you're honestly setting yourself back
That's why I tried to make sure, from the beginning, that I liked & thoroughly researched the inspirations for my general character design and branding.
It's important that you do too!