Rebranding in healthcare is more important today than ever. This is true for both B2C providers of care as well as the many B2B companies that support them.
Considering rebranding your healthcare company? Curious about the return on investment a rebrand offers? Want to learn more about the business value of healthcare rebranding?
In this post, we’ll get to the heart of these questions and more, as we explore the trends facing healthcare brands and why rebranding in healthcare is no longer a nice-to-have.
It’s a must-have for healthcare organizations looking to stay one step ahead in a competitive market.
CONTENTS
- What is Healthcare Rebranding?
- Why is Healthcare Rebranding The Right Move?
- The Benefits of Healthcare Rebranding
- The Takeaway
What is Healthcare Rebranding?
Healthcare rebranding is the process of reshaping how a healthcare organization is perceived by reimagining its brand from the ground up.
Rebranding in healthcare can include everything from a new name and positioning to a new logo and website.
More than simply a name or logo, however, your healthcare company’s brand is the recognizable feeling that these elements evoke.
Healthcare rebranding gives your organization control over how it’s perceived by stakeholders including patients, providers, investors, and the community at large.
It’s the best way to foster positive brand perceptions like trust, expertise, reliability, and credibility.
Why is Healthcare Rebranding the Right Move?
Today more than ever, healthcare brands must stay ahead of prevailing winds, or be left behind in a confusing and crowded market landscape.
If ever there were a time for healthcare companies to reassess their positioning and develop bold new strategies, it is now.
Let’s look at just a few trends impacting today’s healthcare brands and why healthcare rebranding is often the right move.
A New, More Empowered Consumer
Today’s healthcare consumers are more empowered than they’ve ever been. They have access to more information on treatment and a wider range of providers.
These changes have meant that healthcare brands are now compelled to embrace the same strategies as their retail counterparts, redoubling their marketing efforts to woo patients away from the competition and improve patient engagement.
Brand strategy doesn’t stop once you get patients in the door, either. Patient satisfaction mandates have made the consumer-centric healthcare model the new standard of care.
The Chaos of Mergers and Acquisitions
In addition to the sweeping changes in patient empowerment, mergers and acquisitions have been on the rise, as well. The result is a bevy of fragmented and piecemeal brand experiences throughout the market landscape.
For companies in the wake of a transaction, a rebrand should be one of the highest priorities. Only with clearly defined brand architecture and positioning can a company make the most of its constituent brands.
For companies looking to be acquired, a rebrand is among the smartest investments. Strong brands with clear positioning will always have a higher return on investment than their weaker counterparts.
The Impact of Technology
Healthcare companies can’t afford to be left behind as technology redefines every aspect of their industry—from commerce to customer service to the practice of medicine itself. Consumers now have an increasing array of technology at their fingertips—everything from telemedicine to wearable devices.
Healthcare brands are compelled to acknowledge this new reality by leveraging technology to better serve those customers. At a minimum, a healthcare company’s website should evoke forward-thinking digital savvy.
And yet, as is the case in every other market sector, a surprising number of healthcare brands fail to meet even these minimal criteria with their websites.
The Benefits of Healthcare Rebranding
An industry in tectonic flux, a newly empowered consumer base, market consolidation, the continued exponential growth of technology—it couldn’t be a better time for healthcare companies to rebrand.
But beyond adapting to marketplace trends, what are the practical benefits of rebranding for those in the healthcare industry?
Here a few of the key advantages healthcare companies can realize by refreshing their brand at such an opportune time:
1. Rediscover Your Business
Rebranding gives you a much-needed opportunity to step back and rediscover some critical elements of your business. Central to the process is brand research, a comprehensive assessment of how your brand is perceived internally and externally.
Interviews with employees can shed light on the company culture, while customer interviews provide invaluable insight into the needs and opinions of those you serve.
With a proper brand audit, you’ll understand the competitive landscape so that you can identify opportunities to differentiate your brand.
Beyond branding, though, the discovery that comes with a rebrand often uncovers unexpected yet valuable opportunities to optimize all aspects of your business.
2. Align Your Brand From the Inside Out
From hospitals and laboratories to the B2B brands that support them, healthcare companies are massively complex organizations. Add to this an industry-wide shift towards a consumer-centric model and the need for brand alignment becomes particularly critical.
Companies that are able to meet these demands with a cohesive brand strategy have a distinct advantage over their competitors. Rebranding empowers you to redefine your company’s purpose and take the necessary steps to ensure internal and external stakeholders are aligned.
Internally, this means that all employees are living examples of your brand’s core values. Externally, it means that customers are aware of your brand promise and trust that you will make good on it.
3. Build Trust and Loyalty
If ever there were an industry where trust was central to the relationship between a brand and its customer, it is healthcare. The stakes in the healthcare industry go beyond dollars and cents—often they are a matter of life and death.
A rebrand allows you to redefine your brand promise: the central agreement between you and your customer. In formulating an authentic, compelling, and believable brand promise, you can continue building trust with existing customers and attract new ones more easily.
Customer loyalty is the goal of every brand, and customer loyalty can only come from trust.
The Takeaway
For those in charge of a healthcare brand’s success, there’s never been a better time for a rebrand.
Patients are more empowered than ever, mergers and acquisitions have made the competitive landscape increasingly confusing, and technology like artificial intelligence means the marketplace is changing by the day.
Rebranding your healthcare company offers an invaluable opportunity for a strategic reset, better aligning brand perceptions, and building patient trust in the process.
Brian Lischer
A prolific blogger, speaker, and columnist, Brian has two decades of experience in design and branding. He’s written for publications including Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc. Magazine, Fast Company, HuffPost, and Brand Quarterly.
