Building Iconic Healthcare Brands

Building a Strong Brand in Healthcare: A Design, Not an Accident

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Building a strong brand happens by design and not by accident. Healthcare is no exception. The biggest names in healthcare, whether at the global or regional level, have not attained their positions due to luck. Their narratives are engineered, and the elements that represent their names are carefully crafted. Employees take pride in the brand they represent. Patients have stories to tell about their experiences with it. A brand has a distinct positioning and consistently displays it across all communications and visuals year after year.

Surge Growth Partners Insight: Building Iconic Healthcare Brands

Unfortunately, there are not many exemplary brands in healthcare. More so, many great opportunities for building healthcare brands are squandered by stakeholders. Many potentially great brands never go beyond a catchy tagline or a nice logo. Some don't even reach that far.

The Limitations of Current Healthcare Brands

The brand and communication departments in these organizations are often tucked in a corner. They are typically tasked with producing advertisements, brochures, and press releases from time to time. Unfortunately, brand teams are seldom in touch with the ground realities the business faces. They become alienated from core operational realities and confine themselves to their own boxes. Communications are generated to please top executives rather than to create a high-performing brand.

Employees in these organizations usually work for a salary. They often work for a department, rather than for the philosophy behind the brand. Patients may choose a popular physician or rely on limited options. Facilities are often managed on an "ad-hoc opportunism" basis, focusing mainly on short-term gains. These players will never reap the benefits of building a brand. Their existence is consumed by short-term fire-fighting until they either close shop or are acquired.

What is Required for Strong Brand Building?

To reach colossal stature as a brand requires a very different approach. Leaders and managers must take responsibility for brand building. Every employee should be transformed into a brand ambassador. Like Rome, brands are not built in one day. It takes massive perseverance to gain the respect of peers and patients.

Over the years, having worked with numerous healthcare players, we aim to articulate best practices that aid in building iconic brands. Here is a short list of what can be done to grow your brand.

Start with Inside-Out

Brands must be genuine; they cannot pretend. The personality of a brand should be consistent with the organization’s core ideology. The values and principles of the founders and top management influence various aspects of the brand. For instance, hospitals founded by skilled clinicians have a different brand appeal than those created by corporate houses. Similarly, hospitals established by academically oriented founders differ from those driven solely by profit.

Iconic brands start by identifying their core values. They articulate what’s important and ensure that this legacy is passed on to internal stakeholders. A consistent outlook among internal philosophies fosters brand integrity.

Then Think Outside-In

What you stand for must resonate with your target audience. A brand that boasts the latest technology must do more than flaunt machines. Simply having the latest surgical robot is not enough to build a brand. If the benefits to the end-user aren't highlighted, the brand story fails to take shape. Too often, promising brands falter because they neglect to connect inherent features with end benefits.

Differentiate. Differentiate. Differentiate.

Differentiation is fundamental to any brand story. As one brand guru said, “Being different is better than being better.” There are too many “me-too” brands out there, especially in healthcare. Surveys show that many healthcare providers struggle to clearly define how they differ from others. Points of parity and differentiation need articulation for both internal use and in the minds of the target audience.

Differentiation must be radical, not incremental. It should be scalable and hard to replicate. Furthermore, points of difference can’t be based on what’s already expected. For example, empathy cannot be a distinguishing factor in healthcare. People expect doctors and nurses to be empathetic.

Win the Internal Battle

This is where philosophy transforms into action. Internal buy-in is vital for building iconic brands. What’s the point of a brilliant advertisement if front-office staff at the hospital appear grumpy while registering outpatients? Leaders and brand custodians must take the initiative to introduce the brand internally. They must ensure everyone embodies the brand philosophy.

As the saying goes, “put the house in order before inviting guests.” Employees must be engaged to deliver the brand consistently at each point of contact (POC) throughout the patient journey. This consistency must extend over time, spanning years and decades. We identify over 120 contact points, starting from the website to the call center. Missing even one can compromise your most valuable asset: your brand.

Marketing as a Core Function

Brand aspirants miss the mark when they treat marketing as a support function. Marketing is as crucial as operations or sales. A brand is one of the most valuable assets a company has, alongside its people. It is everyone’s responsibility to nurture and grow the brand. The marketing department must lead the charge in creating and sustaining the brand identity, rather than relegating its role to producing leaflets and running adverts for quick revenue.

Bring marketing and sales into daily decision-making and strategic planning. Marketing should also be involved in hiring doctors, staff training, and customer relationship management (CRM). This involvement provides essential access to brand building.

Consistency in Communication

Iconic brands are meticulous about their messaging and portrayal to the outside world. They maintain consistency in words, imagery, and messages. They even aim to evoke similar emotions every time they present content. Their meticulousness extends to patient experience, ensuring they meet and exceed expectations regularly.

Choosing Agencies Carefully

A vital element in building a brand is selecting partner agencies to represent the brand across various platforms. Hiring agencies solely based on the lowest quotes can jeopardize brand integrity. Healthcare providers often struggle because most agencies lack understanding of the category, hindering effective communication.

Long-Term Horizon

Rome was not built in a day, and neither are durable brands. Creating brands that endure tests of time requires significant investment in both time and resources. Organizations that continually battle short-term fires and adopt a "this month" or "this quarter" mentality cannot achieve greatness. Balancing urgent issues with the long-term aim of creating sustainable mega brands is crucial.

Do Frequent Housekeeping

Brands require grooming and attention. Some outdated elements need removal. Internal debates about brand perception, competition, successes, and failures are essential. Many brands conduct systematic audits every 3 to 5 years, yielding insights that shape the brand story. Changes should be agreed upon and executed within a defined timeframe.

Avoiding Over-discounts

Offering discounts too often can harm a brand’s image. Consumers are savvy. They recognize that a steep discount on teeth whitening may signal poor performance in that department. Additionally, people attracted by discounts are often “price shoppers,” not “brand shoppers.” Such customers will quickly switch loyalty to the next best deal.

In short, giving discounts without justification erodes brand value.

Measure Performance

The adage, “you cannot manage what you cannot measure,” is particularly relevant in brand building. Numerous metrics must be tracked, including brand loyalty, awareness, preference, and perception. The in-house brand team or trusted agencies should conduct frequent surveys to gauge various brand aspects.

Besides surveys, measurement can also include focus groups, observation, in-house data mining, and benchmarking.

Saying No

When brands attempt to be everything for everyone, they end up being no one. As a brand evolves, many opportunities will present themselves. Understanding the brand's boundaries is crucial. Many growing brands falter because decisions are made with only short-term revenue in mind. This can dilute the brand’s essence. The core values should never be compromised for short-term gain.

Healthcare can and will see more iconic brands in the years to come, at both global and regional levels. Whether your brand achieves this depends on the time and effort invested in this vital asset.