How to set your healthcare brand apart
If you were asked to name the most important determining factor in choosing a hospital or clinic, being the closest isn’t necessarily it anymore. People are willing to go out of their way for what they perceive to be “better” care – and that perception begins with your brand.
For a brand weakened by time or vagueness of message, rebranding is a tool that can effectively re-communicate and illustrate every facet of your healthcare organization. To the satisfaction of patients who trust in you and the generosity of the community that supports you, a rebrand allows you to symbolize a standard of quality and enhance the pride of those who believe in it.
Elevate and leverage a collective brand.
Fragmentation fosters confusion. Is ABC physicians’ group part of ABC hospital? Then why do they have a different symbol? Is ABC hospital part of ABCD medical center? Then why are they across town from each other? And if they share a campus, why do they have different names? Different logos? Can my doctor practice there?
To the consumer, a shared entity with four different names, three logos, and six taglines doesn’t seem to share anything.
How do you unite several hundred (or thousands) people to fulfill one vision and purpose?
Rebrand.
If you have a multifaceted healthcare group, an effective rebrand simplifies complexity and leverages a cohesive design across all touchpoints. It creates that needed connection, encourages collaboration and helps educate the community.
Unifying these elements and the people they represent with a strong, compelling rebrand will elevate and leverage the collective brand in the eyes and minds of its audience.
Because by designing a reliable pattern of visuals, you can symbolize a reliable pattern of behavior.
Drive patient volume to key services.
The effort to streamline is constant. And so is the push to do more with less to meet the ever-changing requirements of insurance companies and the federal government. But in that push, promoting the qualities that distinguish the care you provide can become muddled in the minds of your audience. Is orthopedics your specialty? Oncology? Neurology? Urology? Pediatrics? Transplantation? Rehabilitation?
If the public is uncertain about what you’re good at, a rebrand will provide that clarity in the form of brand positioning.
Brand positioning acts as a funnel to drive patient volume to key services by first identifying those services and, second, by recognizing those services as the best available. Did your organization earn accreditation? A higher level of designation than your competition? Recognition from U.S. News & World Report? J.D. Power and Associates? Tell the world. And tell it why your peers recognize you. Be proud.
Improve methods to link patients and services.
Consolidation, relocation, and mergers have turned once easy-to-navigate hospitals into mammoth complexes with acres of parking and mazes of walkways. How can you present an image of comfort and accessibility when all the public sees is the imposing behemoth you’ve become?
Evaluating ways you can make it easier for patients to get where they’re going and link them with services visually and electronically is essential.
A rebrand examines every web page, app, and portal to ensure the path to services is as short and as easy as possible.
When patients come to your facilities, make their visit equally simple to navigate. Services like valet parking, signage that is clear and consistent, and a staff that looks for people who seem lost and is eager to set them in the right direction are elements of the white-glove treatment that enhances a visitor’s experience. For many of your patients, the anxiety of coming to a hospital or a clinic can be overwhelming. Work to eliminate stress. Handing them a map won’t do it. Lending them a hand will.
Reinforce relevance and reputation.
A proud history is something to be noted and celebrated. But if your brand looks like it belongs in a museum, the public will have the impression you should be there with it. Brands you see in the rearview mirror are doomed to stay there and eventually fade from view – unless you take action to reinvigorate them. Not reinvent. Revive.
A rebrand will carry over elements that evoke your historically strong foundation while also emphasizing your reputation in the community and the medical world. For example, are you the only healthcare provider in the region with a specific service or expertise? Have you partnered with nationally-recognized medical entities on research, procedures or techniques? Highlighting these factors erases the tarnish from an aging brand and positions it for a bright future.
Not every element of a current brand needs to be completely discarded. Take a look in that rear view mirror and decide what elements you like. A color? A word or two? An image? Then take a good hard look ahead. And don’t forget to listen to what your patients – your consumers – are saying about your brand. Then use what you’ve put together to reestablish your relevance for today and tomorrow.
A great rebrand will communicate the reputation you’ve worked so hard to earn and remind people why you are the best choice they can make.
Empower transitional leadership.
Systemic institutional rebranding – when used as directional positioning and culture motivation – can be one of the most effective tools for a transformational leader. It can be the power, opportunity and means to unify a healthcare entity.
There are so many “what ifs?” that accompany transformational leadership. Uncertainty not only detracts from productivity, it also has an impact on morale. Rumors, misconceptions and incorrect information can be extremely damaging to an organization if allowed to spread uncontrolled.
A rebrand signals change more than any other single communications tool for a new leader. It proclaims strength, direction, vision and focus. Like a spring rainstorm, a rebrand clears the sky of dark rumor clouds and washes away misinformation, clearing the pathway to a fresh, hope-filled future.
At pivotal moments, rebranding a longstanding organization under new leadership – or a reorganized enterprise resulting from a merger or consolidation – is a bold, definitive action that signals change. It sets an organization on course to meet the challenges of a rapidly-evolving marketplace, and fosters loyalty by removing the “invisible” barriers and political boundaries of formerly separate organizations. Are you at a pivotal moment? Drop us a line, and we'll be in touch.
