Unified Branding is Tougher Than You Think

Creating a cohesive, integrated brand across multiple products and service lines is a difficult task among all industries. Apple is probably one of the most successfully integrated brands in the market—you see the bitten-apple icon or that lower-case "i" and you know instantly that it's an Apple product, whether you've heard of it or not.

This task becomes trickier for health systems, which often pick up service lines on their own or as a result of a merger or partnership. Yet the industry-wide push toward ACOs and the patient-centered medical home model is prompting healthcare organizations to hammer out a singular identity across all silos. Besides, being practical, it's just good branding.

Two competing organizations in the Charlotte, NC, market have both recently set out to streamline their brands. They make for an informative case study.

Novant Health's Naming Conventions
Last month, 13-hospital Novant Health announced a strategic branding plan to align all of its hospitals under the Novant name: Presbyterian Hospital became Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center, Rowan Regional Medical Center became Novant Health Rowan Medical Center, etc.

This unification is a rather belated change—Novant Health was created when Presbyterian Healthcare merged with Carolina Medicorp in 1997. Since then, it has grown into a $3.4 billion system, but facilities across four states retained their own identities, save for a common green arch on each sign.

"It took us a while to evolve as a system. There was a lot of independence," CEO Carl Armato told a local paper. "The next step for us is to unite as a family under one brand."

The other half of Novant's strategic branding plan is the creation of a new logo: a purple N and a rather abstract negative-space H set on a grey background. The colors were chosen to convey warmth, in line with the new focus on patient experience that Armato believes goes hand-in-hand with the improved brand.

While this updated naming convention is about 15 years too late, it will ultimately create a clearer vision of the health system's brand in the eyes of the community. People will no longer have to guess if Presbyterian or Rowan falls under the Novant umbrella—it will be immediately clear to them from the logo.

I chalk up the logo to rebranding fever, however. While the use of negative space is clever, it reads more like "N:" than "NH." Hopefully this is something patients will get used to in time.

Carolinas HealthCare System's "One" Logo
The 39-hospital Carolinas HealthCare System is also strengthening its unified brand identity with a new logo featured on in an integrated ad campaign. The icon is the word "ONE" in large letters with the health system's blue tree of life filling the inside of the O.

Some of the ads also feature a dandelion with seeds blowing in the wind. A hospital spokesperson clarified that the flower is meant as a metaphor: many seeds originating from one bloom. The ads themselves don't give any inkling to the significance of the logo, but when asked, a hospital spokesperson said "It's about who we are.... One integrated system."

The campaign website clarifies the intention of the logo.

"We believe in the power of one, which is why we work together as one," the copy reads. "In one system where patients are partners, where sharing best practices is common practice and where thousands of minds serve millions of people."

This sentiment is important and certainly deserving of a brand-strengthening ad campaign, but it should be clearer on all elements of campaign collateral. You can't expect patients to log onto your campaign microsite to seek out the meaning behind your logo.

Presenting an integrated brand across all facilities, service lines, and affiliates is critical for the success of any health system. It seems the industry as a whole is still trying to figure it out, but many organizations are taking great strides. And remember, when it doubt you can always look to Apple—just stick a metaphorical "i" in front of everything.