Before you start

• Finalize the template first. Build or approve the new master template before any deck moves. If the brand is still settling, keep working in the old template until it is final: changing both at once means doing the work twice.
• Collect every deck in one place, including shared drives, sales platforms and Google Slides. You can't scope what you can't see.
• Find the repeats. Many decks share slides, often a fifth or more. Design each repeated slide once and reuse it.
• Rank by deadline and audience. Client-facing and revenue-critical decks go first; internal decks can follow.
• Decide the level for each deck: a quick clean-up (the new template, the same content) or a real redesign (new layouts and imagery). Most rebrands are a mix.

Brand rules to settle up front

• Sizes: do regions need different sizes, such as A4 in Europe and Asia, and widescreen or 4:3 in the US?
• Imagery: approved photos and icons only, or may designers source new ones?
• Co-branding: logo order and spacing when you appear next to a customer or partner.
• Color on color: which text colors are allowed on which backgrounds.
• Legal: the disclaimers and compliance lines that must survive the move.

Running it

• One point of contact on your side, so questions and approvals don't scatter across deck owners.
• Learn the brand on a few decks, agree the look, then scale up.
• Work in batches: review one batch while the next is in production, so feedback never stops progress.
• Bring deck owners in at review, not at kickoff, so their edits arrive when there is something to react to.
• Track every deck's stage (not started, in design, in review, done), with a short weekly check-in.

After the switch

• Retire the old files. Remove or archive old-brand decks so nobody picks them up by accident.
• Update every source of truth: the templates in PowerPoint, your sales platform, and AI tools such as Copilot's Brand Kit (see Copilot-ready templates).
• Spot-check new decks for the first few months. Old habits bring old slides back.