Can a new “brand” really better reflect a health system’s current identity and position it for future growth? If brand means name, logo and tagline, my answer is no.
But you’ll find plenty of business leaders, including marketing and public relations practitioners, who would disagree.
Take Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center, in Greenville, S.C. for example. In December, it announced it would be creating a new brand to reflect its position as “a health resource for the community and a leader in transforming the delivery of health care for the benefit of the people and communities” it serves. The brand revamp will include a name change to Greenville Health System and a new logo.
The board chairman believes the new brand, like previous system names and logos, “illustrates GHS’ ongoing commitment to improving the health of our community, whether through clinical care delivery, medical education or healthy living initiatives.”
If only a name and logo could really do all of that.
The reality is, it can’t. Now more than ever, as health care undergoes seismic changes, health systems have to tell their Story, and I mean their “capital S” story.
A healthcare organization’s Story, which is broader and deeper than its “brand,” provides a more robust, authentic and useful framework to engage patients and other stakeholders. It provides context. It is authentic. The institution’s story enables its leaders to showcase the true value of what they do in ways that do not have to be shoehorned into oversimplified brand “hooks,” tag lines or other premises.
In the 21st century digital age of transparency, hospitals are being asked what they’ve done for their community lately. Patients are asking why they should get their care there, beyond the standard marketing claims about the region’s greatest heart care or orthopedics team, or the most advanced women’s health center, or the speediest emergency room. They go online to rate doctors, nurses and hospital systems. Their deep conversations about the value of a healthcare institution have nothing to do with the tagline or traditional branding tactics such as logos and colors. And payors are asking for a story of economic and clinical value that goes far beyond a snappy catchphrase.
There’s simply no way a “brand” can do all these things. Story, however, trumps brand.
Logos, taglines and jingles permeate brochures, websites and television spots. Unfortunately, none of these worn tactics tell a cohesive story or demonstrate how a specific community benefited from its hospital’s services, and none of them carry much, if any, credibility. Unlike a brand, a healthcare system’s story — complete with a beginning, middle and end — can provide a more robust, authentic framework in which to engage stakeholders, from patients to the IRS.
Greenville Hospital System is likely a fine institution. It’s been part of the community for more than 100 years. But as we all know, health care is changing rapidly. The old way of patient care and healthcare administration is gone. So, too, should traditional thinking about healthcare marketing communications. Executives must think Story, not brand. Find out what we mean.
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Jason Snyder is a senior vice president for WordWrite Communications.
