For almost a century, Saint Francis Healthcare has been providing compassionate care to the people in their corner of Delaware. Changes in leadership and direction over the past decade contributed to the erosion of physician relationships and market share alike. Under new ownership and direction by Trinity Health, K2MD Health was hired to refresh the brand image and clarify the strengths of Saint Francis through a comprehensive brand campaign.
Saint Francis Healthcare
Sharing a heritage of caringWhat We Did.
- Brand Strategy
- Collateral Design
- Photography
- Environmental Design
- Advertising Campaign
- Television
- Radio
- Out-of-Home
- Digital Online
STRATEGY
Our on-site assessment and interviews with key stakeholders revealed the heartfelt passion and personal commitment of the Saint Francis staff and physicians to caring for the community they serve. And because this hospital has been the healthcare choice of Delaware families for generations, we mirrored this position through the theme line of “Caring for you through life”. Additionally, the Saint Francis “blue” became a powerful visual element that was expressed in a visually contemporary theme creating instant identification in the competitive environment.
Internal Branding
The most important concept marketers should understand about brand development or rebranding an established organization is to “brand from the inside out”. In a nutshell, that means get the staff and physicians on board with what the brand represents and the important role they play as a representative of the brand. For Saint Francis, we developed an “I Care” internal campaign to engage employees with buttons, shirts and posters. Patients and guests can read stories on posters featuring clinicians and staff about their personal passion to care.
Leveraging Opportunities
Maintaining a flexible but cohesive brand program is the art of striking a balance between established standards and the ability to leverage unique message opportunities. In this case, we maintained the overlapped transparent brand graphics but changed the color to communicate the health system’s support of “Breast Cancer Awareness Month”.
brand refresh.
Because an established brand aesthetic can become invisible to their audiences over time, healthcare marketers can learn a thing or two from retail marketers. Retailers know that keeping their brand fresh means keeping their customers’ attention. So, launching a new campaign for Saint Francis Healthcare was our opportunity to elevate the brand aesthetic while leveraging the look and feel we previously established. We kept the “Saint Francis” blue but we added background images to support the message. It’s a simple, refreshing change that helps keep this brand in their customers’ minds.
